Marching band
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military style, with elements such as uniforms, flags and batons and occasionally rifles or sabers. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.
Marching bands are generally categorised by affiliation, function, size and instrumentation. In addition to traditional military parades, marching bands are frequently seen at events as varied as carnivals, parades, sporting events, trade union events and marching band competitions.
History
Instruments have been frequently used on the battlefield but the modern marching band developed from European military bands formed in the Baroque period, partly influenced by the Ottoman tradition.17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi noted the existence of 40 guilds of musicians in Istanbul. In the 18th century, each regiment in the British Army maintained its own military band. Until 1749 bandsmen were civilians hired at the expense of the colonel commanding a regiment. Subsequently, they became regular enlisted men who accompanied the unit on active service to provide morale enhancing music on the battlefield or, from the late nineteenth century on, to act as stretcher bearers. Instruments during the 18th century included fifes, drums, the oboe, French horn, clarinet and bassoon. Drummers summoned men from their farms and ranches to muster for duty. In the chaotic environment of the battlefield, musical instruments were the only means of commanding the men to advance, stand or retire. In the mid 19th century, each smaller unit had their own fifer and drummer, who sounded the daily routine. When units massed for battle a band of musicians was formed for the whole.
In the United States, modern marching bands are often associated with American football games, with the oldest first performing at an American football game in 1887. After World War I, the presence and quality of marching bands in the American public school system expanded as military veterans with service band experience began to accept music teaching positions within schools with developments such as Precision Drill, a disciplined geometric march, based in part on military-style drill. Today, marching band competitions remain popular in the United States and largely parallel modern drum and bugle corps.
Many marching bands are Military bands which often derive from instrumentation generally consists of brass, woodwinds and percussion and they typically march forward with consistent straight lines and a constant tempo to facilitate the steady marching of the military unit. Field music units include drum and bugle corps, fanfare bands, pipe bands and fife and drum corps.
Military styled marching bands are present in many European countries due to its historical origins in 18th Century European field armies and are present in many other nations due to colonial influence, including Latin America and South America, South and South-East Asia and the Commonwealth and many ex-Soviet nations.
Many bands perform a wide selection of both traditional styles of music such as marches, with film scores, or adaptations of contemporary music. The goal of each band's performance is different. Some aim for maximum uniformity and precision; others aim to be as entertaining as possible. Some show bands also involve comedic elements, such as Scramble bands which generally do not march in time with the music, but, as their name implies, scramble from design to design.
Many bands have auxiliaries that add a visual component to the performance such as a color guard or even dance lines and majorettes. In the USA, these auxiliaries may even perform as independent groups. While military color guards were typically male, band color guards tend to be primarily female, though for both, mixed groups are becoming more common.
A marching band is typically led by one or more drum majors, also called field commanders, who are usually responsible for conducting the band and are commonly referred to as the leader of the band. Commands—such as vocal orders, clapping, or a whistle—may be used to issue commands as well.
Show Band Performance elements
The following overview is heavily focused on the U.S. marching band tradition.Marching technique
Glide step
The glide step, also commonly known as the roll step, involves bringing the heel gently to the ground with the toe pointed up, and then rolling forward onto the toes before lifting the foot to continue forward. While marching to the rear, the weight is placed continually on the ball of the foot with the heel elevated. This style is used by both marching bands as well as drum and bugle corps. The style, in comparison to high step, gives drill formations a more fluid appearance, allowing for better control of more difficult formations and various styles of music. With this control also comes the ability to perform a much broader range of tempos. Proper execution of a roll step gives a player marching at 40 beats per minute the same smooth tone as a player marching at 180. The roll step allows for much better control of the upper body, and thus better control of the air support needed for playing.Some bands, and a select few drum and bugle corps, use a bent-knee variant of roll step, usually known simply as bent knee, in which the members roll from heel to toe but lead the next step with the knee instead of the foot, then planting the heel of the next foot by straightening the leg.
High step
The high step is a style of marching used by many colleges and universities, including most bands of HBCUs and the Big Ten. Four primary sub-variants of the high are used:- The ankle-knee step involves bringing the foot up to the inside of the leg to the knee before coming down and forward. This is the style used by most bands from HBCUs.
- The chair step involves lifting the knee until the thighs are parallel to the ground, and with toes pointed downward. When the leg is elevated to its maximum height, a ninety-degree angle exists between the torso and the thigh, as well as between the thigh and shin. The leg is then lowered, and this is repeated in an alternating fashion between the legs. This style is used by many schools in the Big Ten.
- The extended high step, much like the chair step, involves the thigh being parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the body, but instead with the shin extended outward at a forty-five-degree angle from the body and with toes pointed downward. The leg is then driven quickly back to the ground while the other leg repeats in this fashion.
- The "stop-at-the-top" is a style similar to the chair step and is currently used only at the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. It involves bringing the leg up so that the thigh is at a 45-degree angle with the ground with the toes pointed as far down as possible. While the chair step is almost always used as merely a special decorative step, stop-at-the-top is the Wisconsin band's default marching style.
Jazz running
Jazz running is a unique technique that is used to counter a dip in height commonly experienced when covering long distances at speeds that would not be practical for standard marching techniques. This technique is performed by pushing off the legs in a lunging motion, and is historically associated with choreography for color guards within bands. However, the increased physical demand of modern performances in marching band and drum corps more often require instrumentalists to utilize this technique.