NationStates

Anyone else into marching band? Decided to start this after seeing a ton of college football threads. My fave college band is Ohio State and my fave drum corps is Bluecoats

I was in marching band because in high school it was a requirement for being in jazz band (because all the good players were JUST in jazz band and it was draining the marching band at my small school) and in college because one semester of marching band was required for music majors, which I was at the time. I only ever got into Vanguard because of proximity. Weirdly my 'hometown' (or more accurately, nearest large city people recognize the name of) had a successful drum and bugle corp while I was playing but I don't remember hearing about them until just now when i checked if they had one. That's what they get for naming themselves after an Iron Man villain I guess.

Busbys suck. High school ours were white with white shoes and blue uniforms. We looked like q-tips. Also, this entire time I thought they were called shakos but that's the less dignity draining style.

I cannot look at a blue shako without thinking of Marge Simpson. Ruined so many perfectly goos shows for me lol

When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band.

I wish marching band was a bigger thing nationally. I'm a member of my local marching band. If you want to see my favorite show, it's "Tilt" by the Bluecoats

Venmere wrote:I wish marching band was a bigger thing nationally. I'm a member of my local marching band. If you want to see my favorite show, it's "Tilt" by the Bluecoats

I think the CW did a reality show following one of the drum and bugle corps. Or a competitive high school?

I can't remember. I tried to watch it but it turns out watching practice was a bit more tedious than actually doing marching band practice.

I was lucky enough to go to a high school with the best marching band in my state, really great experience all around. Pity that college mb typically isn't nearly as motivated.

Hippie Kiwis wrote:I was lucky enough to go to a high school with the best marching band in my state, really great experience all around. Pity that college mb typically isn't nearly as motivated.

I was a piece of shit in college marching band. I graduated high school and started as a music major I thought, "Alright, this is it, no more marching band, I'm doing serious music business...let the dorks-"

Marching band is manditory the first semester. I pouted through the entire thing. I was not happy, I did not make friends, they were more than happy to neeeeeever see my big ol' baby ass ever again.

If not entirely clear, I am the asshole in that situation. Marching band was about as low stakes as I was gonna get, the rest of it was having the first week of theory be a review of stuff I should already know and I did not know it, and entirely different method for playing my horn after I worked to get the one I had but it was for the wrong kind of music but I didn't even know there was classical saxophone and oh yeah, there aren't a lot of parts for a full woodwind section so if you play one you have to kinda play all of them if you want to work anywhere and hey next semester 3 whole units are going to dedicated to a 4 minute long performance in front of three stone faced professors to see if you get to continue to be a music major. And only one half hour of that session will be with the accompaniest and you won't really get to go through the whole song beginning to end so you get to hear it all together for the first time in front of three stone faced professors who are going to decide if you still get to be a music major. Oh yeah, and did you see Whiplash? Because since I played sax I was taking the jazz...track? I can't remember specifically, but what I do know is it didn't mean I do that instead of orchestra/symphony and the thing in the room with the stone face professors and my future.
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So maybe I could have pulled the stick out of my ass and at least tried to have a good time with the people who despite what you think of them you 18 year old piece of shit, they're at least trying to have a good time. Get over yourself, most of this is going to be soul crushingly hard you are in way the fuck over your head.