A marching band is a company of instrumental musicians performing outdoors for the purpose of entertainment and sometimes in competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands use some kind of uniform (often of a military style) that include the school or organization's name or symbol, shakos, pith helmets, feather plumes, gloves, and sometimes gauntlets, sashes, and/or capes.
Marching bands are generally categorized by function, size, age, and by the style of show they perform. In addition to traditional parade performances, many marching bands also perform field shows at special events like competitions. Increasingly, marching bands are performing indoor concerts that implement many of the songs, traditions, and flair from outside performances.
Read more about Marching Band: History, Marching Band Styles, Instrumentation, Performance Elements, Rehearsals, Northern Ireland, In Football Games, Competitions, The Sudler Trophy and Sudler Shield
Famous quotes containing the words marching and/or band:
“John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave,
His soul is marching on.”
—Thomas Brigham Bishop (1835–1905)
“What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one’s heroic ancestors. It’s astounding to me, for example, that so many people really seem to believe that the country was founded by a band of heroes who wanted to be free. That happens not to be true. What happened was that some people left Europe because they couldn’t stay there any longer and had to go someplace else to make it. They were hungry, they were poor, they were convicts.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)