[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat is your stereotypical Marching Band Geek? Weak, thin, and clumsy, broken glasses and always seem to be holding their instrument? Well if you think that, then you are probably right. Many band kids seem to appear that way to the general public, but if you take a more in-depth look at your band kids, it may surprise you what you will actually see. Sports are meant to make you strong. The Marching Band kids are much stronger than they are given credit for, as they can march a 7-minute show in 3 layers with a 10-pound instrument. So could marching band be considered a sport, or is it more an art? Marching Band combines the physical elements of sports with the creative elements of art to make it. So could it be considered as both?

What even is Marching Band?

Marching Band, as described by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as a ¨group of musicians who play instruments while marching together at a parade or sports event” is much more than that definition. There are much more types of marching band than a typical football halftime show.

Parade marching, are bands who will march in parades (duh) generally down the street either playing some music while marching in lines (blocks), or doing some sort of small show.

The less commonly known type of marching band is indoor drumline/guard/winds.

A marching band can be split into 3 different groups. Drumline, Colorguard, and Horns. In the indoor activity, they split these groups. They will generally perform in a gym on a thin rubber tarp that can be customised to the show theme. This is generally in the winter

Image from Wikimedia.Commons SA CC 3.0 Taken by ThatKrisYanez

Marching Band is so much more than what you may expect.

Marching Band is much more than what you may think. This can be in seen at Winter Guard International (WGI) in 1997 when Northmont High School presented their show Dante’s Inferno (Trigger Warning, This show may be disturbing. Readers beware.) If you have 5 minutes to spare, I really would recommend watching their performance. In Northmont’s show, you will see the soulless and lifeless stage made to represent hell. The eerie soundtrack combined with the chilling flag features and rifle features to even the impact points were made to perfection. Every detail is nothing that you would expect.  Marching Band is so much more than what everybody stereotypes and expects it to be.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxj6Ake7iY8[/embedyt]

If Marching Band is so much different to what society and our general expectations make it be, why should it be placed in just the category of art?

What even are Sports and Arts and Whats the Difference?

As defined by Dictionary.com, A sport is defined as, “An athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.”

An Art is defined as “The quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”

These two things are very different by definition, but why can they not be put together?  Being beautiful and athletic are not mutually exclusive, in fact, in our modern society if you are not athletic and fit, you are not seen as beautiful.

So why can they not be put together?  Or can they?

Is Marching Band an Art?

According to a poll sent out to a group of 10th-grade students at Elk River High School asking if Marching Band is seen as a Sport, Art, or Both, 47.6% said they would only consider it an Art. So is it an art?

Marching Band is an Art. This is true.

Much time goes into making a show, and getting every detail and set practiced to perfection. [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]A Marching Band’s main goal is to provide entertainment to the people who choose to watch them[/perfectpullquote] A Marching Band’s main goal is to provide entertainment to the people who choose to watch them, through the combination of peppy music and jaw-dropping drill sets to get the crowd going.

Or is it a Sport?

But could it not be considered a sport as well? In the same poll given out to 100 10th grade students at Elk River High School, 71% said they had seen a marching band, 44% said it could be considered as both a sport and art, but only 2.9% considered it just a sport.

Does it not fill the category of a sport?

To be a sport, you must use skill combined with physical activity, to compete with other groups. Do Marching Bands live up to those requirements?

Do Marching Bands have skill?

If you said no, you might want to consider leaving now, as I am about to drop some facts. Sports by definition require skill. To be in a band, you must be able to do at least two things that require skill.

Playing an instrument, drum, or spinning a flag or rifle takes much skill to master to a level that you can walk while doing it. For any of those, you need to be able to understand basic counting structure and keeping in time. You also need to be able to get the feel of rhythm and be able to memorize your music or choreography. All this can be hard when you are forced to hold an instrument that can weigh up to 40 pounds for on average a 7-minute show, even longer if you are marching in a parade that lasts on average 35 minutes to get through and be doing about 2-3, 5-minute shows. It takes a lot of skill to build the endurance combined with the basic knowledge needed to march.

Doing the movement itself requires skill to be able to pull off a decent show.  Marching itself is nothing like walking as most people would think it is. Walking, you are able to allow your upper body to move and sway as you move. When marching, you must keep your upper body still, and that requires you to walk a little differently, hence marching.  To keep your upper body still, you must do something called a roll step. This requires bringing the tip of your foot up, so if someone were to look at your shoe, they could see the bottom of it. Then as you step, gradually rolling down (hence called a roll step.)

Once you can march, you must be able to judge your step sizes. We cannot have a member out of step. This could kill the whole band (literally).

If one person falls, this could create a chain reaction of the whole band falling if the current drill is set up that way. In other sports such as Football, you can just go around someone if they are in your way. This is not the case in marching band. If someone is in your way, you hit them. (Sorry about your hip Grandma. Guess you and Little Jimmy shouldn’t have been in the marching band’s way.)

What are the physical limitations?

Although the physical limitations vary depending on what type of band you are in, and what you do, It can still be considered physically demanding. 

Annie Siebert and Molly Bornpittsburgh stated in their article in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,” Aug. 8 was a sweltering day here — temperatures spiked into the 90s and an air quality action warning was in effect, encouraging people to stay inside in air-conditioned comfort. Standing still in the shade was insufferable. Imagine being in bright sunlight, walking fast and carrying and playing an instrument, sometimes as unwieldy as a tuba. But that’s exactly what more than 100 Norwin High School students were doing.”

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CCO

Even in conditions when most sports would consider canceling practice, the band practices on.

In a 2005 ESPN2 broadcast, Dr. Jeff Edwards, the department chair of physical education and athletic training at Indiana State University, hooked up Jordan Thomas, who played tenor drums with The Cavaliers to a machine to test his heart rate. (ESPN 2) [perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Thomas’ heart rate shot up to 180 beats per minute while merely watching from the sidelines.[/perfectpullquote] Haley Greenwald-Gonella states in her article in Halftime Magazine, Thomas’ heart rate shot up to 180 beats per minute while merely watching from the sidelines.
Essentially, this evidence points to the idea that being in performance mode creates an “adrenaline rush” similar to when athletes hear the gun go off. Thomas’ heart rate was more than 200 beats per minute, and his oxygen intake was 13 to 14 times higher than his resting metabolic rate while performing the drill on the field. So marching bands have the skill and they are physically demanding. But they are still not a sport! They are not judged and are not competitive! Right?

Competitive Marching Band?

Unless you are just looking at your halftime high school marching band, you should probably know that Marching Band is judged just like any other sport. There are even professional marching bands that perform against one another.

Just like Football has the Super Bowl, Marching Band has DCI.

Drum Corps International (DCI) is where different professional marching bands from across America come to compete to get judged. Many different groups have come and competed in the different classes, some of the most known being The Blue Devils, Carolina Crown, The Cavaliers, The Cadets, The Blue Stars, Phantom Regiment, ect.  All of these groups are made up of 17-21-year-olds who took their passion for high school marching band and continued it.

Do they get paid to be in these bands? No! In fact, they actually pay to be in them

According to the Blue Devils Website, It costs $150 just to audition, and according to DCI’s Offical Page “The average cost for a performer to be in a World Class corps is approximate $3,900, with approximately $2,400 of that attributed to tuition and fees. The average cost for participation in an Open Class corps is approximate $2,200 with $1,500 of that attributed to tuition and fees.”

So yes, I would say Marching Band is competitive.

So which is it, Sport or Art?

Is Marching Band a sport or an art? In a survey given to a group of 100  Sophmore students at Elk River High School,  only 2.9% of students considered it to be a sport, and 34% considered it to not be physically demanding, however, 80% considered dance to be a sport. Although they are not the same, the athleticism and time taken to learn the choreography are similar. So why does everyone consider it not to be a sport? Popular opinions given by these students were ¨All you are doing is walking” and “I doubt you spend as much time practicing as most sports” That could be true to some extent as the majority of schools do not give any of their Marching Bands any funding, and consider it an art rather than a sport. So, why can it not be both? Marching Band is hard. It combines both the skills, physical labor, and competitiveness of a sport, with creativity, beauty, and logic of art. No matter how you see it, you gotta say it at least takes some dedication to be in. That should put it in the same league as any sport, and just because it has art mixed in, it should not be seen as any less of a sport.

Featured Image from Pixabay.com CCO