Marching Band

Payton Primm, News

¨Start over, but everyone please stay on beat with the drum major this time!¨ calls seasoned band director Jeremy Ford through a microphone, overseeing the band’s every movement from the conductor’s stand. The harmonious combinations of tubas and drums, clarinets and flutes, and saxophones and trumpets playing in sync to a powerful melody are enough to please almost any ear- except for that of Ford.

¨I created this band program from scratch. I was hired in December of 2004 and I used to get kind of depressed waiting for school to start and for students to arrive. While the school was still under construction, I was out here in a hard hat, carrying a flashlight, preparing for musicians to fill all of the empty chairs,¨ Ford said.

Although students, parents, and faculty alike watch in awe of the band performances at the football games on Friday nights, these viewers are never exposed to all of the work that goes on behind the scenes of this 280 person production.

¨Logistics are essential to this operation. A loading crew arrives at school around 7:30 in the morning and begins to transport about 30,000 dollars worth of percussion equipment to the practice area. Then at 8:15, we begin strength and physical training exercises, followed by music and drill practice,¨ Ford said.

For senior Sarah English, early mornings and extended practice hours have been a normal morning routine for the past three years.

¨On a normal weekday, I get to school at 7:45 so I can be on the field by 8. I put my instrument together, and then I grab my water bottle, my paint pen, my coordinate sheet, and all of my music,¨ English said.

The marching band effortlessly moves into countless formations on the field during a performance, but learning these formations can be much harder than it looks.

¨Shows consist of 80 sets, or movements from one spot on the field to another. As of right now, it typically takes us about a day to learn one set, but as the sophomores improve and learn the routine of the band, we can learn up to seven or eight sets a day,¨ Ford said.

Band at a high school level is also a drastic change for sophomores who have only experienced it in a junior high and middle school setting.

“The fact that we march and play at the same time makes me feel more challenged than I did in junior high band. I feel so much more like I am a part of a family,” sophomore Zach Jarvis said.

Marching band isn’t just about elaborate shows and music- it’s also about creating a family and learning to collaborate with other musicians.

¨Everyone is a team, and we all work together to create a final product. It´s so cool to see how far we have come since the beginning of school and throughout the season,¨ junior Maggie McDonald said.