<p>I'm going to be a freshmen in the fall and I had a couple questions about marching band. </p>
<p>I was wondering if it's hard? I did two years of high school marching band and I didn't like it very much because I was horrible at it. I really like band and I love playing my clarinet. I just would like some of your guys opinions about the marching band/your experiences, please and thank you!</p>
<p>It depends on your school. There are a couple schools in the SEC I can think of that take band really seriously, but it really depends.</p>
<p>It sounds liked your pretty confused "didn’t like it very much…“I really like band”…</p>
<p>But it really depends. I’m in the band at Ohio University, and I can say it is definitely taken pretty seriously. Other less well known bands probably not so much</p>
<p>Both of my kids were in MB all thru HS and into college. It completely depends on the school, the other students and the director (as does HS band).</p>
<p>If the school forces music majors to be in MB (and sometimes to play their non-primary instrument due to need) the general atmosphere can be rough.</p>
<p>If it’s a MB that practices 2 hours a day - assume it’s taken very seriously. If they have <1 hr practices and an easy-going director it can be fun.</p>
<p>If they are a D1 school, assume it’s taken a bit more seriously than a lower division school, but not necessarily.</p>
<p>S at D3 school and after a director change and forced major participation it’s a very different band - won’t be participating this year.</p>
<p>D will be a freshman at a D1 school this fall and after talking to A LOT to current band members she was told it is serious but not all-consuming…a work hard/play hard kinda atmosphere. But I guess we’ll find out for sure very soon.</p>
<p>No, I liked BAND. I hated MARCHING. There is a difference. And it’s at Washington State Univrsity if that helps any.</p>
<p>Have you considered doing concert band?</p>
<p>I’ve never done marching band, because I went to a tiny private high school without a football team. But we had a great concert band/jazz band system. I also play clarinet. I really didn’t want to give it up and I was planning on doing Marching Band, but then I found out that USC has a Concert Band in the fall, and so now I’m not doing Marching Band.</p>
<p>Up until this year, USC had their top two bands during both semesters and their third band was only available in the spring. I guess that was a way for them to increase their membership in the Marching Band, but I don’t care. I’m excited about Concert Band.</p>
<p>I know that Marching Band at USC is very serious. They give you a $400 scholarship, but they practice Tuesday-Friday for several hours and have to be up early on Saturdays to prepare for the games and it just takes up a LOT of time. They only get a one hour credit and it just didn’t seem like it was worth it to me.</p>
<p>I played clarinet for marching (and concert) band in high school and loved it. My college had a band, and while it’s less of a commitment than a lot of schools, I decided not to continue on with marching band. I knew that it still would always be a pretty major time commitment in the fall and ultimately chose to move on from mb to put my time into other opportunities. While I miss band, I don’t regret my choice at all. I appreciate the time I’ve had to try new things in college and let other interests grow.</p>
<p>I think that you probably should stay away from it if you hate marching. Try music through jazz or concert band. Almost any school that offers marching band will have it as a some sort of time commitment. It just takes a lot of practice to make a good marching show work, as you probably know. Also, most people who participate in college marching band will really like it and want to be there. There’s no reason for you to continue on with something you don’t love at this point. College is more about enjoying your extracurriculars than even high school is, especially since chances are there will be more to choose from at college!</p>
<p>This seems pretty simple to me. You say you like band but not marching. Well, quite a lot of marching done in MARCHING band, but not in concert band. No brainer. </p>
<p>It doesn’t really matter what the atmosphere or attitude of the band is. If you don’t like marching band. I’m gonna start college marching band in a few weeks. They practice 2 hours a day Tuesday through Friday and practice early in the morning on Saturdays before games. However, they also have a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to it. I LIKE marching and marching band itself. </p>
<p>As a dedicated band geek, there is nothing more annoying than someone who doesn’t want to be there.</p>
<p>I went to a performing arts high school and was heavily involved in the arts (musicals, different quartets, all-county, all-state, outside bands, etc.), but I greatly dislike marching band as well, mainly due to the lack of musicality and the long practices that could have been hours shorter if people had practiced. If you do not enjoy marching band, do not join marching band. It’s a bigger time commitment and much more taxing that high school marching band.</p>
<p>
THIS. There was a clarinet in my section who like refused to play. We would actually have to ask him to play during band. It wouldn’t have mattered so much if it was a large band, but we only had 30-ish people and only 2-5 clarinets depending on the year. (One year it was just me and him… not even enough to cover a whole clarinet section!) So he HAD to play.</p>
<p>But yeah. If you like band, do concert band and just don’t do marching band if your school has it.</p>