<p>I’m very interested in joining the marching band. Does anyone have any insight as to how difficult it is to actually make it? </p>
<p>Also, how much of a time commitment would it be? I’ve been doing marching band throughout high school and have been able to maintain high grades and juggle other EC’s. Understandably, the MDB would be a much more substantial commitment. </p>
<p>I’m planning to go into Chem Eng + Pre-Med.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman in the MDB so I feel obliged to answer this. Basically, the chances of you making it depend on what instrument you play. Some are more selective than others, but in general it isn’t too hard. For sure, most people who audition make it so you should have a pretty good idea if you’re good enough or not.
It is definitely a pretty big time commitment. We have practice every day from 4-5:30, we play at all home games, and go to two or three away games, which essentially take up the whole weekend. That said, it certainly isn’t unmanageable, and I myself am a very involved person who rarely experiences trouble in that area. For what it’s worth, engineering is the most common major in band, far exceeding music majors.
I think if you enjoy band you should absolutely audition, because it’s an incredible experience. There is really nothing like marching into Byrant-Denny Stadium for the first time and staring up at the massive wall of people waiting for you to put on a good show. I say go for it.</p>
<p>Very helpful post thanks! That feeling, I can only imagine… haha. I play alto sax by the way. Hope to see you next year.</p>
<p>AuriYMAS - DS is also a freshman in the MDB, ChemE major and premed. He is handling the load along with MDB fairly well to this point. Of course everyone is different so you will have to decide for yourself.</p>
<p>About the only thing I would add to JCAT’s post is that even for the home games it takes up all of a Saturday. So, away games take up the weekend, home games take up the Saturday.</p>
<p>Good luck and roll tide!!</p>
<p>My S is a freshman trumpet in the band. He is a Chem-E major +pre-med also. He has been a busy boy but I doubt he would have it any other way. He is loving MDB and seems to be handling it just fine. Audition for a band scholarship if you get the chance. DS didn’t do that for several reasons and in the end wished he had because he would have known whether or not he made the band before band camp. He didn’t find out whether he made it until they were way in to band camp. That was a stress he apparently could have avoided but he didn’t know. Good luck and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>hey whadda ya know i play alto sax as well! I’m gonna increase the magnitude of my recommendation tenfold in that case, because our section is so awesome:]</p>
<p>My DD has gone back and forth between doing MDB or not. She has been in band since 6th grade and loves marching band in HS. She plays french horn and mellophone (for marching). The other day she did say she would not mind doing it next year if she could participate in DCI Summer 2014.<br>
One of her main concerns has been not being a music major. She will be pre-med and was worried that there were more music majors in band than not and how they felt about no music majors. Glad to hear from those that are not music majors and in the MDB and enjoying it.<br>
Not worried about the time management since she has somehow managed to handle band, IB and AP courses, church activities and friends and done well grade wise.<br>
Thanks for posting about the MDB. I will have to share with DD.</p>
<p>Just to share the other side of the coin, my son was also very active in band/marching band in school. I am ‘a little’ disappointed that he has decided not to participate in Marching Band. (He is a freshman this year.) He, on the other hand, is very happy that he chose not to. Having more time on his hands has given him the opportunity to join a couple other clubs and participate in other areas of interest. He is also a member of one of the concert ensembles - so he is getting his music ‘fix’ that way. He has no regrets and I am glad I didn’t try to push him into MDB. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong…I think MDB is awesome and I still wish I could see my son marching in it…but know that there are many other ways the kids can participate in music should they decide that MDB might be too time consuming.</p>
<p>My son is a second year in the band. I would encourage anyone who is interested in joining the band to check out their website. Lots of good information. My son is an aerospace engineering major and enjoys the band very much. It is a huge time committement but he feels like it is worth it.</p>
<p>Meant to type <em>commitment</em></p>
<p>TxNewCollegeMom - Actually from what I have heard there are more nonmusic majors then there are music majors in the MDB, I believe the largest number by major is… engineering. Go figure.</p>
<p>Can someone please explain how the band scholarship auditions work? I would love to know if I make it before band camp, and the scholarship opportunity is great…however, how do those auditions work? Would I (OOS) have to fly down to Bama to audition?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>DD is a freshman piccolo in MDB this year and is enjoying it. I would say the band is one of the most diverse groups on campus–they represent all majors with ENG being the most common, Honors and non-Honors students, in-state and OOS, Greek and Independent, etc. It is large time commitment. The band will leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning for the Tennessee game and won’t return until late Sunday afternoon. Because of this DD had to make up a test she is missing tomorrow and will miss the review for a test she has on Monday but her grades are very good and she is used to the demands of practice every day. She loves the instant family that band provides!</p>
<p>Check bands.ua.edu for audition information.</p>
<p>My son participated in the UA Honor Band last February and received a scholarship there. It’s a lot of fun and a great opportunity to introduce yourself to the professors/grad students in the music department.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman in the band (mellophone) and is also a ChemE major. As others have posted, she said that engineering is the most common major. While it does take time- 1 1/2 hours of practice daily plus the weekend activities, she has been able to keep up with the workload. In fact, because of the friendships she made in the band, she has had study partners for Calculus since the beginning, which has been very helpful.</p>