I think that may be dependent on where you live in the country. The only way they could get enough kids in our marching band was to require freshmen to do it. We also had two concert bands - one all freshmen the other for those who went on. There was another band for kids who got an extra arts designation on their diploma that met during zero period and there were some smaller jazz ensembles as well. There were also several orchestras which sometimes did collaborations with the bands. Music was a big thing at our school! Just not marching!