<p>My HS son, who is a good student and passionate about playing snare in the marching band, is interested in looking at selective universities that have strong marching bands. In order to help him assess the marching band programs at various schools, I'm asking CCers familiar with those programs to categorize their band on the following five-point scale.</p>
<p>Which of these styles of bands - listed from least to most intensive - most nearly describes the UVA marching band?</p>
<p>0 No on-field performing band</p>
<p>1 A largely student-guided "scramble" band that plays loosely and performs satirical shows (e.g. seven of the Ivies, Stanford, Rice)</p>
<p>2 A largely student-guided marching band that performs as a fun extracurricular (e.g. Cornell)</p>
<p>3 A professionally-directed but non-competitive marching band that is open to all participants regardless of skill level (e.g., Duke, where the main draw of the marching band is that it's a prerequisite to getting into basketball games as a member of the Pep Band)</p>
<p>4 A serious performing band with membership by audition (most bands at schools with major college football programs might fall in this category)</p>
<p>5 A band that is nationally-recognized as one of the top marching band programs in the country (e.g. Michigan, Ohio State)</p>
<p>We fall in between your rankings and blend elements of each. This is my second year in the band just fyi.</p>
<p>We instituted auditions this season not due to selectivity needs (we would love to take everyone) but due to a mandate from the athletic department to decrease our budget. So auditions on musicality and marching are in place for the foreseeable future. We are professionally led (by William Pease and his assitant directors Andrew Koch and Michael Idzior). We are only in our 6th year; however, we currently have around 280 members. We are not filled with music majors since UVA isn’t a strong school for musical education (there are 5 music majors in the band this year) but I can assure you that doesn’t mean that talent is lacking. </p>
<p>I would say 99.9% of people in the band did band all through high school and are doing this as a fun, rewarding extracurricular. There are scholarships available to certain instrument groups and to student leaders. We are very big on student leadership. We have about 100 different people in some leadership/support function, ranging from drum majors, section leaders, drill instructors, librarians, webmasters, game day crew, uniform crew, etc etc. </p>
<p>We are similar to Duke in that the band which plays at the basketball games (HOOps Band) is made up only of marching band members. We are serious and we work hard. We do a different show every home game (completely memorized; no flip folders ever). We play nearly every play in the stands for football games. </p>
<p>Considering the level of success we’ve had so far, it’s really amazing that we are only in our 6th year. I am confident that this band will be nationally recognized as one of the top band programs once we get some time under our belts. We have a lot of fun, we work hard, and we entertain. It’s a really fabulous organization that I am proud to be a part of.</p>
<p>Ohio State’s band is fantastic. I am impartial to all brass bands with percussion, no woodwinds. As a snare drum player, he would take part in one the greatest traditions in college football, coming out the tunnel first ahead of the rest of the band. Look for videos on youtube. I still get chills watching! Yes, I went to OSU.</p>
<p>Gadad: welcome back, I remember you! And yeah, you can always count on the second one to land at UVa, we’re obviously the best Good luck to your son</p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard nothing but good things about the band. Also, sections leaders and such get paid, so your kid could be semi-employed just playing a horn…lucky kid, I wish I could play again! Now if we could just get them to play football too, they might actually win for us…</p>
Good luck to your son</p>