<p>I'm an incoming freshmen (Fall 2011) I was recently mailed, e-mailed and called about joining the UCLA Marching Band. I would like to know any pro's and con's about it. And when I say that, I mean the really bad stuff, good stuff, and all of the in between. :) (Primarily how is the time constraint?, I'm also a MCDB major)
I play trombone and from the people I've talked to in the band, brass players are favored and have a better chance of getting in.
And last but not least I'd like to how is the band director? </p>
<p>I'd pretty much like to get the low down on all this.</p>
<p>I appreciate any feedback :)</p>
<p>p.s. What's the reputation of the Marching Band? At my high school nobody really thought of the band as nerds, though there were their share of hardcore bandies.</p>
<p>The UCLA Marching Band is GREAT! My son did 4 years in it, and had the time of his life. He got to travel all over the country, go to all the bowl games, the NCAA Basketball tournament, and be in parades, pep rallies, and other special appearances. He got 2 free season tickets to all home games at the Rose Bowl, free meals and transportation for every game, and we spotted him on TV at every game we didn’t attend in person. He met all kinds of friends, including all the cheerleaders, the “juggler”, and coaching staff. Plus he got a primo seat location at every home game–directly in front of the acrobatic cheerleaders, which was loads of fun. The band plays a traditional football pregame program with a UCLA script spellout (“Strike up the Band for UCLA” by Gerschwin), then does a different halftime show at every game. It’s more fun than high school tournaments, because there are no judges. The band also does a post-game show of the Alma Mater, and victory song “Rover”. </p>
<p>He said that the band was quite manageable for him as an engineering major, the band practices didn’t cut into his time as much as they did in high school, and most of it was learned in band camp the week before school started. Band camp enabled him to move in to the dorm several days before everybody, they had picnics and parties for the band members, and he made several good friends right away. Don’t worry about being labelled a “nerd”. This is college, not high school. When you are standing on the field at the Rose Bowl with 75,000 people cheering for you, that will be the last thing on your mind.</p>
<p>Being in the band in college is actually really freaking cool. If you’re into sports, you’ll be able to travel with the team to multiple schools and stadiums. Plus you won’t be performing in front of a couple hundred parents and their 5 year old kids. You’ll be performing in crowds as big as 100,000 people. At rival stadiums you’ll probably be booed, but at home, you and the rest of the band will be absolutely adored, especially when you spell the UCLA script and play the fight song. It can be really fun, especially when we win. As mentioned by the user above, when we win a game, we play “Rover,” where everyone kinda just dances and sings to the song. It doesn’t sound as fun until you actually experience it ;)</p>
<p>That being said, my friends have told me it can be pretty time consuming, but it’s manageable. For instance, while you have to perform at football games, not every band member has to perform at basketball games. From what I’ve been told, fall quarter is the most difficult and time consuming due to football games. After that, it’s not much of a burden. All of my band friends have told me they have plenty of time to do other things alongside band and academics.</p>
<p>I think of you have a lot of school pride and enjoy traveling to other schools, then you should join.</p>
<p>Lol, the perfect person to answer the question, UCLA Band Mom! </p>
<p>The pros are that the band is really good, seem to be having a really good time, get to see lots of quality games in the best seats, travel, and the band director is great, really great. Another pro is there’s always a group who find great common bonds, and who continue their friendship in various alumni bands that hang and meet up all over the country. That may not mean anything to you right now, but if you look ahead 25 - 30 years and see where you might be, it’s cool having that connection.</p>
<p>Cons – minimal, but you need to be aware of a few. It might suck up a bit of your time with the rehearsals, but think of it as down time/social time. Wearing the uniforms on really hot days can suck (although Halloween gigs are so much fun for the fans!). And some of the away games (<em>cough</em> USC <em>cough</em>) you need to understand they’re going to boo you no matter how well you all play. Sometimes happens at Cal – just depends on how bad we treat them – this year Cal plays the Rose Bowl, so they’re on our turf. I personally cheer all the bands because they come all the way to L.A. to play, and I think they all need to be cheered, even, ugh, USC.</p>
<p>Spot on about Cal and USC. Those 2 schools really dislike our band. USC for obvious reasons and Cal because we kinda hijacked their fight song and made it better. But again, you’ll always be ADORED by the home crowd.</p>
<p>Yup, that’s why I originally signed up for this board. Every year around this time a prospective freshman asked whether or not to join band. :)</p>
<p>Regarding wearing the uniforms in hot weather, on hot days the band doesn’t wear their jackets in the stands, they wear blue t-shirts instead. They also have baseball caps to keep the sun out of their eyes. And they have people who keep them supplied with cold water so that they always have enough spit to keep their spit valves wet. Most games are in the late afternoon or early evening when it starts to cool off.</p>
<p>Regarding practice time, the band sends the pep band music to members over the summer, giving them time to memorize it before band camp. This speeds things up greatly as far as practice time required. Expect to get music for Sons of Westwood, Mighty Bruins, Jimi Hendrix’ Fire, Strike up the Band for UCLA, Fox Fanfare, Alma Mater, Rover, Word Up and Ow!</p>
<p>Hello, I am also a freshman this year (Class of 2015). I have a lot of school pride, although I am not even in LA yet, and really want to get into the marching band. But I just have a few concerns. Would it be too late for me to apply for the marching band around the end of July?</p>
<p>Also, though I have been playing the flute for about 4 years, I have never been in a marching band before. I am a Canadian living in Beijing, China, where things are just so different, meaning that schools don’t have marching bands. What are the chances of me getting in? I play the flute.</p>
<p>I saw “flute/piccolo” on their website. Does this mean that I have to be able to play both of them or just one?</p>
<p>Another question, I want to be eligible for application of college honors. In high school, my grades were pretty good. Straight As and A+s… scored 38/45 for my IB bilingual diploma. Would being part of the band slow me down in the academics? I mean, according to my grades in high school, if I participate in the marching band, do you think I would still be ok for college honors?</p>
Have you done your orientation weekend yet? That is when the band auditions are held. Alternately, you can send in a recording of yourself playing, but you need to send it in quickly, because it might already be too late.</p>
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<p>Playing the instrument while marching can take awhile to get used to. UCLA does the “glide step” style of smooth marching that makes it easier to play the instruments like the flute, but if you haven’t done any marching at all, then you will be at a disadvantage. You might inquire into doing the Varsity Pep band during spring quarter, because all they have do is sit in the stands while they play. Normally, the members are drawn from the marching band, but even if you are a marching band alternate, they should let you in. The younger members of the Pep band play at less well attended sports like water polo and tennis, and then work their way up to earn a seat for Varsity Basketball.</p>
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Usually only the first chair flutists play the piccolo also, depending on the song. Don’t worry about it.</p>
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<p>My son did an engineering major, and graduated with magna cum laude honors, all the while participating in the band. If you schedule your time correctly, you’ll do just fine, and have a lot of fun.</p>
<p>I was in 4-year band in high school. But in college, I will not participate in band. However, I want to continue playing my instrument. I wonder if I audition wind ensemble, do I must be a band member?</p>
<p>Thank you very much for answering my questions, it meant a lot to me!</p>
<p>I have not attended the orientation session yet. I am enrolled in the second to the last session because it is very inconvenient for international students to travel.</p>
<p>How many flutists are there in the marching band or does it varies from year to year?</p>
<p>Also do you know how I can get the score to “Piccolo solo from Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever”?</p>
<p>No marching or marching band membership is required for Symphonic band. It is a concert band that performs in Schoenberg Hall. </p>
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<p>Here are sectional photos from one of the years my son was in the marching band. There were 18 flutists. There are over twice as many trumpets. (my son played trumpet)</p>
<p>No wonder I didn’t find the music sheets… they were blocked in China. I had to use a proxy to open the links… man
I even tried to call Gordon Henderson. It turned out that he is on vacation. =X</p>
<p>I believe that you sign up early September for an audition time and auditions are Sep 19-26. My son was in it last year and he only had to audition the first time and was then in the symphony for all 3 quarters if he wanted to be (which he did).</p>
<p>They actually rehearse from 7:15 pm to 9:45 pm on Wednesdays. The Philharmonic practices Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.</p>
<p>Actually, the Symphonic Band is open to all UCLA students and facutly. Rehearsals are on Tuesdays from 3-5. There are no auditions prior to showing up (ie. just show up to the first rehearsal which should be in week 1 or 2). Once you show up, there will be auditions held for chair/part assignments. Usually, many members of the marching band do participate in Symphonic Band, but not in the Fall. If you are worried about time, just know that doing both bands will mean rehearsals from 3-5 and 5-7 on Tuesdays. I personally did this all four years without many problems.</p>
<p>Things must have changed this past year. Bob was in it last year and practice started 7:15 every Wednesday night.</p>
<p>This is right from their website:</p>
<p>“It meets Wednesday evenings from 7:15 to 9:45 PM, performs one concert per quarter, and is open to all UCLA undergraduates, graduate/professional school students, faculty, staff and affiliates.”</p>
<p>And you do have to sign up for an audition time and go to an audition. Again, right from their website:</p>
<p>“Auditions for UCLA Philharmonia and UCLA Symphony will be held September 19-26, 2011. PLEASE NOTE: ORCHESTRAL EXCERPTS FOR FALL 2011 AUDITIONS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE EXCERPTS USED LAST YEAR; THEY ARE DESIGNATED AS “LIST B” AND ARE AVAILABLE BELOW. Schedules and sign-up procedures will be available on this page in early September.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure this link will work, but I’ll try posting it anyway:</p>
<p>I think there is some confusion here. There are four main ensembles at UCLA.
Symphony and Philharmonia which are orchestras
Symphonic Band and Wind Ensembles which are bands
I have been a member of the Symphonic Band for the past four years and we have always me on Tuesdays from 3-5. I am guessing Bob is in the Symphony Orchestra.</p>