Hello !!! I will be going to UVA next year and am thinking of joining the marching band. It would be great if any current or passed members could answer some questions I had:
Former Alto player, current lawyer here. Go for it! I didn’t go to UVA. Went to an SEC school.
Band gives you opportunity to make friends, travel, and tons of exercise (we did 3-5 miles per practice). College band is more work than the average hs Band. You can balance it with academics although you won’t be able to do other clubs probably. It will be your primary activity.
From a musicians perspective you can also take private lessons to keep up your talent. If you can you could continue in other ensembles in the spring. Congratulations!
I might be going to UVA next year and am also considering joining the CMB (Cavalier Marching Band) on color guard. My sister is a third year and she absolutely loves it. Every year there is a stretch of three weeks where you have three back-to-back home games, meaning you’re practicing over 24 hours each week for three weeks, considering the CMB learns a new show for each game. Besides that, my sister finds balancing band and academics is fine. I’m not sure how hard it is to get in because my sister doesn’t actually play an instrument, so I cannot help much there. My sister and I both had less than ideal HS marching band experiences, but my sister loves the CMB and says it makes her who she is today and has shaped her college experience.
I am in the CMB right now. I would say if you are a fairly decent player you have nothing to worry about with auditioning. It never hurts to audition. You audition during your orientation session. The directors will have info out at DOTL and orientation. Academics wise, we have people in frats, clubs, ROTC, as well as RAs during the season. You’ll have plenty of time. There are also very helpful tutoring sessions for anyone who asks. The directors push academics- especially for first years. Good luck.
If you want an idea of what the shows are like, YouTube has most of our performances. Compared to HS, it’s just different. We play pop music mostly. It’s a lotta fun. Practices in the summer are decently lengthy but really nothing after the start of classes is super difficult time wise. I would say it’s a controlled intensity. When you’re at practice, you focus. At games, you let go and have fun.