University Marching Band Info?

[kalookakoo]

Im typing this all trying to beat my 6% charged battery before it dies.


1) If your school is in the NCAA, if they go beyond regular season (championchips,), does the band go with them?

2) I live in NY, and good colleges out there I should know about?

3) Are all auditions the same? What exactly do you d?

4) And lastly, do mbs go to every away game and besides football, what else do they attend.?

[hchswiregrasshorn]

1) Yes, we (University of Alabama) go with the teams to extra games. We will go to the SEC Championship Saturday and whatever bowl game we will make.

2) I'm not familiar with many of the colleges in that area.

3) The upcoming freshman have a tryout at their orientation, which ranges from early June-July. The tryout for us is major scales, and sight reading. I believe the rest of the upperclassmen "tryout" when we audition for a spot on the field. That audition happens during band camp and it consisted, this year, of an excerpt from the show music.

4) We have band representation at every football game. The full band goes to all of the home games and most of the away games. The only games I did not go to were the Arkansas Game, which a fifty person pep band was taken, and the Georgia Game, which a 150 member pep band was taken. And we all go to other games such as bowl games.

[spacermase]

1) Yes, Bowl Games are the most awesome thing ever. You get a free vacation, hopefully to some place warm, and our Athletics Department actually *pays* us to go!
2) No idea.
3) Our band has no audition requirement, but we're kind of weird like that.
4) We have one mandatory away game each year where the entire band goes, and then usually two optional away games with just a pep band. We also occasionally get called upon by the Athletic Department for various functions (pep rallies, showing off, playing at the President's House, etc). We also have what's referred to as the Olympics Sports Band, which is a volunteer group that performs at various sporting activities (volleyball, soccer, occasionally tennis), and HOOps band, which performs at basketball games.

Hope this answers your questions

[kalookakoo]

It's always awesome going to away games in my experience so far, so it's odd that I find alot of schools I look at go to 1 away game. (if that)

Does it have to do with funding? State universities vs private? Like stony brok is for the state of NY, but they go 1 away game. I dont get it...


P.S. Whats so special about michigan's blue band? I hear so much talk, but im lost in the fog..

[Tales From Band Camp]

One thing to remember though - only Div IA/FBS schools participate in bowl games. There is no playoff system like there is in high school and other divisions. All other division schools (Div IAA/FCS, Div II, etc.) have playoffs, and I suppose it depends on the school's budget as to whether they take a band or not.

[Greenepony]

1. Well considering Baylor hasn't made it to the playoffs in years (potentially decades) much less a winning season.... I'm pretty sure BUGWB'd go but I can't guarantee that

2. Depends on your major, really the only schools I know in NY are RIT, NYU, Kings, and SUNY

3. Millersville in PA didn't require an audition and Baylor's audition is just for what you're going to play, that's it. Can't say for other band's

4. We play at every home game and at the UT and A&M games regardless of where they are. We also have courtside players. Gold plays at every game, green subs in and is assigned some basketball games. Courtside plays for women's volleyball home games and home games for man bears basketball and lady bears. We also play at playoffs for that.

[NinjaBaker]

1. Yes. As a participant in a IAA/FCS band (James Madison University), we do travel (though as the top ranked school in our bracket, we host the games until we lose), and should be make it to the final round, we will travel to Chattanooga, TN.
2. Sorry...
3. You audition for the colorguard and Drumline before the season starts (those are intense), and you audition for a marching spot during band camp for all other sections.
4. We do not go to every away game. however, a pep band went down to Duke, and we (the band) traveled to Richmond. Pep band plays at basketball games. We also march in parades, host a hs marching band contest and do some exhibitions. we also traveled to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade this year.

[brassdancer]

1) I know we are in some kind of playoff thingy (not sure if its the NCAA or what), but we will go to playoff games ONLY if they are home games. Last year IUP went to the playoffs, but the two games they played were away so we didn't go with the team.

2) I don't really know what you want to major in, so I cant really recommend anything. My advice is make sure you visit EVERY school you are thinking of attending (if possible). Let's just say, if I hadn't I would never have gone to IUP because I used to think I would hate it, but I came here and fell in love.

3) Auditions are different everywhere, but for mine this is what happened. We were given the music about two months before band camp, and were asked to prepare all three pieces. A passage was picked from each and we would play it (typically the hardest part/and or a feature of the section). My section also has a 'feature' in our fight song, so we are required to have this whole song memorized and we play it. We also mark time in our auditions, and we also play a preapred piece. IMO, our auditions are pretty long for a marching band audition, I've had easier drum corps auditions, but they really aren't for cutting people (though we did cut a few this year) they are more to figure out what part you would be best on.

4) this differs from school to school, but with IUP we would go to one away game each year. HOWEVER, we are more of an exhibition band and reruitment band, so when the team has away games we were usually away at high schools or other competitions such as Allentown and Giants Stadium.

[spacermase]

Dec 1, 2008 21:50:20 GMT -5 brassdancer said:

1) I know we are in some kind of playoff thingy (not sure if its the NCAA or what), but we will go to playoff games ONLY if they are home games. Last year IUP went to the playoffs, but the two games they played were away so we didn't go with the team.

That is NCAA, it's just what they used to call Division IA (which now is FCS or something) does play-offs. The previous posters (myself included) have been representing FBS (formerly Division I), which has a convoluted system of bowl games, partially based on the BCS rankings.

[brassdancer]

^ Thank you. I'm not very big on football, so I never really knew. I did know that we are Division 2, because we're trying to go Div 1 in about ten years or so ...

[tromboneking87]

1. As I understand it, in most cases yes. Playing at bowl games is a lot of fun (even though I've only done it once...) Ah, pregame at the Rose Bowl, so awesome...
2. I'm a Big Ten guy, you should come to the Midwest...
3. I'd assume that most auditions are similar. For the Marching Illini, from our website...
Marching Illini wind auditions will last approximately 10 minutes. Candidates must prepare a solo or etude of no longer than three minutes in length. Any style is acceptable, and no accompanist is necessary. In addition, the candidate will be required to play 1 chromatic scale and 2 major scales of his/her choice. The audition will also include a brief sight-reading excerpt.
4. For the MI, we traditionally go to one Big Ten away game each season (usually an overnight deal, staying with homestay families, lots of fun), in addition to our Arch Rivalry game (day trip, ugh) with Mizzou. For anything beyond football games (Volleyball, special events held by the University, etc.) we have a group called the Orange and Blues band, a small (50 member) pep-band-esque group that represents the Marching Illini whenever somebody wants "the band" to play. Oh, and for basketball we have a seperate Basketball Band (which, by the way, is stinking awesome).

[KUguardgrl13]

not sure about NY state schools, but Penn State is division 1 (or whatever it is now; i'm in hs and so not up on all the college stuff). football is big there and so mb probably is too. same with univ. of pittsburgh. UConn probably has a big mb to and maybe UMass. Ohio State is huge on mb if you're looking that far out. the general rule would be that if football is popular like at most state schools and large private schools, there will probably be a marching band. smaller schools will probably have just a pep band. i know here in minnesota, the U of MN-Twin Cities is one of the few state schools to have a marching band. one of the reasons i'm looking out of state. really depends on what you want for a career after college. i'm guessing you're probably a sophomore or junior in hs, right? most college marching bands will have a website that tells all about what their program is like, what instruments they march, etc. you'll want to look carefully because not all colleges will march all the instruments that high schools will.

[Greenepony]

^ Careful with the huge schools like Penn State, most of them are INSANELY competitive for spots in the band. Like for Blue Band this year there were 100 piccolos trying out for 3 open slots. Don't get me wrong, they have some cools shows but it's incredibly hard to get into.

[brassdancer]

^ Yes, it is. From what I've heard, the people that make it in for a year never have to reaudition, and only the spots that seniors leave behind are open. They have a big band, but you have to be spot on to get in.

[Pheud]

Dec 1, 2008 17:36:44 GMT -5 kalookakoo said:

Im typing this all trying to beat my 6% charged battery before it dies.


1) If your school is in the NCAA, if they go beyond regular season (championchips,), does the band go with them?

2) I live in NY, and good colleges out there I should know about?

3) Are all auditions the same? What exactly do you d?

4) And lastly, do mbs go to every away game and besides football, what else do they attend.?

1. The Marshall University Marching Thunder plays for all post season games.This will never happen though,as we have a dreadful team.

2. Marshall. =P

3. For Marshall, if you want to be in the band,just tell the band director at orientation and your in.You get music two weeks after that.Drumline has to audition for a spot though.

4. We attempt to go to atleast 1 road game a year.This year we went to Morgantown,WV when the Herd played West Virginia.Next year,the band will not only go back to Morganhole(er,town)but we will also be making an appearence in Blacksburg,VA for the drubbing Va Tech will put on us.

Hope this helps!