High School marching band (1 Viewer)

[sho nuff]

...and now winter drum line.  I know the soccer club my son played for was one of the more inexpensive ones in the area, but man band is pricey and way more time consuming than travel soccer ever was.

Any other FBG jrs in marching band?

Fall band practiced 3 hours 3-4 nights a week and most saturdays when there wasn’t a competition.  The competitions can be nuts too.  Check out anything in Bands of America.  Our school was definitely in the low budget side as far as props but our kids are really good musicians.

Drumline is another animal...long days of practice when not in school (20+ hours a week and both marching season and winter have included conditioning sessions ).  Some of the videos my son has shown me these teams have like full in LED screens out there in the field/court winced to their show.  

Yes look at me, my kid is now a band geek...but at least he is a drummer and being that busy keeps those kids out of trouble.

 

[El Floppo]

Dot.

My kid's in 6th grade and a drummer... This could be on my horizon.

 

[NutterButter]

What the hell organized kids activity isn't expensive?  

 

[jomar]

my 9th grade boy is in marching band.  it changed his life.  I don't think its expensive but they don't do competitions that I know of. 

 

[Rustoleum]

Yeah, just when you think you get a break when marching season winds down, I have one in winter percussion and another in jazz band and actually composing some music for a drama production.  The winter stuff for mine at least is just a couple hours twice a week and then the competitions. Not quite as intense as marching band.

Really been amazing for both of them.  Done wonders for my youngest’s confidence and social anxiety. Definitely put them both in the “right” group of kids to be hanging with.

BIG difference in a competitive marching band versus a more casual one. When I was a kid we maybe practiced one night a week for a couple hours after the week of band camp, but we went to all home and away football games. My kids practice 3 days a week after school, Saturdays before taking the bus to competitions, and otherwise only play at home games. Their band camp was a weel of 8-12, a week of 8-5, and a week of 8-8. I don’t think the football team is even allowed to practice that long.

 

[Galileo]

Galileo jr was in the band for his freshman year (trombone).  He was rather indifferent to it, but enjoyed band camp and the band's trip to Disney (the real reason he did it at all).  He loves football though and has left band behind as a sophomore when he started to be a Friday night contributor on the field.   The band marches in the fall for football and competes in 2-3 band shows, but then transitions to concert band mode for the remainder of the year.  Most are in the general "concert" band, but if you are really good, you play in the "symphonic" band.  Both bands do a Christmas concert, a Spring concert, and then the symphonic group does some other competition I know very little about.  My kid wasn't in the symphonic group. 

Galilleo III is currently a freshman and it looks like he will be sticking with the marching band.  He does not play a fall sport.  He played trumpet, but is currently making the transition to tuba the concert band season and for the future.  He likes it well enough except for the long evening practices in the fall.  

Yes, it costs a small fortune by the time you pony up for instruments, uniforms, camp, band trip (fortunately they only do Disney every 4 years), participation fee, way too many fundraisers, etc...

 

[sho nuff]

my 9th grade boy is in marching band.  it changed his life.  I don't think its expensive but they don't do competitions that I know of. 

Ours does several a year. And costs for uniforms, extra staff, driver for the semi trailer for equipment, uniforms and props, bus drivers and all that...

Mans now in winter drum line we have 3-4 here at least close to Nashville then a big one in Indy and the WGI world competition in Dayton Ohio that’s almost a week long.

 

[sho nuff]

Galileo jr was in the band for his freshman year (trombone).  He was rather indifferent to it, but enjoyed band camp and the band's trip to Disney (the real reason he did it at all).  He loves football though and has left band behind as a sophomore when he started to be a Friday night contributor on the field.   The band marches in the fall for football and competes in 2-3 band shows, but then transitions to concert band mode for the remainder of the year.  Most are in the general "concert" band, but if you are really good, you play in the "symphonic" band.  Both bands do a Christmas concert, a Spring concert, and then the symphonic group does some other competition I know very little about.  My kid wasn't in the symphonic group. 

Galilleo III is currently a freshman and it looks like he will be sticking with the marching band.  He does not play a fall sport.  He played trumpet, but is currently making the transition to tuba the concert band season and for the future.  He likes it well enough except for the long evening practices in the fall.  

Yes, it costs a small fortune by the time you pony up for instruments, uniforms, camp, band trip (fortunately they only do Disney every 4 years), participation fee, way too many fundraisers, etc...

Haha yeah...a fundraiser almost every month or so it feels like.

 

[snellman]

Made it through 4 without anyone doing band, but #5 is playing trombone and really enjoying it (He is only in 5th grade so maybe that will change by the time he gets to high school  ).

Having never been through it, I know nothing about cost or time, but I do know that they have band camp every fall before school and competition starts and the band camp is more brutal that the fall football practice is (or so I have been told).  Our school has a very good band and a very competitive band.  They have marched in the Rose bowl parade a couple of times and have won numerous competitions and gotten national recognition I think.  (not bad for a small school in NW Iowa, but I swear it is like a cult with all of the band parents).

 

[Tecumseh]

My daughter is in a competition marching band. Runs about $1000 per year. She plays alto sax, and was section leader this year, but is shooting for drum major next year. She ultimately wants to play at tOSU, but plot twist, tOSU is brass and percussion only, so she would have to learn a new instrument. She seems to think it won't be a problem.

 

[sho nuff]

My daughter is in a competition marching band. Runs about $1000 per year. She plays alto sax, and was section leader this year, but is shooting for drum major next year. She ultimately wants to play at tOSU, but plot twist, tOSU is brass and percussion only, so she would have to learn a new instrument. She seems to think it won't be a problem.

Yeah cost is similar for fall and then a littlr less for winter drum line.