Marching band is very different in college than it is in high school. There are many who say college marching band is much harder, but there are also some who disagree and say high school marching is far more difficult. I am only a junior in high school, so I have not experienced college marching band yet and I do not know what it is like from personal experience. However, I would say that both are difficult in different ways.
Learning music is much easier in high school marching band in my opinion. Generally, there is one show throughout the season that the band will perform at games and competitions. The students only have to learn one set of music and they will continue to perfect it throughout the season. The music is often passed out sometime during August during band camp and it is pretty well learned by the first competition. College marching bands, however, have a large variety of shows they perform throughout the season. Each week, new music is passed out and a different show is performed at the football games. This is not as difficult though because the college students have the ability to perform using music. There are little contraptions called lyres designed specifically for each instrument that you can put music into and attach to your instrument. Almost all the members of the band use lyres and can read the music as they perform. Not being required to memorize new music every week takes lots of pressure off of the players. They still have to work very hard and practice the music, though. Overall, despite having the ability to perform using music, I think learning a new set of music each week is harder than learning one set for the entire season.
The drill in high school has different difficulty levels depending on the skill level of the band. Some high schools marching bands have very simple, easy drill whereas others have complicated, complex drill that is very impressive when executed well. Like the music, high school bands only learn one set of drill throughout the whole season. Since they have many different shows throughout the season, college marching bands also have many different sets of drill to fit the show. Unlike the music, however, the students cannot read drill as they are marching. This means they have to memorize the new drill each week. The drill in college marching band is much easier because of this. The band often moves very little and stands in one place while playing. This lightens the load on the players. I think the drill is about equally as difficult at the high school and college levels. This depends on the high school, but generally they have more complicated drill. College bands have easier drill, but they also have to learn new drill every week. Therefore, it is hard to tell which level of band has a higher difficulty level regarding drill.
The time commitment for college marching band is far greater than that of high school. Most college bands rehearse around three hours a day throughout the season. Keep in mind, the marching season for college is much longer than that of high school. They typically do not participate in competitions, but the bands have to play for all the football games, both home and away. The games take a large amount of time out of each day. The time spent rehearsing outside of the school day for high school marching band varies, but it typically is not as demanding as the time commitment for college. My band only rehearsed for two nights a week during marching season, each being three hours. High school bands in my region generally only send the band to home football games, which are much shorter than college games. We simply have to play our show during halftime and sit for the rest of the time playing pep band tunes. However, high school bands participate in competitions. Most competitions run for half a day, usually on a Saturday. This is still less than college football games. Therefore, the time commitment is far greater for marching band at the college level.
I enjoy watching both high school and college marching bands and I like assessing the differences between them. It is fun to watch both types and learn from them.
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