How's band at your schools?

[chiggles]

Hey guys!! Happy 4th of July!! Now to the real stuff. Do all of your band programs place marching band and concert band together in a package? I heard that some bands allow their students to choose, or there are exceptions for students, but I've only heard that from some of the friends I met from 2 other schools not particularly close to my area, so I would like to get any input from you guys! Basically, is it possible at your schools to do only concert band but not marching band? (btw, I'm in the Austin area)

I absolutely love music and playing my instrument but I'm facing a pretty big dilemma right now because our schools packages the two together. 

[vincentlee1220]

I just graduated from Vista Ridge HS (from Cedar Park, about 30 minutes north of downtown Austin).

 

Our entire school district treats "band" as a single program, which you have a concert and a marching component of. Barring any medical reason, it's all-or-nothing for our students.

I don't think that's such a bad thing, however. You learn teamwork, discipline, and responsibility on the field. You form really special bonds with your friends that just don't happen during concert band. And those things in turn help your excellence during concert band.

Different schools do different things, I think some of the Austin ISD high schools have separated halves. However, I would recommend you at least giive marching band a shot, it's life-changing! (Even more so if you have good friends around you along the way)! Put some serious effort into your first season, and I bet you'll be wanting more

 

Happy fourth, and good luck!

[Bonelife]

At Westlake we also have both marching band and concert band (really most of our year is concert, we don't do any marching outside of august-november, and even then we have weekly assignments from our TMEA solos) and I think it's great. It feels like two completely different classes and it's really nice to have something to look forward too.

 

Honestly I prefer marching band, though. You'll have so much fun. It's great to represent one big ensemble instead of your school's 2nd or 4th band and have a little friendly competition instead of just a 1 or best in class at UIL. And football games are a blast.