Don't forget about the marching band

I can still smell the football field. It was hot and sticky-sweet, parched from months of brutal summer sunshine but holding on to a respectable shade of green. On an early August evening, we marched and played our notes with pride — heads up, shoulders back.

We, the Rivercrest High School Rebels, were the best marching band in East Texas Class AA, and without any intentional conceit, we knew it.

Our school wasn’t very large, no more than 250 students in high school and less than 50 in our high school band, but everyone took pride in our sweet sounds.

Leading up to the first football game of the year, the band practiced everyday after school, most of the time in brutal August heat.

It’s hard to describe what being in a marching band is like for those who’ve never done it. For one thing, it’s very difficult. You not only have to memorize music, but steps that fit into the counts of the music as well. Left, right, left. A flat, B, A, C, C. It requires perfect coordination, otherwise disaster strikes — wrong notes, uncoordinated steps and crooked lines.

In the summer heat, it’s especially hard to concentrate on complicated routines, but somehow you do it. It’s like any touring entertainment show: You learn your routine, perform it at home, then take it on the road and hope for the best.

I picked up my first trumpet in sixth grade, and my father, who has been a band director for more than 40 years, taught me everything I know. I was never forced into band, I wanted to do it because it looked fun. And it is fun.

I wish more people would realize how hard band students work to entertain the half-time crowds. Sadly, though, most people are visiting the concession stand or talking on their phones when the band takes the field.

I can say from experience that there’s nothing more heartbreaking to a band student than an unresponsive crowd. The band is just as much a part of a school’s pride and heart as the football, basketball, baseball and other teams. They work just as hard and learn just as many things, yet they get little recognition.

Whether you have a student in band or not, you should take time to listen to your school’s band this football season. You might be surprised at what can be heard and seen.

There’s nothing more visceral than a really good marching band, as every sense is tickled by notes and visuals. There are
bright colored flags that swirl and weave their way across the field, glitzy uniforms with plumed hats and button-down coats, and music — sweet music — that fills the thick night air, hanging over the bleachers before resting at the far corners of the stadium.

And when band students finish a show, there’s no better feeling than seeing the crowd erupt into applause. It’s at that very moment when, standing there, bright lights in your face, lips numb and exhausted, you know all of those hot summer afternoons paid off.