Most of the time, when halftime hits, people will sit in the stands while the marching band plays. The problem is though, the marching band gets judged, berated, and/or made fun of while they are playing. However, barely anyone knows how much work goes into a seven minute performance.

Here is the life of your Sahuaro High School Marching Band Member. First there is band camp, which lasts the whole week prior to school starting. Band camp is from 8-5 Monday-Friday and we are out on the football field from 8-12, learning how to march and getting in shape with physical training (PT). The time we are outside is typically the hottest part of the day. After lunch, the band spends the rest of time inside learning the music for that year’s show.

Throughout the year the band has to get to school at 6:45 every morning (before school technically starts), and has to get the drill for the show and memorize the music. The hardest part about being in the Sahuaro Marching Band, is that we are small. The band only consists of 38 people. That causes a disadvantage in more ways than one: First, sound quality – the band sounds quieter due to the size, also the band, come competition season, gets judged tougher than the bigger bands do. If one person plays a wrong note, the judges can hear it, if one person’s feet are wrong, the judges will see it.  Furthermore, the band has rehearsals after schools on Thursdays, football games on Fridays, and the competitions are Saturdays.

The life of a marching band member is always busy and always stressful. Before judging a marching band, consider how much work they put in to perform. Marching band is not as easy as it looks.