Dear college band kid,

We’ve all felt that rush. Those ten minutes before the big football game, and/or that 15 minutes during half time. You feed off of the crowd’s energy, or sometimes lack there of, and you make them know that your team has entered the stadium.

Not the football team. YOUR TEAM.

THE MARCHING BAND.

For those 15 minutes, the band is the entertainment to an audience, but to you and your fellow band geeks, those 15 minutes are weeks of hard work and dedication. It's pushing that assignment until Wednesday because you have practice Tuesday night. It’s learning “dot” after “dot”, chart after chart, drill after drill, sequence to sequence. It can be frustrating, and also stressful, but from a fellow band geek, I’m here to tell you that band is something that teaches you so much more than just 60 charts and a few songs.

Compromise

We’ve all had that one diagonal line that never seems to match up when you are supposed to hit the chart. You want to just yell, because the saxophone player next to you can not seem to make it where you’ve told him to go three times now. This makes the rest of the line set to a different form, and as band kids do, we argue about who is on their “dot” and who is actually fitting the form. This is undoubtedly a stressful situation, but the line works together to fix the problem on their own and work it out. You learn to move slightly left so that the line stays on the same angle, even though it may not be exactly where your dot is. This teaches you that sometimes you might have to work with others to find some solutions, even though it may not be exactly what you want or think.

Discipline

You and I both know this, but when you’re set, you are SET. There is no talking, no moving, and you are to have your chin up and eyes straight-ahead. You’re told to be in the band room by 11, but you know that he really means 10:30. When you are practicing, there is no talking on the field when the director is talking, and you stay in your spot while he checks the chart. Band teaches you that you must carry yourself with dignity, self-discipline, and respect throughout life to get tasks completed.

Teamwork

As I said before, you’ve felt that energy when you hit that big chart or the push or that amazing chord that resonates in the stadium for what feels like forever. The crowd cheers and gives you a standing ovation, and you can feed off of their energy for the rest of the football game. Now even though you personally have to learn 65 different charts and memorize at least four songs, you might be a band student, but you are not the marching band. You have to learn to rely on 150+ peers to create that entire picture that the announcer calls the marching band. That is what is truly amazing about band: each of you works as hard as they can, but your name is not going to be put in the newspaper tomorrow. Your face will not be put up on the big screen, and all of you are not doing all of this work to be drafted into the NFL or the NBA. You work as hard as you do for the good of the entire band, not yourself.

Support

Throughout your years in band, you will see many changes. Maybe it’s something as simple as a new assistant band director, or a new section leader every year. Maybe it’s a little more personal, like a degree change or a friend’s wedding. Sometimes these may even be serious like the diagnosis of a new illness, or a death in the family. No matter what the change is, you can count on your band friends being there to pick you up and dust you off. They will cry with you. They will laugh with you. They will be at the hospital after your surgery. They will be your maid of honor or your best man. After spending years together: where they’ve seen you sick, sweaty, shirtless, excited, exhausted, or frustrated, they know you. They know you better than you may even know yourself. They aren’t just friends, they are family.

Now, I am not saying that marching band is easy. I’ve been there when the song falls apart, when you miss a chart that the entire curve guides to you during, or maybe when you set the wrong tempo for the entire band. Sometimes even the director throws in that crazy idea, where you shake your head and think, “That won't work.” You laugh, or maybe you talk to your section leader, or a drum major, but as always, the band director personally overrides it, and you do it anyway. But after a week or so, you realize that you will make it there, in that many counts, in that exact way. I promise I have been there. We’ve all been there.

But I am here to tell you that it is worth it. Band is worth it. Band is worth those little arguments and mistakes. It will show you just how incredible the support system that you have built is. We are all here because we loved high school band, or maybe we just wanted to continue playing.

Some people may never experience this incredible feeling of those Saturday lights or that feeling when the line finally matches up. But you do. You get to feel these moments, and you get to live with music in your heart. You live and breathe band, as we all do. So don’t give up, don’t give in, and most importantly… Fit the form.

Sincerely,

Your friendly college band geek