What is Marching Band?

Marching Band is one of the best activities you can get into! Wikipedia has a good section on Marching Band found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marching_band . A Marching Band typically has a group of musicians and a color guard. They combine to musically and visually perform their show. During competitions each of the Bands will be graded by a panel of judges on music, marching, and visual elements of their show. This score then determines the placement of the Band at that competition.

When does it start?
Marching Band typically begins the 1st week of June with a Freshman Basics camp that last for 1 week. Many of the groups and sections will have their own optional practices on and off all summer. Typically the last two weeks of July is when Band Camp is held. Band camp is when the students learn anywhere from 1/3 of the show to over 2/3 of the show. After Band Camp the Band will begin using the Fall Practice schedule which normally is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM. On the weekends before competitions begin, it is typical to have a Saturday practice.

When is the Competition Season?
The Competition season usually starts the 2nd weekend in September and goes through the end of October. Competitions are held every Saturday during this time period. The marching season consists of non ISSMA events and then ISSMA District, ISSMA Regional, ISSMA Semi-State, and ISSMA State finals. How long the season goes depends on if you qualify for the next round beginning at District. By the time the band makes Semi-State you are down to 20 bands competing for 10 spots in the State Finals at the Lucas Oil Dome!

How is Marching Band Organized
Here is how Marching Band is organized in Indiana. Indiana uses a class system based on school size. The exact number of students in a school to qualify for a class varies with each year. This allows the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA, http://www.issma.net/index.php ) to keep approximately the same number of bands in each group. Class A bands are the largest bands and the class that Carroll performs in. The classes then go to Class B, Class C, and Class D with Class D being the smallest schools.

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