Reference
Pittman, A. (2021, October 1). The Marching Tar Heels at Wilson Library [digital photograph]. The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved October 16th, 2022 from https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2021/10/university-belltower-feature.
Script
Contrasting the loud sounds The Marching Tar Heels make on the field, the club is not discussed much on campus. At the one football game I attended, everyone was on their feet in the student section, so all I could observe of the band were the sounds they made. With all this sound coming from the club while still being fairly quiet as an organization, I wanted to find out what the motivations and benefits of marching band participation are as well as how marching bands contribute to school spirit in collegiate athletics.
My first observation was at the band’s Tuesday practice one week. Their practice lasted two hours on the football field of the Bill Koman Practice Complex with the time split between sectional and collective practice for 10 and 20 minutes, respectively. Sections were divided based on instruments. Each section practiced a new performance piece, meant for halftime shows. Then all 275 players collectively practiced the same piece.
The band’s new performance piece was the soundtrack of Stranger Things (2015-), including Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Although each of the sections were split up while initially practicing, there were times where their music aligned, fitting together like puzzle pieces. I felt like yelling “EUREKA” like Archimedes. Rather than jumping out of a bathtub, though, I tapped my foot, energized by the loud, upbeat music. This represented the marching band’s main goal of promoting school spirit at games, through loud, popular music – an idea supported by a 2016 study by Jason Cumberledge (Cumberledge, 2016, p. 45). The conductor even stated that the music must “reach the stands.”
This concept is evident in this image, where The Marching Tar Heels performed in front of Wilson Library in 2021 just before a Duke vs. UNC football game to prepare the students (Pittman, 2021).
I then interviewed Jake, a baritone player for The Marching Tar Heels.
To Jake, music means emotion. He believes The Marching Tar Heels’ performances contribute to school spirit, a sentiment shared by marching band performers in various colleges across the nation, as found in a survey by Wendy Matthews (Matthews, 2017, p. 191). I asked Jake why he joined the band in the first place, and he had two reasons: to meet new people and go to sporting events.
Discussing the first reason, Jake stated that he has been able to meet close friends in his own and other sections, but he interestingly feels his own individuality enhancing through the ideals of accountability and responsibility. On game days, every member must know exactly what to do. Jake jokingly remarked, “If I just do something as simple as stand in a different spot, I can mess up the whole thing.” While oxymoronic, I found this system to be logical for building teamwork. It emphasizes what their music does, that the sum is greater than the parts – each note must be perfect, and each member must be responsible.
In terms of Jake’s second reason, he noted that marching band members can attend all of UNC’s home sporting events for free, saving them up to $10,000 in ticket costs.
The Marching Tar Heels offer its members a sense of community, promotion of teamwork through individuality, and contribution to school to school spirit through energizing music.
However, marching bands’ integral role should not be continually ignored. Their contributions transcend just noise, and the volume of their music should match the volume of their recognition. This way, more students can be incentivized to join marching bands and reap their benefits. The first step towards this goal is for students and fans to truly observe and recognize the contributions of marching bands at collegiate sporting events.
Explication
Preface
Contrasting the loud sounds The Marching Tar Heels make on the field, the club is not discussed much on campus. Although I have been to a football game here on campus, I had only seen the band’s members running down the steps adjacent to the student section. Everyone was on their feet in the student section, so all I could observe of the band were the sounds they made and the music they played. With all this sound coming from the club while still being fairly quiet as an organization, despite it being one of the largest student organizations on campus, I assumed the club’s members may not be eager to participate. I wanted to find out what the motivations and benefits of marching band participation are as well as how marching bands contribute to school spirit in collegiate athletics.
Background Information
Marching bands are groups of students that perform music pieces that range from pop culture phenomenon to pep pieces. However, apart from just being a means of music performance, marching bands have often been considered as a tool for public relations (Garrison, 1986, p. 50). Through performing at educational institutions’ sporting events, marching bands utilize their music as a form of entertainment and source of energy, promoting athletic teams and universities’ core values. As a result, student bodies and institutions believe marching bands are “the most popular and essential music performance organization” (Garrison, 1986, p. 50).
In addition to being a means of entertainment for the public, the internal, interpersonal nature of marching bands is what attracts its members to participate: “Collegiate marching bands serve many functions on campus and contribute to both the musical and social life of the student body” (Matthews, 2017, p. 179). With a variety of instruments, marching bands offer advantages to its students that extend beyond just music as well – from teamwork to mathematics. Due to the sheer number of instruments and the collective nature of their required performance, teamwork is a concept instilled in marching band players as they perform with instruments different from their own, simultaneously. Additionally, following the music pieces’ rhythm to drill, or march, has been found to use and enhance concepts of mathematics of the players – an example of cross-cultural teaching (Cumberledge, 2016, p. 47).
However, at the root of marching band participation is the important role of teamwork and a sense of community. Through various on-campus performances and the practices leading up to said practices, a 2016 survey found that “Strong band performances can elicit a positive spirit at school and community events and provide esprit de corps among band and audience members” (Cumberledge, 2016, p. 45). Furthermore, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, student participants returned back to participate in marching bands across the nation for the very sense of community offered before the global pandemic (Cumberledge, 2021, p. 72).
The Marching Tar Heels are one of the largest student organizations at UNC with approximately 275 student members (Athletic bands, 2022). The band performs at all UNC home football games and one away game per season. Additionally, the band contains an olympic sport pep band that is focused pieces for sports events such as basketball. Meetings are fairly frequent for its members as they practice every Tuesday and Thursday (Athletic bands, 2022).
Observational Data and Analysis
My first observation was at the band’s Tuesday practice one week. Their practice lasted two hours on the football field of the Bill Koman Practice Complex with the time split between sectional and collective practice for 10 and 20 minutes, respectively. Sections were divided based on instruments. Each section practiced a new performance piece, meant for halftime shows. Then all 275 players collectively practiced the same piece.
The band’s new performance piece was the soundtrack of Stranger Things (2015-), including Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Although each of the sections were split up while initially practicing, there were times where their music aligned, fitting together like puzzle pieces. I felt like yelling “EUREKA” like Archimedes. Rather than jumping out of a bathtub, though, I tapped my foot, energized by the loud, upbeat music. This represented the marching band’s main goal of promoting school spirit at games, through loud, popular music – a goal at the basis of marching band performances (Cumberledge, 2016, p. 45). The conductor even stated that the music must “reach the stands.”
However, teamwork was evident even deeper in the band. One student, a girl, appeared tired as she sat on the turf between collective and sectional practice. It was not long before another girl, who appeared older, came to speak to her. Through their conversation, the girl on the turf slowly moved her eyes from the ground to her, acknowledging what she was being told. Now with a light smile, she went to join practice as her friend patted her on the back saying, “Do good.” This demonstration of camaraderie represents the importance of teamwork in marching band as a motivating factor as well as the sense of community the band provides. Disproving my assumption that members are not eager to participate in the band, this interaction demonstrated that members are willing to persevere in the club, even during practice, as the girl returned to her section to keep practicing music from Stranger Things (2015-).
My second observation was an interview with Jake (a pseudonym of their choosing) a baritone player for The Marching Tar Heels. I asked Jake why he joined the band in the first place, and he had two reasons: meet new people and go to the games. Jake noted that marching band members can attend all of UNC’s home sporting events for free, saving them up to $10,000 in ticket costs which seems like fair compensation since members dedicate upwards of eight hours per week contributing to school spirit through music.
Jake remarked that while he has been able to meet close friends within the band, he feels his own individuality enhancing through the ideals of accountability and responsibility. Each member must know where to stand and what to do at the right times. Jake jokingly remarked, “I’ve thought about this before. If I just do something as simple as stand in a different spot, I can mess up the whole thing.” While oxymoronic, I found this system to be logical for teamwork since it emphasizes the same idea their music does, the sum is greater than the parts – each note must be perfect and each member must be responsible.
Jake said, “Music means emotion to me.” He believes The Marching Tar Heels performances contribute to school spirit, a sentiment shared by marching band performers in various colleges across the nation, as found in a survey (Matthews, 2017, p. 191). Anytime the UNC football team gets to a first down, The Marching Tar Heels play a quick celebratory “pep” piece. Although the performance is quick, it reflects the emotions of the student body as the football team inches closer to the endzone to score. While the UNC football team is on defense, Jake remarked that the band makes loud noises so that the opponents cannot hear the defensive decisions being made. I never noticed these details and was surprised that the marching band is this involved in sports games to an extent that tactically advances the team.
Conclusion
The Marching Tar Heels’ members are motivated to join the marching band due to the sense of community offered and opportunity to contribute to school spirit through energizing music. Once a part of the band, members benefit from the promotion of teamwork through enhancing their individuality and attending all home athletic events, free of cost.
I was quite intrigued by the importance of music. From more evident aspects, such as the band energizing the student body through loud music, to less noticeable aspects, such as The Marching Tar Heels making noise to keep offensive teams from hearing UNC football’s defensive decisions, marching bands are vital in promoting school spirit.
As marching bands have their own sense of community and build the same on school campuses through their music, their integral role in fostering school spirit should not be continually ignored. Their contributions transcend just noise, and the volume of their music should match the volume of their recognition. This way, more students can be incentivized to join marching bands and reap their benefits. The first step towards this goal is for students and fans to truly observe and recognize the contributions of marching bands at collegiate sporting events. Then with increasing popularity, the club can be heard off the field as powerfully as it is heard on the field.
References:
Athletic bands. (2022). UNC Bands. https://bands.web.unc.edu/athletic-bands/.
Cumberledge, J. P. (2021). Band together: How college marching band students perceived community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 39(3), 67-74. https://doi.org/10.1177/87551233211003839.
Cumberledge, J. P. (2016). The benefits of college marching bands for students and universities: a review of the literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 36(1), 44–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755123316682819.
Garrison, P. K. (1986). The value of marching band. Music Educators Journal, 72(5), 48–52. https://doi.org/10.2307/3396614.
Matthews, W. K. (2017). “Stand by Me”: a mixed method study of a collegiate marching band members’ intragroup beliefs throughout a performance season. Journal of Research in Music Education, 65(2), 179–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429417694875.
Featured Image:
Google Images, Creative Commons License