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A School band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform together. The band is usually under the direction one or more Conductors (or Band Directors). Bands in school are Wind Bands, consisting of wind and percussion instruments and often a String Bass.

Types of ensembles within the school band program

Beginning band

Students in the United States generally start band in the 6th or 7th Grade. Though some do start as early as elementary. Generally, when they first start, all the students comprise one band, although parts of that band (e.g. woodwinds, brass) may meet separately. The Beginning band usually gives 2 or 3 concerts a year, and may participate in a contest. These bands are given easy but challenging music to learn, and to play. Students sometimes may be required to memorize the 12 major scales and hand in practice logs.

Middle School/Junior High

Middle Schools (For the purposes of this article, 6-8th Grades) band structure vary based on size. In the United States, Middle school bands beyond the beginner level are usually split into Intermediate Classes for students in their first year after beginner classes, and real bands (meaning, bands that meet as a whole, and usually require auditions) for students in their second year after beginner classes. The bands are usually divided much like High School bands, students auditioning and being placed in a succession of bands according to their ability on their instrument. But it's usually up the instructor, if and when auditions are done. Some will automatically bump you up to the intermidate level band, while others will have auditions. The instrumentation is very much like that listed below for High School, perhaps a little bit larger in some places. Depenidng on the budget and instuctor, Middle school bands may, attend 2 or even 3 contests a year, and most play at a few of the schools Football games, in addititon to feature shows, depending on the region. A typical middle school will have 1 or 2 real bands, depending on size.

High School

After their beginning year, students usually audition and are placed in one of a series of bands according to their aptitude, the 1st Band being the band where the best students go. The other students are placed in the 2nd band, 3rd band, etc. Bands are usually given more formal names than "1st" and "2nd", although many people refer to them by these names anyway, given the wide variance of names between schools. An example of a "Band Succession" would be:
  • Symphonic I
  • Symphonic II
  • Concert I
  • Concert II

However, these names vary greatly by school, and region. "Wind Ensemble" is sometimes used as the 1st band, in which case "Symphonic I" refers to the 2nd band. In general, "Symphonic x" is superior to "Concert x". 4-Year High Schools may also have a "Freshman Band", where they place students in the 9th Grade.

Some schools (usually 3-year) will have just one Symphonic Band as the superior group along with Concertband, and string orchestras. Some symphonic bands may be fully comprised of brass players, or it will intergrate come concert time. Depending on the instructor, he/she may teach Strings as well as Brass Bands.

High School bands are usually the ones who play at football and/or basketball games. Some places in the U.S. refer these as Pep-Bands, while in other parts of the U.S. the marching band take the job. (Usually depends on the region, state, and budget)

Chamber ensembles

Schools rarely have chamber music ensembles that meet as real classes. Usually it depends on the region, state and budget. Most of these groups are ad hoc ensembles put together by the director or the students for a contest or recital. Examples would be Clarinet quartets, woodwind quintet, brass quintet, duets, and trios. Groups comprising of the entire woodwind or brass section of a band are also sometimes formed.

Although rare, states like Utah do have full classes for string ensembles as well as concert slots. If a school does have a chamber ensemble it would likely line up like this:

  • Beginning Strings/Orchesta

  • Intermidate Strings/Orchestra

  • Advanced/Symphonic Orchestra.

Depending on the school, some will have Beginning to Intermidate at the Middle School Level. Advanced are usually at the high school level. The teacher may also be the teacher of the Bands, depending on the school and teacher.

Jazz band

Many schools have Jazz bands, and most of them meet as an actual class during the school day. A typical band will consist of 2-5 Trumpets, 2-4 Trombones, a Bass Trombone, 1 or 2 Alto Saxes, 1 or 2 Tenor Saxes, a Bari Sax, Drums, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano, and a Vibraphone. School Jazz bands often attend competitions, and give concerts.

Marching band

Many schools, especially United States high schools, have a marching band. A school marching band can consist of from 20 to over 500 students, although they typically consist of between 75 and 150. Marching bands usually attend Football games, play songs in the stands, and march a show during Halftime. Marching bands typically attend several competitions a year, and rehearse before or after school almost every school day during marching season. A show is usually between 7 and 10 minutes long, but many competitions place restrictions on length.

Instruments in school bands

Below is a list of the instrumentation in a typical 1st band at a High School. Middle School/Junior High bands are usually around the upper values for each instrument. Instrumentation in beginner bands is usually much larger than this. College and professional bands generally have smaller numbers of players.

Woodwind

Brass

Percussion

There are a variety of other auxiliary percussion instruments used on specific pieces.

Repertoire

Bands are able to play a wide variety of music, ranging from baroque music to Sousa marches to pop music. Most of the Wind Band repertoire consists of transcriptions of pieces formally written for orchestra, supplemented by marches. There are few pieces other than marches written straight for wind band, some of the most notable being Holst's Second Suite in F, Graingers Childrens march, Graingers Lincolnshire Posy. Middle school bands are typically limited to easier music. Good high school bands can play almost any piece written for band, with the exception of some incredibly difficult modern pieces (such as Maslanka's Symphonies).

External links

Music education | Marching bands | Wind bands

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "School band".

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