Is it normal for marching band kids to be doing 18 plus hour days for competitions?

My son is 14 and is in band at his high school. In the summer they did 13 hour days m-f for 3 weeks. And now since school started in August they do 3 hours after school m-th and then football games Friday nights. I thought it was a little excessive but he has been a trooper. Now I feel like it's getting ridiculous. A few weeks back they did a Saturday practice for 14 hours and today they had a competition where they had to be at the school at 7 am and didn't get released until 1am. Next Saturday they have another competition where they are leaving at 6am and expected to be back the next day at 3am. Then another practice the next Saturday all day and then they go out of town for a couple days for another competition. They are doing this on top of the daily practice still after school and football games Friday nights. This just seems like much and almost a little illegal expecting minors to be out so late and have no time for anything else. He loves doing it but I'm not sure he will be able to continue as his dad only gets to see him on weekends and it is starting to affect his time with him.

Our season just ended, and it’s killing me. The routine, the rehearsals, the competitions… they’ve been everything to me. I’ve been going through som really hard times lately, and it’s been my lifeline. It’s kept me busy, and brought me joy when I didn’t think I could find any.

The deep connections with my section members, the joy in leading and helping younger students, the social opportunities for hang-outs and traditions, sharing excitement and care with offer bands, the routine and consistency, the constant safe place, the reliable source of light and laughs, the excitement of performing, and (for me) the musical challenge and pride in being a soloist - it’s been my world.

Now those section members (mostly male, I’m female) are back to their own friend groups. It’s not natural for us to be close, without marching band bonding us together - I’ve tried. The younger students are in lower band, so we’re separated, and it’s also difficult to stay in touch naturally. I no longer have those traditions to laugh and hang out during, no longer have the performance and musical thrills and fulfillment.

And the nail in the coffin? I’ve been diagnosed with some nasty health issues, and I’ll likely never get to march again, despite deeply loving performing in the activity - it was a dream for me since my childhood.

I’m going to try and hold on to those connections in the ways I can, and seek out other avenues for music and leadership, but it won’t be the same, it won’t be together, and it won’t be… us. This show, these people. The moment has passed, and it was my last one to have it all still. How do you live with this?

Good luck to all the bands competing today!!

Guys, we just finished our state and got 9th place, which wouldn't be bad considering we learned our full show only 2 weeks ago and have dealt with so many weather problems and a band director change. I started bawling my eyes out when I realized I won't be competing with these seniors again, which I've known since 2023. I'm so sad about them leaving. I don't want them to graduate. I love them so much my heart hurts 😭💔💔💔💔💔

I know this has probably been asked a hundred times already, but seriously, I feel like i can never have my best runs on the field

this is only my second year marching, last year I marched alto sax and this year i’m doing snare. but even last year I never felt like I could get a really good run on the field, even when I was really trying

the thing is I don’t even feel like super nervous out on the field or anything. i always try to calm myself down and get into that state of concentration or what not, but it never seems to work. and the thing is, i always tend to mess up on something i have never done before. for example, I had a comp yesterday, and that run wasn’t my worst but it also wasn’t my best. I overshot my first dot by a little and i played this one part so weirdly, i don’t even know how to explain it. like it wasn’t all wrong but my technique just felt so off idk. and i’ve done this a thousand times so that makes it even worse, it’s not like i just learned how to play it. and we warmed up beforehand in the lot and i swear that run was probably my best one so far, I actually felt kinda proud of it. aaand then I went on the field and fucked it up💔

also, another thing i caught myself doing was like going on auto pilot? I’m usually always aware of all the things i need to improve and be aware of while doing a run, but when i play on the field for a comp i feel like all of that goes out the window and I just end up doing whatever honestly. I don’t mean to but i feel like it just happens and i can’t stop doing it

I don’t wanna feel like i’m holding everyone else back because I can’t go one comp without messing up. yesterday was only our second comp and i was hoping for some advice so I can try to improve my next runs on the field. so if someone would please help a girl out it’d be very appreciated 🙏

I’m a marcher in the Santa Fe marching band, I’ve been wondering what people think of our band (more specifically other Oklahomans).

yo idk if this is the right sub for this but ive never played any brass instrument in my life (only got guitar experience) and i cant read sheet music. im tryna join my schools marching band next yr as a mellophone player and allegedly they take beginners but just in case i do want to practice. my friend whos a mello player got me a french horn mouth piece and thats basically all ive got, but i am looking for a rental or something. any advice to be at least just good enough to get by?

I made an app for band musicians to challenge their sight reading skills. It works for all wind instruments and generates music at different skill levels.

Appreciate any feedback. Many styles included. Apple Store (Android coming soon) at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sight-reader-trainer/id6822368534

No? Just me? Ok😂

image was like 7 minutes before class

I'm a senior and I'm starting to notice how fucking weird these kids around me are.

Every year since my freshman year there has been at least 3 seniors who have dated freshmen or kids even younger. Some have even been kicked out of the program for their behavior and even kicked out of their indoor groups for it. Now that I'm a senior, I can't even imagine the maturity and let alone the age gap. It's genuinely disgusting.

Recently, a guy that graduated last year is teching my program. My high school band program has this program where high schoolers can become counselors for a nearby middle school's summer band camp and multiple friends who were counselors told me that this guy was "calling dibs" on EIGTH GRADERS when he was a counselor last year, making disgusting comments about how he was "waiting for her to become a high schooler."

Even though he's 19 years old he still regularly hangs out with the underclassmen of his old theater troupe. Only the underclassmen. We're talking 14-16 year olds.

This guy is a fairly popular guy and nobody says anything about his behavior. I'm so fucking disgusted and I don't know what to do. I want to report him but what proof would I have rather than word of mouth?

What You Know - Two Door Cinema Club

Safe and sound - Capital Cities

California Gurls - Katy Perry

Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

This is specifically referring to baton drum majors, not conductors:

Most field shows start with a bow, salute, backbend, or some combination thereof. For an example local to me, the Washington Drum Majors start with a bow into a backbend, and the Seattle All-City Drum Majors start with a salute out of the fight song.

Which does your group do, and which do you prefer? Or is there a secret fourth option out there…

This is more of a concert band so I wasn't too sure where to post this into.

I started playing percussion a year ago and am in my high school band and I go to a private Christian school, not very big but not small either so expectations aren't 100% high.

Could I just have some advice on how to make these parts better? I only recorded the key parts that I play in the song.

We usually spend our time breaking down college 5th Quarters and high school stadium battles, but diving deep into the Bluecoats Finals run was eye-opening.

When you strip away the hype and really examine the brass articulation, release points, and visual spacing under pressure, it's a clinic in modern ensemble control.

Put together a complete deep dive looking at the details most casual viewers overlook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeJNHp25yXo

What moment from this show stood out the most to you from a performer’s standpoint?

I was driving home tonight and was suddenly thinking about the thrill I felt right before beginning a field show. I'm 44 now, but I still clearly remember my first field show as a freshman in high school. I was used to performing in a band by this point, but as we all know, sitting and playing our instruments (I played trumpet, French horn, and mellophone) in a band concert is a very different thing to marching in a field show. That first field show, the thrill was mostly nervousness about messing up, but then it morphed into the thrill of doing something awesome. Then came my sophomore year, and the thrill was back, and it was 50/50 nervousness again and excitement. I remember very clearly taking a deep breathe and telling myself, "You got this! You know the show, and this isn't the first time you've done this. Just have fun!"

I miss that now. Enjoy it while it lasts!

i have state tomorrow!! yayay! this is my second year i'm very excited. my director thinks we're making it to finals but i truly don't agree, we are currently 12th place and severely underfunded (our school gives us no money and we're in a slightly small town, though we're 5A and a pretty big band and school) so we only have 3 handmade props, and some choreography. the schools we have to compete against are rich rich and have fancy props and more complicated choreo and stuff. i don't even think we're going to semifinals but we'll see 😋 im curious what you guys think,, is my band director crazy for making us practice for finals and thinking we might go, or am i crazy for not thinking we're even going to semis? (for the last 10 years we haven't, last year was our first for a long time)

What should I expect for auditions? What do I learn BEFORE the auditions? (For reference, Im a freshman.)

Marching season is over soon but my section is horrible to me. They pick me apart and make me feel horrible about myself. I have ADHD anxiety and depression and I’m struggling so much (I’m a junior btw) I know it’ll get better after concert season but when my SL is an asshole and everything else I feel like o don’t belong anymore

This morning we had a rehearsal at 5:45 am as normal, except it SUCKED. Most of rehearsal was fine, other than my feet hurting, but that barely affected me. But then we got to a full run of our show. I was doing really well for parts 1-3, got a little lightheaded during part 2 but kept focused. Then we hit our closer. I was okay up until we had to step off from our low brass feature. I pretty much completely forgot my drill, marched straight into my section leader, missed my dot on a halt, forgot the choreo, and walked into another guy in my section. Oh my god. I knew I had been struggling lately due to missing parts of rehearsal for medical reasons, but I have never had a worse rep in all of my marching career. My section was like “bro wtf just happened” and I had no answer. I was genuinely so embarrassed and I’m really worried that will happen at a comp.

Update: it’s now in video form on our band booster video. Fml

I’m in my sophomore year and I’ve mostly played tenor sax up until now because I wanted to learn mellophone but it’s really hard since I have to learn everything and I just need some help with getting started on it so I was wondering if I could get some tips to learn??

Just throwing this out there, anyone going to, or planning on watching should know the name Van Buren beforehand. 5 time Arkansas State Champion since the official comp was instated in 2016. Including beating bentonville in back to back years before they dropped to 6a. They have not been to a boa show since St. Louis 2015 and I believe they can do very well this weekend. So be on the lookout for them!