The school has not let freshmen march in competition marching shows until the 2018 fall season. In previous years, freshmen have been in Silver Band, a class separate from upperclassmen, but, this year freshmen had the opportunity to audition for Blue Band.

While Silver Band teaches freshmen to first learn how to march and enhance their sound, Blue Band allows upperclassmen to learn and practice the show they eventually bring to competition. Freshmen have been separate from the upperclassmen mainly due to a lack of uniforms, but with the new uniforms the band received last year, there is now an opportunity to make the band better by adding all incoming freshman into Blue Band.

There are numerous benefits of freshmen having an introductory year, such as being able to develop both marching and musical skills, as well as building a dedication to band. By being introduced to the upperclassmen a year earlier, the freshmen can help build upon their families within their separate sections and with the entire band.

While there are a few benefits to having an introductory class for freshmen, there are many more positives to adding freshmen into blue band instead. If freshmen were implemented in Blue Band, the band would be fuller and there would not be a need for a second class dedicated to freshmen. Combining the two could open up another block for marching band, giving the band more time to clean up their movements for competitions. If more time was given to the band, they could learn new sets at a faster rate and would have time to learn more new songs. Therefore, they could perform more of a variety of songs at home games.

To prepare for the intensity of high school marching band, the incoming freshmen would need to have a deeper introduction of marching in middle school and a couple extra days of band camp. This year, it was proven by four freshman that it is possible to succeed in marching band as a freshman. Each of them brings new talent to their sections. If freshmen continue to have an introductory course for marching before their sophomore year, then some students will lose their dedication to band and choose to not continue band after freshman year. This may be due to the fact that they have not had the proper band experience of performing a show. I believe Silver Band has a completely different atmosphere than Blue Band due to the variety of people to make relationships with in Blue Band, and the raw environment of Silver Band.

Although a semester of practice greatly benefited me in my marching ability for this year’s competition season, I believe that dedicated freshman would be a huge benefit to the band by enlarging the amount of band members, strengthening the interclass friendships of the band and expanding the talent and variety in the marching band.