The feeling of performing at competitions

Some people do not know that marching band competes in competitions.  Marching band competitions involve bands from different groups.  The group number depends on the size of the band.  For example, our band competes as a group five, because the Quakertown Marching Band contains more people than most high schools.  Because of the size of our group, we don’t get to compete with a lot of other bands our size.  If no other group five band performs, we automatically win in our group, but we will still perform and can try to do better than other groups.

             Many judges attend marching band competitions.  Sometimes they walk on the field in the middle of a field show talking into their recorder, while other times they stand off to the front sideline.  Judges also sit in the box at the top of the stadium in order to judge overall effect.  According to wikipedia, “Bands are usually judged on criteria such as musicality, uniformity, visual impact, artistic interpretation, and difficulty of music and drill.”  Many judges watch the show and each of them focus on a certain aspect in order to come up with a score.  Finally, the scores of each judge average together to form one final score.

            Performing makes all of the crazy amount of hours we practice worth it.  At competitions, we show how hard we worked by staying focused and having a great show.  Competition days last a while.  The first half of the day, we practice.  During this time, we fine-tune any problems and do run-throughs of the show, so we become prepared for the performance.  After practice, we eat and then sit for a long bus ride.  When we arrive at the school of the competition, we flip the switch and stay focused and determined.  Once again, we warm up and practice basics.  We also have section psych up time to feel pumped up and ready for our show.  Then, we all walk over to the stadium as a group and think about our performance. 

Quakertown Marching Band competes in the USSBA (United States Scholastic Band Association) competition circuit.  Wikipedia says, “USSBA was formed in 1988.  Over 700 high school bands compete during the fall season with bands of similar size and talent.  Each competition provides approximately 40 professional judges.  At the seasons end, the top 50 bands are invited to compete in the USSBA championship, which is hosted at a college or professional stadium.”  Our band competes in the national championship competition at the naval stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.  For me, I like this performance the best.  It’s the last competition of our season and always the best stadium we perform in.  We, the Quakertown Panther Marching Band, stand and wait anxiously , on November 6th, 2010 until the previous band finishes. The excitement takes over my nerves, as I know we will do great. Then we walk down through the tunnel and into the naval stadium, already in performance mode. Ready to throw down and give it our all, we know it's the last time we will perform this show with this group of people.  The bleachers contain the words "Go Navy" on them with hundreds of people watching.  Two TV screens show us as we walk across the turf about to perform. After scrambling to place props on the field, we wait for the first downbeat.  We march hard and play our hearts out, as we realize we will no longer perform this show again.  Pushing to the end and taking the last step, I feel sad that the show ended , but great about our performance. People may wonder why we practice so much and why we do this to ourselves.  We do it for ourselves and the feeling of performing and hearing people cheer for us.  In the end, knowing that we improved and did our best performance matters more than the score.