DEFINITION, HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS.

WHAT IS A MARCHING BAND?

A marching band or martial band is a physical and artistic activity.

consisting of a music bandicalmade up of metal wind instruments, wind
wood and percussion, which usually participate in parades, marching with style
military chanting different types of melodies, generally pieces of any
musical genres adapted to the instruments of the band.
Originally from the United States, this musical genre has spread to various parts.
of the world. The most notable countries are Mexico, Thailand, Japan, and COLOMBIA.

HIS STORY
In the era of wars and conquests, each war squad had a special group.
of men who were walking to the beat of drums and sticks alongside the
squadrons to make themselves felt, or it was also used when they were going to be beheaded or executed.
the enemies, these were called war bands at that time they were no more than 4 or
8 people, if anything.

Afterwards, the story began to change and they started inserting that type of groups into others.
groups (redundant as it may be) foreign to the military and so on until reaching the creation of
war bands in educational institutions, obviously the members did not exceed 10,
As time went by, the number of members continued to grow.
number of instruments.

ITS MAIN CHARACTERISTICS ARE:

1. Use of uniforms with military characteristics, decorated with some

native cultural reference of the country where the band is from (in the case of the
bands at a national level (a reference to the city or institution they are from)
2. Woodwind instruments: commonly, clarinets, flutes
crosses, alto saxophones, tenors, sopranos, baritones, and piccolos. Wind-
trumpets, trombones, tubas, mellophones.
drums, multi-tenors, and cymbals.
3. A body of animation, flags or flag bearers.
4. Director in charge
COMPLEMENTOS:

ATTITUDE AND APTITUDE:

When forming a marching band or belonging to one, each member must
to have spirit, availability of time, energy, and a great desire to work.
(Attitude) In addition, one should have a minimum knowledge of music (at least knowing
what is that) and discipline (Fitness).
ORDER CLOSED:
The closed order is one of the fundamental parts of a marching band due to
that bands, being martial, submit without exception to a military or semi-
military that depends on the band and the modality. In the close order we observe:
MARCH: (A way to mark the rhythm of a piece through the steps taken by the
member).
SQUARE TURNS:
When a band reaches a corner, the turns must be marked, uniform, and not in
block else by student).
ALIGNMENT:
In the lineup, we see how the entire band is completely straight, without a single
member outside the squad. COVERED in the cover we see how the whole
completely straight band, with not a single member outside of the line.

RHYTHMIC CADENCE:

The rhythmic cadence goes hand in hand with the march, It is the way the step goes.
march of a band according to the theme being interpreted and is determined by
number of steps taken per minute e.g. If a bolero is played, the rhythmic cadence is
at 50 steps per minute, while if a merengue is played the rhythmic cadence is:
180 steps per minute; then we will say: 'X or Y' band manages cadences of 180 and 50
this is how the rhythmic cadence is determined.

UNIFORM:
This part is key for a band, the more beautiful and elegant it is, the better.
Members must always be very neat, wearing their uniform properly.
even more so if it is a military uniform, the haircut for men should be
military in terms of young ladies should have braids, and without accessories.

HANDLING AND MOVEMENTS:

This is a very particular little piece of the bands, apart from the fact that a band must.
to touch and be attentive to its closed order, it must also include a series of
movements and figures that are made with the different articles with which
we interpret the instruments They are usually given uniform turns
cowhide mauls and beaters. This makes the bands attractive and causes them to be stolen.
looks and applause from the audience.

MUSICALITY:
Musicality is the foundation of a band; without music, there is no band. As for music, the
bands can play anything, from a bolero to reggaeton (according to their
The bands must have a very good repertoire to captivate.
CUTS AND ENTRIES, a band must enter synchronously, if it starts to
play that it is the whole band or, failing that, the block when the song suggests it that way,
the same must happen with the end of the songs, it must be a unanimous cut.
cut with great precision and the whole band must do it. TRANSFERS: they are rhythms
shorts that are made between topics, before they were just rhythms; there were no interventions or lyres
Only the percussion was done without winds. SHADES: It's when the band sometimes quiets down.
his tone and raises it again several times.

Marching Bands are divided into categories and modalities:

CATEGORIES

The categories are those that define a band according to the group's order and its
structure:

FEMALE CATEGORY: It is the category where only young ladies interact.

MALE CATEGORY: It is the category where only men interact.
MIXED CATEGORY: It is the category in which both men and women participate.
CHILDREN'S CATEGORY: It is the category where children between the ages of 5 and 12
years are the representatives
YOUTH CATEGORY: It is the category where young people from the age of 13 participate.
forward

MODALITIES:

The modalities determine the type of band taking into account its instrumentation.
and its musicality:

TRADITIONAL MODE, TRADITIONAL:

In this mode, the bands are seen more for their military aspect than for their musical one, a band
Traditional is that which carries: sticks, lyres, timbas, bass drums, cymbals, granaderas.
Snare drums· Bugles. The closed order of this band must be excellent, these
bands are the reflection of a marching band, their maneuvers or movements (vaquetas
sticks and mallets) must be very pronounced. The musicality of this band is governed
for military themes, tropical such as boleros and cumbias or very direct tunes
the rhythmic cadence should be slow

TRADITIONAL LATIN MODE or MARTIAL MUSICIAN:

This modality is very cheerful despite the fact that they must maintain a very good order.

closed is a way of dancing and enjoying it. The traditional Latin category is
those who carry batons, lyres, tambourines, bass drums, cymbals, grenadiers, snare drums
tontons, timbales, merengue timbales, guaches, guiros, guacharacas, congas
bongos, call instruments, and any Latin instrument, can also carry horns.
but no trumpets. Unlike the normal traditional ones, how can we give ourselves
account can carry everything related to Latin instrumentation which gives this
mode a mix of flavor and stiffness!!! but more flavor!!! For being the same way
a traditional band its closed order must be very good, its management is
Marked but the instrument can be moved but not danced. Regarding musicality.
the band is very cheerful, they forget a LITTLE about military themes and play a lot
but a lot of merengue, salsa, and other Latin rhythms. The rhythmic cadence of this band
it is very light for being a Latin rhythm band. Right now in Colombia it is the
mode where more bands attend the competitions and the ones that are seen the most.

SEMI-SPECIAL MODE:
I call it the semi-special mode, the stupid mode hehehe. It is a mode
very in line with the special, it is a modality that is about to be omitted. The modality
semi-special must include: canes· lyres· tambourines· bass drums· cymbals· grenadiers·
snare drums· Latin instrumentation· horns, trumpets, small trumpets· basses, antennas,
trombones, bass trombones. In this mode, the closed order must be very good.
Also, regarding movements, any kind of movements can be made.
but without dancing. Regarding the musicality, cumbias, salsas, and merengues can be played.
and any kind of music The rhythmic cadence is between fast and slow This modality
it's like a step that bands take between being in traditional Latin or moving towards
special is like an intermediate, this modality is very rare... because it is neither in heaven nor
it's on the ground hehehe
SPECIAL MODALITY: This modality is the sum of the traditional, the traditional
Latina, and the semi-special. This modality is an impressive modality with many
supplements, this modality takes small pieces from the other modality. These
bands carry in their instruments: staffs, liras, timbales, bass drums, cymbals
snare drums· field drums· Latin instrumentation· trumpets, cornets, trombones
tubas, clarinets, saxophones, baritones, and whatever they want to bring in instrumentation
harmonica. In this modality there are no limits to the instrumentation that can be carried
any kind of instrument that can march obviously, in other words, we exclude the
batteries; As in the traditional, the military predominates here, the harmonic predominates.
musical. But especially regarding winds. The arrangement of this band must be good,
As in everything, aligning and covering properly can handle any kind of species.
They can move the instruments, and the individual can move without leaving the line.
In addition, you can wear ballet flats. Musically, that is where the band must take its
excellence, for being special, all kinds of music should be played, especially the
Colombian, this type of bands are characterized by being very, very melodic.
orchestra. The cadence of this band may vary, but medium cadences are more apparent.
so fast unless they are meringues or quick sauces.

SHOW MODE: This mode is precisely madness, it is flavor, it is swing.

In this mode, there are no restrictions at all; in this mode, the only
the restriction is not to be bitter, you can bring any kind of instrument, you
you can sing, you can dance, you can get the audience to dance, in short; you can do it
whatever you want, for this it is necessary to bring a good group of dancers, stilt walkers,
flamethrowers and very, very good fireworks. That yes, in a parade, always.
there must be an order, in all bands and without any exception; it must be carried out
Order, it's not that this band is total disorder, just because they are in the dancing.
DO NOT touch EITHER!!!!! Because there must be harmony in your touches and it continues
being a band You can play whatever Everything is allowed, in cadence not to mention it is the
the only style that can go from a bolero to a rock Usually the styles
These are the bands from universities or private ones, and one of my dreams is to be in one.
of them or to be an instructor of one.

CHILDREN'S MODE:
As its name indicates, it is the modality where the children are, so that the modality
It can be childish, the children must be between 5 and 12 years old.
modality is the killer, because you see some little things interpreting very but
very good the instruments. Despite being a modality, it is more of a category, in the
In most competitions, the children's categories are not divided (because it is already a category) but instead they are

They put everyone in the same group, that is, in the children's category. Everyone enters to compete.

children's bands, whether traditional or special or traditional Latin, the

What matters is that it is for children, the only thing is that there is no children's show... neither.

Children do so many flips. They are always given privilege to children in a

In the competition, they are always presented and awarded first. The struggle is among the
same kids, nothing to do with the gangs.