Purdue University is given credit for starting the modern era of marching bands in 1907 with this “Block P” formation. Today’s halftime shows have grown increasingly sophisticated. Below, FHS students strut their stuff.

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Marching "8 to 5"

by Phil Houseal
Nov 4, 2009

If you have ever referred to the intermission at a concert or play as “halftime,” then you just might be a bandie.

This is the last week of football for many area high schools, so here is a tribute to an often overlooked ingredient of Friday night lights - the marching band.

Driving past FHS a few weeks back and seeing the young musicians drilling in the cold and rain made me revisit the concept of high school marching bands. (All the colorful uniforms also made me think of Skittles.)

What drives sleep-deprived kids to crawl out into the pre-dawn hours and stand at attention forming up shapes and playing popular hits in 6/8 time, all for very little credit and often just to be disparaged as “bandies?”

I don’t know. But I did it, too.

Back in high school, I and my fellow band members hit the practice field with all the fervor of the football players we were too scrawny to be. Monday mornings we were there before school started, shivering in the Midwest cold and marching in the dewy grass. The rest of the week we were on a mission to meld moves and music by Friday night. It was thrilling.

The band directors started indoctrinating us in the 8th grade. The high schoolers came down and taught us the concept of marching “8 to 5” - taking 8 steps to complete 5-yard chunks. We felt we were marching off to do battle. Actually that was not far off the mark.

Today’s marching bands evolved from the military bands of early city-states. Back then, bands were instrumental in directing the movements of the troops. When you look at bands today, you can see many of those military traditions remain, from the orders and commands down to the military-style dress uniforms.

The first modern era marching bands simply played in concert formation at halftime. The next step was forming up block letters - the “Block P” in the case of Purdue, for example. The Purdue band director is given credit for creating the first marching action. From watching  a flock of birds fly in “V” formation, he decided his band could replicate that on the football field.

Our high school formations were mostly straight lines, with some turns and pivots. I remember when our small-town Iowa band traveled to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. We were mighty proud of our Little Hawk band, until we saw the big city boys doing high steps, glides, and dancing to rock and roll cadences. Suddenly, parade marching to “The Tall Corn Song” didn’t make me quite so tall or so proud.

These days, band directors almost need degrees in geometry to create shows. Now bands perform complicated songs while forming arcs and ellipses, marching back upon themselves, using high steps, rolling steps, stop action, and crabwalks.

Coordinating the movements is a military maneuver. Instruments have been mounted on wheels, so bands can have marimbas, tympani, grand pianos, and amplified rock instruments on the field. Every band also has a cadre of supporting groups that have to be coordinated, including twirlers, flag corps, dancers, and a host of drum majors.

There is something elemental that still thrills us when we hear that roll off and feel the drum cadence start pounding, as the sea of matched uniforms flows by in perfect step from spat to plume.

This Friday, hold off on your run to the concession stand to cheer for the kids who put on the halftime show. They’ll never know the thrill of scoring a touchdown or breaking up a pass, and they may never again play piccolo or wear pants with stripes down the side, but they will never forget the excitement of marching to the beat of the big bass drum.