Marching band is an activity that includes a mixture of woodwinds, brass, and percussion, which are the three large pieces that make a marching band. It requires lots of memorization, precision, and synchronized movement to make the performance play out.

East senior Blake Weber, the flute section leader, prepared with the flute section by playing their parts individually.

“A lot of the time we are given individual practice time to learn our music,” Weber said.

But it’s not just listening within the individual performance, but as a band as a whole. Not only did listening to the band make it easier to understand the show rather than working within the section, because people know how other instruments sound with their own parts.

Ailee Meyers, battery section leader, mentions that the drumline does more things that the band actually knows, having extra sectionals, extended rehearsals, and always keeps everyone informed on what to expect for that day.

“I just had to message the drum majors, with a list of our strongest to weakest drum chants, and we don’t have flip folders, so we have to have all the pep tunes and drum chants memorized, and if we ever get a new one, we completely make up a new part,” Meyers said.

The drumline plays a significant role in helping the band stay in time and remain locked in with the drum majors to interpret the time for the other players. They always want to make sure they know what they are doing, and they view it as if they have higher expectations placed on them since they have their own category in being judged.

Stevan Rexroat, East band director, thinks very highly of the band he has constructed for the past couple of months.

“The Marching Band now is stronger than it’s ever been in the past years at this point,” Rexroat said 

Rexroat believes that the marching band has made a great improvement in the couple of months of preparation, and has high hopes for the band in how they will place in future competitions. 

Written by senior Geovanni Jurado. Edited by staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.