Band Camp - The Real Story

Marching Band and Summer Music Camps, It's Not American Pie!

Jun 8, 2007
Chad Criswell

: Marching Band Trombonist - Pam Roth

Contrary to what the American Pie series of movies would have one believe, band camps come in many forms.

All band camps have much more to do with making music than they do with the more colorful activities that the popular American Pie movies allude to. In fact, you might be surprised at what exactly happens during a typical band camp in the United States.

The Most Common Type of Band Camp

Most band camps in the United States tend to last for 1 or 2 weeks. The time is used to teach and perfect both the music and the marching band drill for the coming marching band season. Depending on the area of the country and the competitive nature of the school, different bands will use the band camp time in different ways.

Some will spread the time out throughout the summer, spending 1 day or 1 evening each week to rehearse and memorize the marching band show music. These weekly rehearsals are often capped off with a week-long band camp where the musicians take this memorized music and begin to put it together with specific individual movements on the football field to produce the final show.

Taking It Up a Notch: Residential Band Camps

Despite the term,"band camp," most schools do not structure the rehearsals in a camp-style format. In other words, the students will go home each night and return the following morning for more work and rehearsal.

More competitive marching bands may actually hold a residential camp where members stay overnight, often at a facility away from their normal practice field. Bands using this format will often make arrangements with colleges or universities to stay in the dorms for a week during the summer while also being allowed access to their more professional practice fields and facilities.

Aside from the grind of the music and marching rehearsals, good directors will often schedule additional activities into the daily plan. Leadership and team building activities are often included to help build the band's spirit and camaraderie between members.

Entering The Big Leagues: Band Camps That Never End

Some bands take the idea of band camp to another level entirely. Bands that are members of Drum Corps International (DCI) for example, practice year-round, usually 1 or 2 weekends each month, only to come together as soon as school lets out in the spring for 2 straight months of daily rehearsal and competition.

These DCI marching bands are not affiliated with individual schools, rather they draw their members from the area surrounding their host community as well as from around the world.

In this ultimate band camp, musicians get up around 9 in the morning, practice until 4pm, put on their uniforms, do 1 or more performances of their show, then sleep on the floor of a gymnasium, only to repeat the same process each day throughout the entire summer.

Chad Criswell - Chad Criswell is a professional educator and freelance technology writer for numerous online and print publications throughout the United ...

Comments

Mar 19, 2009 2:31 PM

Guest :

well I'm in a high school marching band and the way my school does it is before camp rehearsals that last up to 6-hours were most of the basics are tough to the incoming members and a refresh for everyone returning up till what's called pre camp were there 3 days of 8 hour rehearsals were the drill is started to have been tough. then we go to a band camp which is a YMCA camp with the proper facilities it's not pretty but it gets the job done. and for many bands in my area band camp is sacred were there are many traditions followed a speech given by the director that is spoke every year, hazing some years it will be hell for freshmen some they'll have to just clean the table after every meal, my school has something called a lake list where if you brake a mild rule or something of that sort you will have to jump into a lake taking place after the final rehearsal just after the sun goes down.

There are other things we do like to call your self a member of the Harry S. Truman High School Marching Band you will be feed something blind folded and told it is part of a cougar the school mascot. like grapes for the eyes and so forth.

there is a senior prank were the juniors can participate but it is always the seniors final decion and the'll get to do the fun stuff. well take gulf carts and put them on the scalping over looking the field do ask me how we do it. seram rap things like the surrounding trees all the seniors have there names written on the ground in shaving cream. Its up to the seniors imagination and nothing is sacred the only exception is is going to break something that costs allot or will it probably hurt someone you get about to hours of sleep and hay one not just lay on the field

they have section pride as I call it to myself were you will have pride for your section like it can be oh low brass or just a specify section mostly low brass or percussion.

and some stuff I will not say its just what happens a band camp stays at band camp its just tradition

And they maybe geeks but hay there are the real nerdy ones who have no life or friends they do exist and well there can be the annoying d-bags who just bother everyone.

during band camp practice is a grand total of 5.75 hours absolute minimal times it can be 9 and taps at 11:00 and breakfest a 7:30 so yeah

Mar 7, 2010 7:23 AM

Guest :

My marching band lasts fo 1 week but we are outside on the field for 12 straight hours: 8am - 8pm :(

May 8, 2010 2:03 PM

Guest :

For the last two years, we've been there 8am to 8pm. We'd stop at 12 and go up to the school to eat, have sectionals until 4, leave for dinner (if we so wished), then at five we went back to the field to march.
This year we're doing something different, but we'll have a longer band camp, I believe.
But it's not like American Pie at all. American Pie Presents Band Camp mmade me so mad. I had to correct everything.
A

Aug 1, 2010 9:21 PM

Guest :

For my high school marching band we have 2 "mini" band camps from 9am-12 pm and then we have sectional meetings(brass, woodwind, drumline, bandfront) where the leader of that "squad"'ll hold a meeting at his or her house where you learn a few basic marching skills and then just scare all the freshman. Then we have 2 weeks of real band camp(not including weekends) from 8am-3pm. Here we learned moves to the show and ofcourse may have spent time with a signifigant other in the prop closet...

Then, we have a huge picnic afterwards, where are family members and friends(if you have any outside of band...) can come and watch you perform(ofcourse not the show...) and we just get to hang out.

4 Comments