The rich sound of high school marching bands is synonymous with the start of football season. And those high school bands accompany Richland County football teams, leading the way onto the field, providing halftime entertainment and rousing the crowd between plays.
Galion
In Galion, the start of Tiger football season would not be complete without the band marching from Galion High School onto Ohio Route 598 and eventually Heise Park Road to the stadium. Director Jessica Hammond, in her seventh year working with Galion’s band, said her band members are pretty tired by the end of pregame but the response from the crowd is always worth it.
“A lot of people, especially parents, will line up as we come past,” she said. “It’s like this great fall atmosphere, and obviously with our football team doing better we’ve had a lot more people in the stands. It’s nice that we have the support of the town.”
Approximately 65 students march in the Galion marching band, with this year’s band comprised of mostly eighth and ninth graders. Such a young band presents challenges for Hammond, particularly the memorization of music. Galion’s band plays a total of eight pieces for pregame, a long set for a high school band, and then a halftime show.
“The students memorizing their music is the biggest and one of the most important hurdles because you’re going to march a whole lot better if you have that music memorized,” said Hammond. “That’s probably the hardest thing for the eighth graders to learn the first year– they all say it’s so much easier the second year. It pushes them so much more musically beyond what they would be pushed in eighth grade.”
Galion’s band combines traditional and contemporary marching styles with high-step marching for pregame and corps-style marching for halftime, where members roll their feet from heel to toe. Hammond changed to the corps-style marching for music quality purposes upon her arrival as band director.
“The whole purpose behind corps-style is it looks clean when it’s done well, and it also allows the students to play better because they don’t have all that jolting around from a high step,” she said.
Hammond said her students usually come up with halftime shows, and this fall the band will start with a fantasy-themed show with music from “Game of Thrones,” “Harry Potter” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” She teaches her students to learn independence and self-sufficiency.
“I know that’s outside of the traditional stuff, but that’s something I’m trying to teach them as we’re learning the music,” said Hammond. “They have to be in charge of their own part for both themselves and then the entire band unit so we function as a whole. And in order to function as a whole everyone has to be self-sufficient and self-supporting in order to support the whole band.”
Still, Hammond said for as much as she teaches her students, they end up teaching her just as much if not more.
“They’re just great kids to be around,” she said. “I think we play off of everyone’s personality. We can be serious but we can also have a good time, too.”
Lexington
Teaching “the fun of being serious” is Director Kevin Taylor and Assistant Director Rick Ruth for Lexington High School’s Band of Gold, named in the 1960s based on the school’s trademark purple and gold colors. In the years following, the band has lived up to its name by consistently performing at a gold standard.
“It’s a balance between having fun and getting it done,” said Ruth. “There’s that rah-rah fun of being in a football crowd yelling and screaming, we all know that. But the fun of being musically serious, drill-wise, is a very exciting thing as well once you learn to do it.”
As one of the oldest and most successful competing bands in the state of Ohio, the Band of Gold has perfected the fun of being serious as evidenced by the myriad of trophies lining the walls of the rehearsal room. In his first year as the director for the Band of Gold, Taylor said continuing this tradition of excellence means always having high expectations for his students.
“It’s easy for kids to kind of relax, it’s up to us to keep them moving forward and you have to do it in a positive manner, too,” said Taylor. “You have to relay those expectations to them in a way that they’re going to see value in what they do. Especially with us where it’s completely extracurricular, if the kids are not enjoying what they’re doing then they just won’t come back out next year.”
Though the Band of Gold is a non-selective, volunteer group, Taylor noted all band members know the directors require a solid commitment at the beginning of the season. Currently the Band of Gold has approximately 75 members.
“The tradition of success has been around for three or four decades now, so the kids when they join know what to expect,” said Taylor. “They know they’re going to put the time in but they’re going to reap the rewards and be better musicians because of it.”
In his 23 years as an assistant director, Ruth stated he has seen many changes in the band over the years from switching to corps-style marching, speed and design changes in drills, and the increased role of the pit percussion. He noted a competitive marching band like the Band of Gold creates significantly more formations on the field throughout their routine.
“A show band you might have as few as 15 (formations) per show or less, and ours is never less than 80,” added Taylor. “If you watch your typical show band there are generally long movements that take a long time to develop and they might just stand still and play. Ours is almost continual movement, and the movement a competition band student has to execute can sometimes be much more challenging as well, larger steps and faster velocities. It’s very different for music to be performed while moving as it is for music performed while sitting in a chair. It takes time and confidence.”
This year’s halftime show for the Lexington Minutemen is designed to appeal not just to judges at competition, but also to the halftime football crowd. The Band of Gold performs the same show for every halftime; this year’s show is called “The Resistance,” telling the story of a revolution. Taylor said the band contracts the drill formations to professionals who create drills for competition groups.
“We have to choose our show based on competition because that’s the real serious aspect of what we do,” said Taylor. “Football games are kind of like a warm-up for us, they’re fun and a chance to get out in front of people and show everyone what we’re doing, but when we choose a show it has to be done with competition in mind because we are a competing band and not just a show band.”
Though participation in the Band of Gold is on a strictly volunteer basis, Taylor said the students in the band are not hard to motivate, as they are always willing to put in extra work and extra time.
“Who in their right mind would want to spend their time with 75 teenagers with noisemakers in their hand? That question comes up a lot,” added Ruth with a laugh. “It’s the fact that these kids want to be here. There’s very little forcing that goes on; they want to be here, they want to compete, and who doesn’t want to be around a go-getter? We’ve got 75 go-getters out there that we get to work with.”
Ontario
Embodying the true spirit of a show band is the Ontario High School Warrior marching band, where Director Mike Schwall says their mission is to entertain the crowd and support the team.
“It creates a fun atmosphere on a Friday night,” said Schwall. “That’s probably one of the most appealing aspects about coming to a game at Ontario, I think.”
Ontario’s 150-member band includes musicians, a 14-member flag line and a dance squad. Each of the five home football games throughout the season brings with it a new show, mostly contemporary style with a few oldies thrown in the mix. Schwall and Assistant Director Rick Timmer pick music and write drills for four shows, with the seniors in charge of putting the last home show of the season together.
“We try to play things the fans will enjoy,” said Schwall. “The kids don’t always relate to stuff that’s not getting radio airplay now, but it is stuff their parents and people in the stands will relate to. I like the fast pace of marching band where it’s new music and new drills and just when you get that on the field you’re already starting on the next show. It goes very fast, and the pace is quick.”
Schwall said the biggest challenge facing Ontario’s marching band is balancing rehearsal time with numerous other activities. Ontario’s band accepts any musician regardless of talent level, and many students are involved in many other extracurricular activities.
“My favorite thing about being in band is how everybody accepts you for who you are,” said Alli Lange, a junior trumpet player. “There are so many different kinds of people that are in this band, and nobody really cares. They just care about who you are as a person and if you treat them with respect they will treat you back with respect. That’s really important for a band.”
“When you put on a uniform and a hat and a plume, everybody is the same,” added Schwall. “And I think that’s a huge strength of our program. I think all the kids feel very accepted as part of the group.”
As a show band, the Ontario philosophy is first and foremost to perform and entertain the crowd. Timmer noted the directors feel it does not fit the Ontario culture to participate in competitions, and that the crowd always expects a good show.
“They look forward to what we’re going to put on the field as much as what the football team puts on the field,” said Timmer. “We’re not worried about exact synchronization like a competition band would. We perform and have fun.”
As the director, Schwall said his favorite part of the job is working with his students.
“We’re lucky because we have really, really nice kids at Ontario and they’re fun to be around; they’re energetic and usually enthusiastic, although maybe not quite so much in the morning,” he said with a laugh. “The music we try to do is a diverse selection and I like that too, there’s something in there for everybody. We just want to be entertaining, support the team and entertain the crowd.
“I think it’s an important ingredient for Friday night football,” he said.
“It creates a fun atmosphere on a Friday night,” said Schwall. “That’s probably one of the most appealing aspects about coming to a game at Ontario,” said Director Mike Schwall of Ontario.
