Every game during the football season, fans pack into the stadium and the student section is filled. Cheerleaders and the dance team are performing at the bottom of the stands. Throughout the game the fans are entertained by occasional pep tunes in between the plays. When the clock runs out on the second quarter, the Falcon Marching Band runs onto the field to perform their rehearsed halftime show. However, the audience only sees the surface. So much practice and preparation has to go into the performances at games.
The effort they put in
The FMB rehearses two weeks during the summer plus meeting with their instrument sections, then before and after school to perform the halftime show at every football game for the audience and their family to see. The FMB performs their halftime show and pregame. They also play pep tunes and extra tunes. At the games the FMB provides a lot of spirit.
“There are so many of us , we are so loud, and we are happy to be there,” Junior Hailey Graunstadt said. Along with their own cheers, the FMB performs cheers with the cheerleaders and football team.
The instruments and people you see
The Falcon Marching Band has 146 members and is divided into eight sections. Flutes/Piccolos, Clarinets, Alto Saxophones/Mellophones, Trumpets, Baritone Saxophones/Tubas, Low Brass, Drumline, and Color Guard. Each section has 1-2 upperclassmen, usually called section leaders (kind of like a team captain). Each year a few drum majors are selected to assist in conducting the band. Finally, the FMB has been directed by band director Mr. Uhrig for more than a decade.
Show themes
For The FMB, each new season means a new show theme. Some of the previous themes have been Seasons Of Love, Woodstock, Ebony and Ivory, and a Patriotic theme. This year the theme is Rhapsody in Blue and White, to reflect RHS´s school colors. This means that each song is a rhapsody or has blue or white in the name. “Rhapsody in Blue” (the show’s namesake) is a cool, classic Jazz tune written in 1924. The show’s songs are “Blue Skies” (various artists), “Nights In White Satin” (Moody Blues), “White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen), and “Rhapsody in Blue” (George Gershwin).
The songs they play
The FMB plays about five halftime songs, pregame songs (“The National Anthem,” “ America The Beautiful,” one feature tune, and the fight song), about 20 pep tunes and some more extra songs. Each game usually takes about five hours for the FMB to warm up, march over to the field, and perform their show, but many find the payoff worth it.
“I have been in [marching band] for three years now, but I really like it so far. I can tell that they put in a lot of work when others do not.” Junior Aryonna Jackson said.
