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College bands with a pit?


aspenmoonlight

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My son is a marimba player and a senior. He want to participate in marching band while in college, and while he can play non-pit percussion instruments as well, he has never marched! He’s wondering if concert band is his only option in college.

There are definitely some college programs with front ensembles. In fact, my son’s school, Nebraska, is the only Big Ten school with a full front ensemble. I’m sure there are others out there...
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My son is a marimba player and a senior. He want to participate in marching band while in college, and while he can play non-pit percussion instruments as well, he has never marched! He’s wondering if concert band is his only option in college.

Yes, just to name a few in Texas would be UNT, UTSA, UTA (no FB team), Texas State, UTEP, TCU (I think). There are options (more than those for sure) if he wants marching band pit.

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The University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band "The Best in Sight and Sound" has a full pit AND if you have qualifying GPA/Scores, Texas students can get the "in-state" tuition.  My kids did.

Plus, they do have scholarships for playing in the band.

 

https://fulbright.uark.edu/departments/music/ensembles/band/athletic-bands/razorback-marching-band.php

 

not that I'm a fan or anything ;)

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The University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band "The Best in Sight and Sound" has a full pit AND if you have qualifying GPA/Scores, Texas students can get the "in-state" tuition.  My kids did.

 

Plus, they do have scholarships for playing in the band.

 

https://fulbright.uark.edu/departments/music/ensembles/band/athletic-bands/razorback-marching-band.php

 

not that I'm a fan or anything ;)

 

I wish my Razorbacks were having a better football season.   :unsure:

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The University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band "The Best in Sight and Sound" has a full pit AND if you have qualifying GPA/Scores, Texas students can get the "in-state" tuition. My kids did.

 

Plus, they do have scholarships for playing in the band.

 

https://fulbright.uark.edu/departments/music/ensembles/band/athletic-bands/razorback-marching-band.php

 

not that I'm a fan or anything ;)

Wow, I’m excited they offer that! We really haven’t considered out-of-state universities, but my son does have the grades, GPA, and SAT/ACT scores to get some good scholarships. For us the main drawback is that he can’t take advantage of the Hazlewood Exemption if he doesn’t attend a state school in Texas.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What are the band programs like at UT-Austin and Texas Tech?

 

The Texas Tech Goin' Band is a traditional show band style marching band.  They do not have a percussion pit, and in the woodwind section they use strictly piccolo, clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax.  Since the focus of the band is school spirit and halftime entertainment, they learn a new show for every home game.  Typically the shows are themed around a style or event.  They also have a traditional pregame show that is performed before every game.  The pregame show has a smaller, fixed number of spots, so the spots go to the top performers from auditions.

 

From what I've seen, and what my son has told me (he's in his third year in the Goin' Band), the show drills are not as complicated as the shows done by high schools competing in BOA and UIL.  The music tends to be more crowd pleasing/familiar selections, but performed at a very high level.  Less than half of the members are music majors.  Here are some links to recent shows:

 

Traditions Show (throwback show that uses music and drill from the 50's, 60's, and 70's): 

Jukebox Show (songs from Guns and Roses, Alice Cooper, 98 Degrees, and Backstreet Boys): 

Latin Show (La Fiesta, Vivir Mi Vida, and an outstanding arrangement of Malagueña):

Halloween Show (Dies Irae, Beetlejuice medley, Night on Bald Mountain, and Thriller): 

 

From talking to several members of the band, many of them find being in the Goin' Band more fun than high school band, in some ways.  After four years of highly competitive marching in high school, they enjoy the low pressure of being "just" the football halftime band.  They also find that college bands are much more involved in the game than typical high school bands.  They have one week of summer band (all day, basically 8am to 8-9 PM), rehearse daily for 1 hour at noon, plus two hours on Thursday night before home football games.  They only travel to 2-3 away games each year.

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  • 1 month later...

That one was my son's favorite show so far this year, though I think his favorite musical piece has been Malagueña.  Their annual Patriotic Show is coming up next, I think.

 

My personal favorite (possibly bc my kid was a trumpet player in this show) is the Hot Brass show from 2016.

 

That said...the "Celebrate Texas" show from that same year has a rendition of "Texas, Our Texas" that gets me every time.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread with TTU talk... :)

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On 10/15/2019 at 9:10 PM, aspenmoonlight said:

My son is a marimba player and a senior. He want to participate in marching band while in college, and while he can play non-pit percussion instruments as well, he has never marched! He’s wondering if concert band is his only option in college.

The University of Oklahoma’s “Pride of Oklahoma”

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