Marching Band

A marching band is a group of instrumentalists that typically performs while marching, usually used for entertainment, competition, military, parade, and other processional settings. Bands typically involve large-scale orchestras featuring a variety of instruments, including but not limited to drums, fifes, bugles, trumpets and other horns, bagpipes, triangles, and cymbals, usually arranged in specific marching structures. The roots of Western martial music and military bands are thought to have been originally borrowed from Ottoman Military Music, which left a profound influence on European martial music, as well as on Western Classical Music. Martial music's profound influence on many classical composers resulted in many classical pieces taking primary elements - especially rhythmically - from army marching music, resulting in a style now referred to as the March. The genre became especially popular in the United States thanks to John Philip Sousa. Though they've traditionally been used either to accompany army marching and military events or to create a musical spectacle for parades, marching bands commonly perform in sports shows, and competitions, and in many cases even perform indoors and/or without marching. High school and college marching bands are often accompanied by a color guard, a group of performers that enhance the visual aspect of the performance through the use of props, such as flags, rifles, and sabers. During the colonial period, Western-style marching bands spread to other countries such as Singapore or Malaysia. Over time the repertoire of marching bands grew to include songs derived from popular music genres such as Rock and Pop.