Since marching band is where my experience with color guard began (and where, as far as I know, most people begin), that's where I'll begin with my discussion of color guard (beyond the basics).
In doing a little reasearch for this post, so I can give you the best information possible, I discovered that there aren't many websites that explain what marching band is. It's actually quite a shame.
So what I'm going to do is give you what I know about marching band, sprinkle in a little Wikipedia (which does not count as a source for my project, but allows me to give you more info), add in the color guard focus, and then provide other marching band sites I have found.
Several types of marching bands exist. There are high school marching bands, college marching bands, and marching bands in the Army, Navy, Marines, etc.
I have little to no knowledge of the Armed Forces bands, but I do know that their color guard is the traditional military kind, not what I'm discussing here, so I'll stay away from that.
College marching bands are very similar to high school marching bands, just at a higher level for older participants (that, obviously, attend that college). What we're going to focus on here are high school marching bands. There is, afterall, a great deal of info on them (and they are what I can talk about best).
High school marching bands consist of your typical band instruments - brass, woodwinds, percussion, etc. - and, of course, the color guard. They tend to practice after school and on weekends (the amount does vary by band, though). High school marching bands perform at their school football games (where they play songs during the game and perform the halftime show), at marching band competitions in their area(if it is a band that has chosen to compete), and other events if they are invited to do so. (After typing this, I looked at Wikipedia, and they say pretty much the same thing. Go figure.)
So, how does color guard factor into this?
The band itself provides the music. They also incorporate drill (marching on the field, making unique patters with themselves) while they are playing. The color guard brings the color and life to the show, adding an extra, eye-pleasing visual effect to the performance. They are, in essence, the "something pretty to look at" part of the show (but that's not all they are!)
When marching band directors put together a show, they generally come up with a theme for each year. They pick music to go with that theme and sometimes have props on the field that go with the theme. The band wears the same uniforms year after year. They hold the same instruments. They pretty much look the same.
But it is the color guard that changes year by year with the theme of the show.
The color guard wears outfits that go with the theme. They spin flags that represent the theme. They sometimes, as I mentioned before, use props that go with the theme as well. I was in a show with the music of Queen and the theme was trash (we were an out there, extravagant band), and the color guard danced around trash cans and danced with trash bags. It happens.
But essentially, the color guard is the visual to bring the show to life. The amount of movement and type of equipment used varies by band (they are all very different). Some color guards stand still and do basic flag movements. Some color guards have their menbers doing as much or more drill than the band members and doing much more complicated "work" (from now on I'll probably refer to a color guard routine or movements as work) during a show. This all depends on the size of the band, skill of the guard, and instructors involved.
Either way, color guards are complex and dynamic. If you have seen one color guard (or marching band), you certainly have NOT seen them all.
One site that I found availble for marching bands is marching.com. This website, which I quite honestly wish I knew about when I was in marching band, is a site for not only members but instructors. This site gives marching band events, links to marching bands around the country (and around the world), hundreds of photos of performances, fundraising ideas for bands who raise their own money (unfortunately, school cutbacks have led to decreased school support of bands), and resources for instructors who want to improve their shows.
In doing a little reasearch for this post, so I can give you the best information possible, I discovered that there aren't many websites that explain what marching band is. It's actually quite a shame.
So what I'm going to do is give you what I know about marching band, sprinkle in a little Wikipedia (which does not count as a source for my project, but allows me to give you more info), add in the color guard focus, and then provide other marching band sites I have found.
Several types of marching bands exist. There are high school marching bands, college marching bands, and marching bands in the Army, Navy, Marines, etc.
I have little to no knowledge of the Armed Forces bands, but I do know that their color guard is the traditional military kind, not what I'm discussing here, so I'll stay away from that.
College marching bands are very similar to high school marching bands, just at a higher level for older participants (that, obviously, attend that college). What we're going to focus on here are high school marching bands. There is, afterall, a great deal of info on them (and they are what I can talk about best).
High school marching bands consist of your typical band instruments - brass, woodwinds, percussion, etc. - and, of course, the color guard. They tend to practice after school and on weekends (the amount does vary by band, though). High school marching bands perform at their school football games (where they play songs during the game and perform the halftime show), at marching band competitions in their area(if it is a band that has chosen to compete), and other events if they are invited to do so. (After typing this, I looked at Wikipedia, and they say pretty much the same thing. Go figure.)
So, how does color guard factor into this?
The band itself provides the music. They also incorporate drill (marching on the field, making unique patters with themselves) while they are playing. The color guard brings the color and life to the show, adding an extra, eye-pleasing visual effect to the performance. They are, in essence, the "something pretty to look at" part of the show (but that's not all they are!)
When marching band directors put together a show, they generally come up with a theme for each year. They pick music to go with that theme and sometimes have props on the field that go with the theme. The band wears the same uniforms year after year. They hold the same instruments. They pretty much look the same.
But it is the color guard that changes year by year with the theme of the show.
The color guard wears outfits that go with the theme. They spin flags that represent the theme. They sometimes, as I mentioned before, use props that go with the theme as well. I was in a show with the music of Queen and the theme was trash (we were an out there, extravagant band), and the color guard danced around trash cans and danced with trash bags. It happens.
But essentially, the color guard is the visual to bring the show to life. The amount of movement and type of equipment used varies by band (they are all very different). Some color guards stand still and do basic flag movements. Some color guards have their menbers doing as much or more drill than the band members and doing much more complicated "work" (from now on I'll probably refer to a color guard routine or movements as work) during a show. This all depends on the size of the band, skill of the guard, and instructors involved.
Either way, color guards are complex and dynamic. If you have seen one color guard (or marching band), you certainly have NOT seen them all.
One site that I found availble for marching bands is marching.com. This website, which I quite honestly wish I knew about when I was in marching band, is a site for not only members but instructors. This site gives marching band events, links to marching bands around the country (and around the world), hundreds of photos of performances, fundraising ideas for bands who raise their own money (unfortunately, school cutbacks have led to decreased school support of bands), and resources for instructors who want to improve their shows.
I noticed, that while it is a marching band site, it does also incorporate DCI (Drum Corps International, my next post) and WGI (Winter Guard International, the post after that), two other organizations involving color guard, so they are all interrelated. (now if only they had more information for people not involved in marching band, like what it is...)
A site that I mentioned before, Color Guard Corner, offers a list of activities for color guard members to do together to bond. Members spend a lit of time practicing and performing together, but never have much time to do much of anything else. This section of the site gives some great ideas for marching band color guards. They also offer som embarrasing moments in color guard, which every person who had ever been in color guard has had at least one of, so now you know you're not alone.
To finish, I would like to leave a few links of marching bands I am familiar with and am fond of (and maybe a few I found while researching). Enjoy!
SOURCES:
Martinson, Ken. (2010). Marching.com: Marching band, competitions, uniforms, scores, fundraisers. Retrieved from http://www.marching.com
Tripod websites. (Date Unknown). Color guard corner. Retrieved from http://colorguardcorner.tripod.com/colorguard
Tripod websites. (Date Unknown). Color guard corner. Retrieved from http://colorguardcorner.tripod.com/colorguard
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