Indoor Marching Band

By Katie Wooten

The Beat Goes On

Since the regular marching band season finished in early November, what happens next? In-door marching band! Indoor marching band is arranged for marching band participants who would like to practice and compete even after the football season ends.Practices are in the cafeteria or band room and usually last two hours. Directed by Mr. Mason, the band members work diligently to perfect their performance. Quote from Kevin Shay about how prac-tices work. Compared to the fall season, there are many differences including the fact indoor marching band focuses more on individuals since there are fewer members. “The ensemble is much smaller. There are no drum majors, so everyone must rely on each other to stay in time together. The music is crafted differently in order to adjust to playing in a gym rather than on a football field,” said Haley Cross, a sophomore who plays the marimba. “It is not as easy as some people would say,” according to Cross, “There is a plentiful amount of physical movement involved. Marching band incorpo-rates skill, coordination, and endurance.”There is also a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into practicing and forming an award-winning ensemble. Along with the seven hour school day and two hour practice, there still needs to be an adequate time to finish home-work and study for tests because without decent grades, the students cannot participate. The hard work does pay off though. On Valentine’s Day, the band members competed in the SAPA completion in which they were awarded second. The band hopes to finish strong in their last completion which is on March 28th. Indoor and outdoor marching band creates more than just multiple awards and high rankings. (Quote from Kevin Shay about long-lasting friends.)Whether it is practiced indoors, under the eyes of judges, or performing during half-time, Mill Creek’s marching band should be proud for all of its accomplishments.