Marching YSU Penguins Take the Field with Pride
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- They begin the third morning of camp on the campus of Youngstown State University by stretching and limbering up, moving their arms in small circles before bending over to touch their toes.
The red-shirted freshmen outnumber the sophomores, juniors and seniors. Most of the upperclassmen have donned red shirts as well but a minority is attired in other garb as they spread across the field, each unit forming its own circle.
Two huge coolers of Powerade sit at the front of the field on a pleasant day for practice where the sun makes it warm but not broiling.
On the sixth day of camp, football head coach Eric Wolford begins the morning by bringing dozens of doughnuts and extending his thanks to the players.
Wolford serving doughnuts to the players at the outset of practice?
Yes, because his audience was the Marching Pride, this year 147 strong, up nearly 30 from the past three years. And the musicians, majorettes and flag line respond enthusiastically to his gratitude for their support.
Both scenes happened at Harrison Field, not Dike Beede Field at Stambaugh Stadium. The third day of band camp was Red Shirt Friday, when most members of the Marching Pride wore a red T-shirt or polo shirt.
As has long been the case, far more freshmen and sophomores belong to the Pride than upperclassmen, says Brandt Payne, beginning his fourth year as director of the marching band. Not only that, 60% of the musicians are majoring in disciplines other than music.
“We have chemical engineers and accounting and finance majors,” he relates.
The similarities between football camp and band camp are striking. The precision with which the bandsmen execute their formations might be greater than the routes quarterback Kurt Hess’ receivers and backfield run.
So are the differences.
Who knew that football players, depending on the positions they play, wear protective gear that weighs anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds while the tuba players carry instruments that weigh 50 pounds? That the tenor drums that members of the drum line play weigh 55 pounds?
Where the NCAA has banned two-a-day practices on consecutive days in football training camps, the Marching Pride conducts a six-day camp that runs from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day with longer breaks only for lunch and dinner.
Wolford and his coaches drill the football players by reinforcing through repetition. And they build and sustain esprit de corps by having the players shout out. So do Payne, his drum majors and section leaders with their charges.
Indeed, a few moments of band camp suggest that some section leaders would find themselves at home as drill sergeants in basic training.
The drum majors are, in effect, assistant band directors or assistant conductors. Sara Loney, a senior, plays trumpet. Christian Dennis, another senior, plays tuba. And Scott Miller, a junior, plays trumpet. All aspire to one day direct a high school marching band, they say.
In her eighth season of marching band – she spent four years in Niles McKinley’s band -- Loney has no doubt that being chosen a drum major “is the best thing in my career.”
Miller says his experience has “taught me how to lead. Seeing the band succeed in what they do” is the best aspect of being a drum major. “My role is as a teacher,” he elaborates. “If I do my job better, they’ll do theirs better.”
The bandsmen with trumpets, mellophones, trombones and tubas as well as the piccolos, flutes, clarinets and saxophones are all carrying “horns” for purposes of drill. Addressing them in their circles or as a whole, the section leaders, drum majors or Payne ask, “How are your eyes?”
“With pride!” is the response.
“Band horns up.”
“Up!” they say loudly as they lift their instruments, mouthpieces an inch from their lips.
“Band horns down.”
“Down!” they respond in unison as most return their instruments to their former positions, tubas being an exception.
Sheet music is allowed for the brass and woodwinds during camp although few use it. When the band marches at football games, each member must have his music memorized, Payne says.
Members of the drum line have memorized theirs and the sounds of the percussion – cymbals, cowbell, snare drums, tenor drums and five sizes of bass drum – rarely lets up. Dylan Kollat, assistant drum line instructor, or Tyler Husosky, head drum line instructor and director of bands at Champion High School, often both, hover over the snare and tenor drummers.
Marching band is more than playing music. It’s showmanship. So Kollat and Husosky coach the drum line on sticking techniques and sticking in unison, just as the strings in an orchestra coordinate the movement of their bows.
The Marching Pride, as the name implies, are marchers. They move their feet in 22-inch increments as they march across the field in glide steps, forward and backward. Carrying – better yet, playing – an instrument and moving backward in 22-inch steps would challenge any athlete.
There’s also a correct way to mark time or march in place. “When you mark time, your toes are always on the ground,” Payne reminds the musicians. “Your heels go up to form 45-degree angles.”
The band director moves among the musicians as they march forward 10 yards and then backward to their original spots, his eyes alert to the smallest discrepancies.
At parade rest Payne informs them, “This is the easiest thing we’ll do this season. Let’s get this together” and repeats the drill.
At the end, Payne reminds the musicians, “It’s a fine line between being too relaxed and too rigid.”
The musicians count out their paces and march forward 10 yards.
Payne stops. “You’ve got to have professional athlete control,” he states. “Hopefully by the time you go home tonight you’ll be a bit sore.”
Earlier that morning Richard Dickenson, a senior euphonium major and section leader of the mellophones, gave individual attention to a freshman. He sees the freshman wobble as he holds his horn and instructs him on how to keep his torso stable. “I had trouble my first year, too,” he sympathizes.
The freshman shakes his head. When the drill resumes, he’s still shaking his head, lacking in confidence that he’ll perfect marching and playing simultaneously.
Maintaining the proper intervals between the members of the Marching Pride, whether the musicians, flag line or majorettes, is equally challenging. Maneuvering flags in unison and twirling a baton, in their own ways, might not look that hard. Practice makes it look easier than it is.
Drum majors Loney and Dennis nod as Miller says he doesn’t know who’s a music major and who isn’t among those playing an instrument. “They all work hard,” he says. “They all give it their all.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story appears in our September 2013 print edition, published this week.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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