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Bohn Confirms: Students going to Las Vegas Next Year
- Thread starter Darth Snow
- Start date
When'd we land on the moon?
I thought that was just a movie....weird.
Looking ahead to my daughter and the CU tuition costs in 9 years, would you be willing to tell me:
Do athletic band members also play in other CU bands, orchestras (sp)?
Do members get partial scholarships?
How much work/practice is required?
Being in the bands looks like it's real a fun experience.
thanks
In answer to your first question regarding other bands and orchestras, the quick answer is yes they can play in those other groups, however it gets to be a little more complicated than that. Music majors in the music ed program get priority on most orchestras and bands at the college of music, so there is that obstacle. There are a couple bands that are open to anybody who wants to join them so there are some options.
Second question. There is a small scholarship awarded for returning members. the past couple years it has totaled $500. Not a lot I know but its at least something. There are a few long time boosters of the marching band that do provide some additional scholarships. Those are awarded as a typical scholarship; need based, GPA based and so on.
For marching band the rehearsal time is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 4-6pm. Most sections will hold a sectional once a week and that ranges anywhere from 30min to an additional hour. Other than that we have football games which consume most of the day on Saturdays and we have the stampede on Friday nights on pearl street. From season to season we occasionally have additional commitments but that is what can be expected.
A side note, if your daughter plans on being in the basketball band, she must also have been in marching band. This is a new requirement and I am not sure how long it will stand, but it is essentially to cut down on the amount of learning that needs to be done since we play a lot of the same music.
If you have anymore questions I would be glad to answer them for you
BTW clean out your inbox haha
Being in the Band is awesome. The main + is I never had to pay for a ticket for any home basketball or football game. (On top of free trips to Bowl Games, b-ball band trips and a few away games). I didn't get a schollie when I was around (except for a small reward my last year).
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Being in the marching band was the defining part of my CU experience. From the people I met to the experiences shared, almost every non-scholastic memory of my time had some connection to the band. The best part: it was awesome. I cannot recommend enough that an incoming student with some musical chops give it a try. (To get a feel for our vibe, they allow local high school kids to play with the band on gameday late in the season; would be a good chance down the road to test out the waters)
-Band kids often do play in other ensembles, but those actually in the music school have sometimes been discouraged from marching so that they can focus on more traditional musical pursuits (getting a music degree from CU takes a lot of outside-class practice and rehearsal) In my days, most kids were not a part of the music school, but that may have changed.
-Scholarships are available to returning members, usually in amounts around $500. You have to apply for them, and are awarded based on merit, years of service, etc.
-1 week of fall camp before the season starts (all day practice, both on field and music rehearsal). During the school year, its 2 hours of rehearsal M,W, and F (from 4-6). You can sign up for 1 credit for the time. Outside practice depends on your ability and section. Every once in a while I'd have to put in some time memorizing music outside of rehearsal (we don't take music on the field, so show tunes are played from memory), but usually I just figured everything out during the 6 hours of full band practice each week. Sections sometimes have additional rehearsals, but during my time leading the tubas, we only got together once or twice to work on horn swings so we didn't look like complete idiots.
In addition to gamedays (get up at 5:30 am, bust ass till game is over), there are usually a few non-football related performances. One for CU's band day, and maybe an additional exhibition at a local high school or for something like the State Fair parade.
Basketball band is a lot easier. Less rehearsal and practice time, better music, many more performances. Also the trips are cooler. Smaller group, though.
Not really important but CU will never march the State Fair parade. At least as long as Roeder is in charge. Apparently some parade organizer was really nasty to him last time we were down there. So he said fine, no more.
Basketball band may see a transformation this year. The oregon basketball band gave Biggs some ideas.... but Vegas makes it worthwhile haha
Also, allbuffers appologies for the band jack.
I'm intrigued now.
I love our basketball band. Easily the best in the conference. Biggest & loudest by far (and if you doubt me on the volume, you're welcome to trade seats with me for a half sometime).
At the Pac-12 tournament at the "Battle of the Bands" they had before each men's games, the ducks killed us. They were a machine. Granted they are all masters students, and paid musicians, and they practice every day, and they are Oregon (Pretty sure Nike buys their instruments). Our band director may look into changing how often we practice and the type of pieces we play. We will see.
But yes we are easily the loudest Band in the conference. Training at altitude does wonders for the lungs :nod:
High Praise from an NCAA tournament regular. Apparently knows a thing or two about music.
SUCK IT USC!! (i hate the trojans...)
But yes we are easily the loudest Band in the conference. Training at altitude does wonders for the lungs :nod:
High Praise from an NCAA tournament regular. Apparently knows a thing or two about music.
SUCK IT USC!! (i hate the trojans...)
dply
Doble hoja
No more boomer sooner or I've been working on the railroad. :woot:
Marching Season Bands we saw:
CAL: Very interesting group. Share a lot of similarities with stanford, just more organized and less drunk. Comparable to Tech
STANFORD: A lot of fun to hang out with, decent musicians but unorganized and drunk. Not like any Big 12 band
USC: Terrible. Wretched. Scum of the earth. Comparable in talent to Oklahoma (only play 4 songs), Comparable to Texas in ego
UW: A lot like CU, actually looking forward to them possibly coming out here for the game. From the group that went, they apparently were a lot of fun and great hosts
ASU: From what I hear, they steal alot of our songs, but don't play them as well. So kinda like OSU
UCLA: Very bland, but get the job done. Like Kansas
UTAH: Didnt hear a whole lot about them. They didnt want to hang out with our band after that game. Musically I would assume similar to ISU
Overall more fun, not as structured, and they rock out more. So we fit in this conference musically a lot better. Except for USC. **** em.
Basketball Bands: I didnt go on any big 12 tourney trips so I couldn't say for sure. But if I were to rank them based on what I heard.
1. Oregon
2. Colorado
3. Arizona
4. Cal
5. Utah
6. UCLA (caught the last part of their women's game)
No more boomer sooner or I've been working on the railroad.
but we now have "fight on" instead....
A&M is very traditional and very military. They were a very good probably the best in a technical manner.
I think CU (no-homer) was the best musically
Just FYI, I would happily return to "augment" the volume of the bball band this winter
Both the basketball and marching bands have always prided ourselves on volume. It's just how we roll.I love the way Biggs (current bball director) has improved the group. We were solid during my days, just much less organized and featured. You can tell the value of a director who focuses on the group full time. Having seen most of the bands on my trip to LA for the tournament, I can say we are easily in the top-quarter in the conference. From there, it's just a matter of style preference.
Re: State Fair - Good, that was a worthlessly tiring performance, and one that did little to improve either the groups image or fame.
Just FYI, I would happily return to "augment" the volume of the bball band this winter
We may not play stylistically perfect music, but we will out play and play over any band that does :smile2:
When no one can hear you, what does it matter how you play?
At the end of the day, it's all about entertainment. If you ask me "who was the best band in LA?," my answer is Stanford. They have a blast, and suck the listener in with all their hijinx. They don't play perfectly, hell even all that well, but you have a damn good time watching them play. That's all I've ever wanted from a sports band. You guys do a good job of meeting that standard.
Wasn't able to see the Stanford basketball band. I know their marching band was pretty entertaining when we went to Palo Alto.
