Is Marching Band an American Thing? [About Other Countries]

Marching Band is great for distributing fun to people. It is mainly used in sports, the military, and college. So lots of fun, entertainment, and other things are involved in this band.

People might question its expansion and popularity to other continents and countries besides America. So let us tell all about its evolution and history.

So, Is Marching Band an American Thing?

No! Marching Band is not only an American thing, but it also has its existence in Europe, Asia, and other places. In Europe, it’s pretty popular but not much as in America. Nowadays, Marching Band has the most popular in the USA.

In America, it is most associated with football games. But, you can also see marching band performances during other events and competitions.

Now let’s look at the history, where it first started, and its popularity in Europe and other places. So check below.

Topic Discussed

Where Did Marching Bands Originate?

In the 13th century, Marching Band started in Ottoman Empire for military purposes. Northern Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and some other places were captured by the Ottomans, bringing their Marching Band tradition here.

At that time, they used percussion and woodwind instruments to send the signal and basic commands. Later, it was also used as the beginning of something special to entertain the military.

In America, marching bands started glowing in the 1700s as military marching bands such as the fife and drum corps. These instruments were highly audible from far away. The sounds of this band made them march quickly and consistently.

To make the morals of the militaries high, the marching band was later used in different regiments.

Later, this band was divided into Military styles, Corps styles, Traditional Styles, Carnival bands, Scramble bands, and others.

Why did Marching Band become so Popular in America?

With time Marching Band has grown a lot in America. But, as mentioned earlier, Marching Band is not originated in the USA, so what are the reasons for its popularity?

Let’s check few possible reasons behind the popularity of Marching Band among people in America.

# Historical Reason

Marching Band has been a part of American culture since old times. The USA has been involved with this band, from military to modern-day marching band, for a long time.

**[1907 by the Purdue All-American Marching Band;** photo from quora.com]

In old times it was used to give a piece of music or cadence to troops. It was a source of energy, power, and freshness. John Philip Sousa is known as the “American March King” he has also contributed a lot to American Marching Band.

The University of Notre Dame Band of the Fighting Irish is the oldest university in America, founded in 1845 for football. But, before that, there was also a lot of college for military purposes. So we can say that history has launched a strong base for marching bands in America.

# Role of College & School

In the popularity of the Marching Band, the Universities of America have played a significant role. As mentioned earlier, there were many colleges in the USA from the twentieth century for military purposes.

After that, in the 18s, there was the first college formed for football marching band, the University of Notre Dame Band of the Fighting Irish. But after that, you can see lots of colleges participated in having marching band groups.

As football is a popular sport in the USA, the marching band has also exposed and gained fame.

After college, many high schools also walked in the same direction as having marching bands on their own. So we can proudly say our universities have served a vast role in making the marching band popular.

If we learn or get in touch with something in our education, we always make it popular.

# Musical Innovation

In the old ages for military marching band, there were few instruments to play and build a pleasant atmosphere. Still, it was famous among people.

So with the innovation of musical instruments, the energy and the overall experience of the marching band have significantly increased.

In the 1800s, there were hardly 7 to 8 instruments to perform in a marching band, whereas nowadays, you can have more than 15 instruments for marching band.

Also, the materials and structure of many instruments have changed slightly, making those instruments easy to carry and hold for a long time and better sound for performing.

So the new technologies also have a role in developing marching bands.

# Overall Benefits

Marching Bands have lots of benefits, and due to that reason, many students like to get involved in marching bands. Nowadays, parents also want their children to be in marching band because of those advantages.

In marching band, you have to do a lot of physical activities, and because of that, you’ll get physically fit with time, so this is one of the huge reasons many students lie to join marching band.

Similarly, mentally you also change as you have to stay with seniors, talk with new personalities and memorize many things, making you brighter and changing your attitude.

Also, there are scholarships, career options, and many other benefits for which students like to join the marching band.

There are also a few other reasons people love the marching band; they are #It is a Good Hobby with lots of Benefits; #Increasement in Interest among People; #Role of Social Media; #More Football Matches; #Interest in performing Instruments in crowds and lot of others.

Which Other Countries have Marching Band?

Besides the USA, there are lots of other countries that are marching bands. Although it might not be as popular as in America, there is still some good use of marching bands in some countries.

So let’s check in detail about those countries:

Canada: In Canada most of the marching band is organized by Canadian Band Association. They still have the British tradition of marching band. So many civil marching bands have roots of military marching band here, for examples: Oshawa Civic Band, The Concert Band of Cobourg, Toronto Signals Band and other.
Malaysia: Marching Band in Malaysia is there from British colonial. Present days, the popularity of marching band in Malaysia has grown a lot. In school you can also find marching band and organizations are also putting effort for local marching bands.
Russia: Although Russia is not very popular for School and local marching band, but there are couple of government-sponsored military and police bands. Moscow Military Music College is one of the popular name when we talk about marching band, their Band and Corps of Drums is famous for performing in annual Victory Day Parades on Red Square. After the collapse of Soviet Union most of the Marching Band has developed here.
Europe: In many countries of Europe you can find Marching Band, such as: UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Denmark and Sweden. But, most of their marching band are military style marching band, and they don’t have High School or College Marching Band like America. Also, in Europe you can find private organization for marching band.
England: In England, Marching Band is not a popular thing, but in few places marching band do exist and mostly children perform in those marching bands.
Singapore
Taiwan
India
Japan

Are Marching Bands a Thing in Europe?

Marching Band is not a thing in Europe only as you can find marching bands in most other countries. Marching Band is primarily famous in America, but there is small participation in Asia, Africa, and the different continents.

In Europe, there is no High School or College marching band like in America, but you can have marching bands from different organizations. Also, the marching band graph has decreased significantly in Europe.

There are also marching bands with US-style Drum corps and Traditional Style. Also, people have shared that there is not much influence of the Marching Band in big cities of Europe; only villages and rural areas have the most impact.

Marching Band in Europe is mainly used for military purposes, town parades, and remembrance days. Similar to Asia and Africa, there are fewer Marching bands.

Conclusion

If you see Marching Band as popular-wise, it is an American thing, but existence-wise, you can find it anywhere. It might not have extensive use, but I’ve seen somehow that most countries have their marching band.

Marching Band is engaged with many things in America, whereas in other countries, it is only famous for military purposes, parades, and special days.

So this is all about today’s topic; I hope you find it helpful; if you have any queries or further suggestions, you can feel free to reach out to us and suggest us.