"Harch" is the command issued by the
Drum Major of a
marching band
A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...
, or by a Sergeant in charge of assembled troops, to move forwards upon the left foot. The command most commonly issued is "For'd, Harch" meaning for the entire group to move forwards as one body. "For'd" is the attention-getting and directive part of the command; "Harch" is the executive part of the command.
The term "harch", rather than "march" is used, as the latter term may easily be scattered by
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...
. For similar reasons, the contraction "for'd" is (preferably) used rather than "forward." Also, the term march may be confused with a number of other
commands that include this word, e.g., "To the Right Flank, Harch."
Marching bands
{{Marching-band-stub