The marching arts are a collection of fine arts related activities that are closely associated with wind music. The marching arts include, but are not necessarily limited to

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

, drum corps,

pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchin ...

color guard In Military, military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of Colours, standards and guidons, regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is so prestigious that the militar ...

winter guard Winter guard (sometimes spelled "winterguard") is an indoor color guard sport and performance art derived from military ceremonies. Modern winter guard is a competitive, performance-based activity which incorporates choreographed staging, dance, a ...

, and

indoor percussion An indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline is type of marching ensemble consisting of the battery and front ensemble instruments. It differs itself from a traditional percussion ensemble by not only on musical performance, but on theatrics ...

. All of these activities are supported at both the high school and collegiate levels. Although marching and pep bands initially existed to fill the role of halftime entertainment at

football games Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ca ...

, the modern marching arts, while maintaining their enduring traditions, have grown into stand-alone activities. The marching arts often participate in competitive events with panels of adjudicators assessing the groups on a number of captions. Some of the captions often assessed in competition are: music performance (ensemble), music performance (individual), music effect, visual performance, visual effect, general effect,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

, and drum majors, among others.

Governing bodies

Several governing bodies exist to adjudicate and promote the marching arts:

Drum corps

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

Drum Corps Associates Drum Corps Associates (DCA) is a governing body for modern all-age and senior drum and bugle corps in North America. DCA's responsibilities include sanctioning competitions, certifying adjudicators, maintaining and enforcing rules of competition, ...

Drum Corps Japan Drum Corps Japan (DCJ) is the administering organization for drum and bugle corps in Japan. Most DCJ competitions are held indoors on a floor with different markings from those used in DCI, DCA, and most Western drum corps competitions. The mai ...

Drum Corps Europe Drum Corps Europe (DCE) is a governing body for all-age drum and bugle corps based in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands. DCE coordinates the European Music Games, including the annual European Championships, in cooperation with strategic partners from ...

Marching band

Bands of America Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States, such as the annual Grand National Championships. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), ...

* USBands *

Tournament of Bands The Tournament of Bands (TOB) is one of the largest competitive band organizations in the United States and is one of several major circuits in the mid-Atlantic states (other circuits include Cavalcade of Bands and USBands). TOB was founded in 197 ...

Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association The Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association (MACBDA) was a governing body and summer high school marching band competition circuit based in the Upper Midwest. The circuit's competitive season traditionally began in June, and previously in ...

Winter guard

Winter Guard International Winter Guard International (WGI) is an American performing arts association, governing body, and the producer of regional championship events for three activities: color guard (known as winter guard), percussion ensembles, and small marching bands ...

References

Marching bands {{Marching-band-stub