The Marching Tar Heels is the athletics pep band for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. Known as "The Pride of the ACC", the Marching Tar Heels is one of the largest organizations at UNC with over 290 students. The band plays at all home

football 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 c ...

games as well as travels to away games, usually as a small

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 ...

. However, the entire band travels to one away football game each year, usually staying close to home. These have included trips to universities such as

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

and

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

but have also included some longer trips to venues such as Notre Dame in 2006 and the

Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game is an annual series of college football games played on the opening weekend of the NCAA Division I FBS season in Atlanta, Georgia. Organized by the Peach Bowl, the event coincides with Labor Day weekend in the United ...

in 2010 and 2016. The UNC band was formed in 1903 and had their first performance at a UNC baseball game in 1904. The band first started traveling to away athletic events in 1905. The band continues to play for multiple sports including men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's lacrosse, women's basketball and field hockey. The band also divides into two smaller bands and plays at all men's basketball home games, as well as sending a pep band to tournament games. The band is currently under the direction of Jeffrey Fuchs.

Traditions

Several traditions have amassed over the years which include: *The Blue and White Warm-Up Chorale is played before every performance by the Marching Tar Heels. It was written by former band members, Joshua Potter and Ryan Ripperton. *On football gameday, it has become tradition for the drumline to warm-up (usually in or near The Pit, in the center of campus) before joining the rest of the band for the march to the stadium. The drumline goes through warm-ups, show music, and cadences. It has become a crowd favorite, attracting large crowds at Tar Heel Town. *Also on football gameday, the trumpets and tubas perform "Carolina Victory" on the steps of Dey Hall one hour and five minutes before kickoff. *Directly before the march to

Kenan Stadium Kenan Memorial Stadium is a stadium located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is the home field of the North Carolina Tar Heels. It is primarily used for football. The stadium opened in 1927 and holds 50,500 people. It is located near the center ...

, the band has a "throwdown" about that day's opponent. Seniors re-write the words to the

military cadence In the United States armed services, a military cadence or cadence call is a traditional call-and-response work song sung by military personnel while running or marching. In the United States, these cadences are sometimes called jody calls or jod ...

of "I don't know, but I've been told" and the band recites the verses as a build-up to the drumline cadence. *The march to the stadium is a parade route that begins in front of Wilson Library, and ends with the march into the stadium. During the march, the drumline plays through their cadences as the rest of the band does choreographed dances to each cadence. *It has become tradition that the drumline finish each rehearsal with a final beat of each drum in unison. The drum captain gives 4 clicks on his rim and the rest of the drumline responds with a beat. *After the football team makes a defensive stop on 3rd down, the band plays Raise Up.

Traditional songs

The Marching Tar Heels regularly play these songs at athletic events. *

Hark The Sound "Hark The Sound" is the alma mater (song) of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina. It was written by William Starr Myers (class of 1897), a member of the UNC Glee Club at the time. It is sung at the end ...

( Alma Mater) *Here Comes Carolina *I'm a Tar Heel Born (Tag) *Carolina Victory *Tar Heels On Hand *Carolina Fight Song (

Fight Song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

) *UNC Vamp *

Carolina in My Mind "Carolina in My Mind" is a song originally written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. It was Taylor's second single from his 1968 self-titled debut album. Taylor wrote ''Carolina in My Mind'' while overseas recording for ...

Sweet Caroline "Sweet Caroline" is a song written and performed by American singer Neil Diamond and released in May 1969 as a single with the title "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)". It was arranged by Charles Calello, and recorded at Americ ...

*Aye! Zigga Zoomba *4-C (Carolina Spell Out)

Other music

Other songs that may be heard on gameday by the Marching Tar Heels are as follows. *Phantom *

The Imperial March "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" is a musical theme present in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It was composed by John Williams for the film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Together with "Yoda's Theme", "The Imperial March" was premiered on ...

*Neck * Raise Up *Iron Man *O Fortuna *Born to be Wild *

Bad Romance "Bad Romance" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her third extended play (EP), ''The Fame Monster'' (2009)—the reissue of her debut studio album, ''The Fame'' (2008). Gaga wrote and produced the song with RedOne. Following an illegal ...

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Everybody's Everything Everybody's may refer to: * ''Everybody's'' (Australian magazine), an Australian tabloid-style magazine of the 1960s * ''Everybody's Magazine,'' an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929 * ''Everybody's Weekly ''Everybody’s Weekly'' wa ...

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*Theme from

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Halftime music

The Marching Tar Heels have covered many different genres of music during their halftime performances. Generally, a new halftime show is presented at each home game, requiring that some shows be learned in their entirety in one week of practice. Some of these shows have included: *

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

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* Classical Masterworks *

Latin Jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, whic ...

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Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

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Directors

*Charles T. Woollen 1903-1919 *T. Smith McCorkle 1920-1932 *Earl Slocum 1933-1956 *Herb Fred 1956-1963 *Major John F. Yesulaitis 1964-1989 *James Hile 1990-1996 *Jeffrey Fuchs 1997–Present

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marching Tar Heels, The Atlantic Coast Conference marching bands Musical groups established in 1903 North Carolina Tar Heels 1903 establishments in North Carolina