Real quick.. before you keep scrolling to look at tunes. I am a firm believer in how big of a role the band plays at football games. Whether it's pregame ceremonies, the fight song, crowd entertainment, or just being a part of the community... the band is absolutely essential. I will never forget a particular football game my second year as a high school band director. We traveled to a school with a heavily concrete stadium that kinda dipped down in the middle. This made our relatively small pep band sound huge (the reverberation). We were in the second round of the play-offs and it was an intense game. Every time we got the ball, we'd play a "charge" tag with every first down. Each touchdown we'd play the fight song and it was electric. The crowd went nuts and everybody was hyped. I am totally biased, but the band had everything to do with that amazing game. We had a tune for every play for every moment. 

The band is so important to create these moments where music literally brings an entire community together, rallying behind the fight song.. belting "Sweet Caroline"... dancing to the drumline. Maybe one of the tunes below can help you create some great moments. Either way, I hope you find music that helps you rally your community around the importance of the band/live musicians at sporting events!!

Hip Hop Band

The first version I wrote of Hip Hop Band came out well over a decade ago. I recently had a moment where I told my students just how long we had been playing it.. it's a fun tune and crowds seem too love it. I think the best part of the tune is that the cheerleaders request it all the time. And if the cheerleaders are into what the band is doing, that's definitely a good thing. Maybe this tune will be a good one for your band. Check it out and see what you think.

purchase on smp $40

buy on pepper $40

Hip Hop Band 2

Here's the second installment in the Hip Hop Band Saga. My goal with these tunes is to give some music that can really hype up the crowd/team/etc at sporting events and pep rallies. This one has an (optional) JAM SESSION in the middle. My suggestion is to have a ton of fun with this... solos, drum solos(?), trading 8s, chanting, clapping, woodwinds only, brass only, anything you can thing of. Have fun! Let your students cut loose a little.

purchase on smp $40

Side Note - Entertainment Value

One principle that I always like to communicate to young performers playing a pep rallies and sporting events is: "perceived fun is fun." What I mean by this is that if the students are visibly having a blast playing tunes and leading cheers... the people watching have a blast too. It's entertaining. And it's important for musicians to *sell* a performance. I always liked to play videos of the NFL Drumlines outside the stadiums before games. They're ELECTRIC and SOOO much fun to watch.

For obvious reasons, I'M A HUGE FAN OF LIVE MUSIC FROM LIVE PERFORMERS. Much better than just hitting play on the loudspeakers. We all know that the best part of a football game is the band 😎

Epic Stadium

In my variety of random listening sessions, I once came across a tune that had a groove emphasizing the upbeat of one. I was inspired to write a marching band tune. We play this one all the time, it's great for when we're trying to "pump up" the football team. 

purchase on smp $30

buy on pepper $35

Running Up That Hill

When I first looked at the prospect of arranging Kate Bush's tune, I didn't get it. Great tune, wasn't sure about how to work it for marching band. To figure it out... I binged Season 4 of Stranger Things. I then understood and knew I had to try and capture that epicness in the arrangement. This will work well in two specific settings... when your team is down and defeat is imminent, play this song and a shroud of hope will become inevitable escape. Then definitely play it again as the team charges to victory against insurmountable odds. You can also just play it at pep rallies so everybody will say "the band plays current tunes"......from the 80s.

Sheet music plus $50

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Conquest

Coming soon!