Band and color guard’s involvement in Cowhide

By: Melina Contreras

As we get closer to Cowhide, Redwood’s biggest event, We’re looking into how our Marching Band and Color Guard are involved.

Marching Band is a group of student musicians who play and march in synchronized formations during football games, parades, and more; Typically featuring brass: trumpets, trombones, mellophones, tubas, woodwinds flutes, clarinets, saxophones, and a percussion section: snare drums, bass drums, cymbals.

Marching band, who performs during the halftime show during Cowhide. The band showcases their field shows, which often serve as a culmination of their hard work during the fall marching season. 

Jedediah Espinoza, ‘30, says, “Right now, I think we’re just preparing to get ready for the show, and we’re gonna be doing a combining with Mount Whitney. So it’s gonna be a great show. I hope we do really well. We have been preparing for it like, this week. I think this is our first actual time with the music, but I think if we just look at the music, get it right. And then it’s a little tricky at first; if you’re good at sight reading, it’s easy. The only difference is that we join with Mount Whitney. It’s kinda like the same. Probably just hearing all the sections together, having fun and playing our hearts out during the show. Probably playing the music and playing it with the other band because maybe the other band has been playing it longer.”

Demarie Avila, ‘27, says, “Right now we’re working on some pep tunes that we play with Mount Whitney, and it’s gonna be a good show. We just got the pep tune music today, but it shouldn’t take us that long. We play with Mount Whitney instead of doing our normal marching field show. Just having fun overall and maybe having people reconize the tunes we’re playing. Probably getting everyone locked in with the music and making sure that we’re all at the same place.”

Thomas Collins, ‘30 says, “Again, like what Jedi said, we’re working on it a bunch; still not finished with it. It’s gonna get better throughout the season, but this is gonna be the bestest it’s been so far. We’ll play pep tunes to help hype up the crowd to get ready for Cowhide. Pep tune music is really easy, so we’ll get it down by Cowhide. It should be sounding great, and then of course the show should also sound great. To me, the fun part about any football game is you see the big play, and you hear the band.”

Jordan Ray, the Band director, says, “We are away this year, so we have very little to do with Cowhide as Mt. Whitney plans the choreography and music for the event. We do a few easy rehearsals to prepare; it’s a much smaller part of what we do in comparison to our competitive season, especially since we are away this year. Cowhide isn’t actually a big event for us this year, as we don’t have anything to do with the planning or choreography. Even the years when we are home, it is a small part of our rehearsal time. The biggest takeaway for students is learning new material in a short amount of time to be prepared for the halftime performance when we combine with Mt. Whitney. We spend a few days in class to learn the choreography; it is very light when compared to our competitive fall and winter shows. Cowhide is a much smaller part of our year; even though the crowd is large and the energy of the game is high, for us, it is a minor show when compared to our normal Fall and Winter season shows.’

As we get closer to cowhide, probably the band is one of the most memorable parts. It may be harder because they barely got the music 2 and a half weeks before. And they have to pair up with Mount Whitney, which can be a bit difficult if the other band has been practicing it longer.

But as with most marching bands at football games, it’s not just the band that makes it memorable. What also makes it memorable is color guard. High school color guard is a visual performance sport and art form that uses synchronized dance, flags, wooden mock rifles, and sabres to interpret the music of a marching band.

They toss, catch, and rotate silk flags, wooden rifles, and metal sabres, incorporate ballet, jazz, modern dance, and floor work to convey emotion and tell a story, and enhance football games, school rallies, parades, and competitive field or gym tournaments. 

Most high school teams teach beginners everything from footwork to basic tosses on day one. It requires core strength, hand-eye coordination, stamina, and teamwork. Many schools allow students to earn fine arts or PE credits through participation.

Jazmine Caldwell ‘27 says, “We prepare in many different ways. We collab with Mount Whitney and then perform it for the halftime show with the band. A week and a half or so. We learned the same routine, but we don’t learn it with them, so having to sync it up with both of them the day of might be hard. I just hope they think it’s cool. Maybe go out joining. A normal rehearsal is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00-9:00. It’s really long; we work hard, and it pays off in the end.’

Ava Torres, ’27, says, “Color Guard prepares for cowhide by working on moves, coreo with the flag, and just preparing everyone else to be hyped up about cowhide. We have been preparing for cowhide for a little over 2 weeks, but we got it down. The most challenging part of our routine is mostly the flag tosses and making sure we’re all on beat. I hope people take away from it like, dang, that’s really color guard. I want to join. I hope people want to join after watching us.”

Sophia Caldwell, ’27, says, “We go a whole week of just learning new cheers and new coreo to do with Mount Whitney because at Cowhide we do with the band and their color guard. I hope they take away that yes, it is Cowhide and we are rival schools, but we can come together and have fun. We can perform with their band and color guard, and we just come together in unity. I feel like it’s not really that challenging, honestly. I think it’s more getting the work, and so I think it’s really simple. Usually we have these blue, like navy flags for our school, but I don’t think this time; I’m not sure. I’m assuming we’re gonna do like a pretty pink.”

Layla Beltran, ’28, says, ‘We prepare for cowhide by showing everybody what we do during field season and during the halftime shows. To me, it means to express how I feel during school and how I can show everybody what I like to do. Probably getting in time and being in time with everyone else since there’s a lot of us. I think it’s gonna be hard because we all practiced at different times, and we have to sync up.’

All of this shows that it’s more than just the actual show. It’s also about the people who perform in the halftime show. They spend so much time practicing to entertain us because this is what they do.

Melina Contreras
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Melina Contreras '30, is a Arts and entertainment writer for the redwood gigantea. She is entering her first year with the gigantea, and she likes being involved with the arts. if you would like to reach her, email her at [email protected]

 

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