A Discourse Community

People may think that being in a band is boring, uncool, and just not for them. This might be true, but in a band you must be a leader as well as a follower. In a band there are also different ranks. You also have to communicate in various ways. You have to be able to follow hand commands, voice commands, and whistle commands. These commands are used to communicate with the band to better performances and enforce discipline. For those who might not know, the band consists of a very important thing which is communication.
Hand commands are easy to understand at great distances. They can be used when the band is warming up or preparing to play a song. They can also be used to bring together practice and point out problems that need to be fixed. You have to pay close attention to the drum major and section leaders because they will be using these hand commands. For example, when you see the drum major’s mace in the air horizontally you know that you are about to either play a song, begin marching, or you are about to be told to have a seat if you are in the stands.Being in the band comes with a lot of voice commands you will have to learn. We use both short and long terms. The terms that are normally used in marching bands are band, mark time mark, right face, left face, about face, forward march, halt, parade rest, dress right dress, ready front, at ease, fall in, and dismissed. When you hear your drum major say, “Band” that means come to attention, no moving what so ever, and keep your mouth shut. The term mark time mark is to pick up your left foot on “and” and bring it down on the next beat. The terms right face (a simple turn right), left face (turning left), and about face (a three hundred sixty degree turn) are very simple. When you are marching and you hear your drum major say, “Halt” that mean stop. When you are lined up and told to forward march you march forward and the only command that could stop you is mark time mark. During parades or performances you