Christopher Duffley is 10 years old with blindness and autism. His voice is simply stunning.
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A high school concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors (band directors). A school band consists of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments, although upper-level bands may also have string basses or bass guitars. A high school 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, often of a military style, that consists of an associated organization’s colors, name, or symbol. Most high school marching bands, and some college marching bands, are accompanied by a color guard, a group of performers who add a visual interpretation to the music through the use of props, most often flags, rifles, and sabers.
High School Marching bands are generally categorized by function, size, age, instrumentation, marching style, and type of show they perform. In addition to traditional parade performances, many marching bands also perform field shows at sporting events and marching band competitions. Increasingly, marching bands perform indoor concerts that implement many songs, traditions, and flair from outside performances. In some cases, at higher-level competitions, bands will be placed into classes based on school size. “Traditionally” speaking, the term general music has often been reserved for elementary music. However, an exciting shift is occurring at the secondary level, specifically in music classes offered at the high school level. In response to a realization that music offerings in band, choir, or orchestra may not resonate with every student, teachers, and schools are reaching out and expanding their musical offerings so that even more students can be involved in school music education. The title “Secondary General Music” usually encompasses performance-based and non-performance-based classes alike. Performance-based classes might be guitar ensembles, world drumming ensembles, and rock bands. Non-performance-based classes usually include but are not limited to songwriting classes, music technology classes, and music theory classes.