Butler University Athletic Bands

Community

The greatest benefit of Marching Band is the sense of community that it offers us. When we’re talking to prospective new students, we tell them that you can come into college knowing no one, or you can sign up for Marching Band and instantly have a community of around 100 people who you know and will continue to know.

Friendships

Being part of Butler University’s bands has meant being part of a community. It’s the time of your life. I get two hours almost every day to put aside all of my studies—nothing else matters—and play music with my closest friends. It’s a place where I get to be me in my music realm, but I also get to relax. My closest friends are in band. So if we’re not together in band, we’re together hanging out in someone’s room.

Enjoyment

I was originally drawn to Butler for the music program and I was overjoyed when I found out that Butler has a marching band because I wanted to continue that into college. It’s been fun to see the differences between high school and college marching band and get to meet people who are passionate about music. I’m doing marching band for fun, not because I’m required to or because it’s part of my major. We’re simply there because we enjoy doing what we’re doing and we want to put on the best show that we can.

Musical Getaway

I love that I can have an escape from the academic stressors in my life. Playing music makes me happy, and the fact that listening to it makes other people happy is so rewarding. It’s helpful that rehearsals are built into your academic schedule and count as one credit hour. That way, the time I spend rehearsing music outside of practices doesn’t feel like I’m taking away from time I could be doing schoolwork. The best part: Whether we had the best day or the worst day, all of us come together to play and remember that we all share a love for music and for Butler. It builds camaraderie and reminds us exactly why we do what we do.