Everybody loves to hear a band! A parade wouldn’t be a parade wit out one, and can you imagine the circus without a band? Nowadays, a band has even become part of our sports activities, and school bands play at all the big games.

The first brass bands were nothing like our bands of today. A few traveling musicians would appear here and there, play for a while, and then move on. By the end of the thirteenth century, however, these bands had grown in size and had become so popular that they began to form special organizations. They established guilds just as did people who specialized in other kinds of work, and these guilds had rules and regulations and guarded the rights of the musicians who played in bands.

During those days, every church had its brass band, and no wedding or festival was complete without it. In time. particularly every town in Europe had its own little brass band!

After these bands had developed to the point where they became so popular, they began to accompany armies on the march. This was in the sixteenth century, and the first bands that marched with the troops were hired civilians. Then the regiments began to enlist and to train their own bands. Today, of course, the bands attached to the various branches of the armed services in the United States are famous and outstanding musical organizations.

Military organizations weren’t the only ones who showed great interest in bands. The schools and colleges also began to develop them. In time, many of the bands attached to schools were as good as professional bands.

Another kind of band that became popular was the concert band. The concert band is built on the same plan as the symphony orchestra. Usually, there are no string instruments in a band; the woodwinds correspond to the strings in the orchestra.

Each group, or family, of instruments in a band contains a complete choir. For instance, there are soprano, alto, and bass clarinets, saxophones and so forth. These give the band a rich effect. Today, more and more music is being written for concert bands, and millions of people enjoy hearing them in parks, in concert halls, and in parades.