Why is it so Hard to Keep a Beat?

You know when you're walking down the hallway, not in a hurry, just at a steady pace? And then you think to yourself, "left, right, left, right, left, right..."? Okay, so maybe you don't know. But for most of us band geeks, this is a common occurrence. We count as we walk, we pick up rhythms of speakers, and we add tempos to random acts. We have internal tempos that are just dying to be a part of our everyday life, and once we get out on the field we are able to perform them without people looking at us like we're totally insane. That being said, why on earth is it so hard for a marching band to keep a steady tempo?

Last Friday night, the Cougar Marching Band took the field to perform the half time show at the Cougars vs. Warriors football game. The crowd was wild, the lights were on full blast, and that autumn chill was in the air. As they announced the name of the marching band's fall show, every member experienced a jolt of electricity that burned them to the core. The adrenaline levels were as high as they'd ever been. The drum majors climbed onto their podiums. Silence fell over the crowd. This was the real deal, the run-through of the show that actually mattered, the one that would make the band the laughing stock of the city if it wasn't up to par.

 The practice run-through earlier that evening had went well, which was why everyone was shocked when the band completely fell apart. It happened like this: the winds slowed down, the drum line sped up, and the drum majors kept a steady tempo from the beginning. So at that point there were three different tempos going, but the real question was who to follow. Does the band use their ears and follow the drum line, or use their eyes and follow the drum majors? Who should adjust to whom? Eventually drum line is destined to take the lead, get the band back in step, win a great recovery, and finish strong. But my question is, why exactly does this happen in the first place?

Internalizing a tempo isn't a challenging thing to do. Most people could do it in their sleep. Sure, it takes focus and discipline for everyone to follow the same tempo, but it's really not hard to follow a beat pattern. Perhaps people are just lazy, and are only in marching band because their parents made them, or because they don't want to take gym. Maybe people just have a strong lack of focus, and their mind is wandering while the show is going on. Whatever the case, it gets rather annoying to those who are trying to keep the tempo and who want the marching band to perform well. Because of that performance, the opposing school's band now thinks that we can't march in time. Our student body has lost respect for us. Our marching band director has added extra rehearsal time. And why, you ask?

Because it's just so darn hard to keep a beat.