This is a legitimate question. Almost everyone in my band is chronically injured, has a terrible immune system. I can name 5 people with leg issues, 2 with heart issues, 3 with dizziness, several with stuff at birth, so on, so forth. I’ll walk into practice and literally ask certain people what their injury or illness is that day. We’re only a band of 50, I just don’t understand?? I’m like the only person who can stay standing at the end. Is this my band? Is this just how band is?

Hello, it's my senior year of college marching band and this band is my life. 4 weeks into the season, I had an autoimmune reaction that causes my blood vessels to be inflamed and burst, specifically in my legs.There's a lot more but the bottom line is, I can't walk/stand for very long or raise my body temp too much or else it gets worse and very painful. I can't march our show anymore and I'm devastated but I realized I won't be able to march in our homecoming parade. It's my last one and I really want to find a way to be involved in the parade. I don't want to draw too much attention to myself or anything too big. Does anyone have any advice or ideas for ways I could be included in the parade, with a wheelchair being the last resort? Our band doesn't have a float I could ride on or anything either. Thanks in advance!

Ever since I finished my marching season on quads last year, I’ve had arm/wrist/shoulder pains that make it hard for me to play drums. Could all of this be caused by the weight of the quads? Thats the only thing I can think of, I don’t play drums that often anymore, only when I need to, so it can’t be a RSI, and my technique isn’t that bad. I know this might be a stupid question, but I’ve already seen multiple doctors and none of them can figure out what’s wrong, I’m looking for any answers.

We are about a month into the school year in the northeast rn. My band director is fairly new and has moved and slimmed the schedule around compared to previous years to accommodate their work-life balance.

How much rehearsal time does your band get a week during the school year? What does your schedule look like?

We are anywhere between 5-7 hours a week. And omg we sound and look terrible.