Many capable and articulate adults stammer when they try to define drum corps. "It's, ahh, well it's sort of like a marching band but, ummm, only way better" Some call it extreme marching band; others compare it to professional marching band; one director even refers to it as a cross between a Broadway musical and a marching band show.

It's true, drum corps does very much resemble marching band; there are, of course, certain key differences. But before we talk about what drum corps isn't, let's talk about what it is.

Modern junior drum and bugle corps ("drum corps" for short) are independent youth organizations made up of up to 135 14- to 22-year-olds who spend the summer rehearsing and performing an 11-minute show in which they play a variety of horns or percussion instruments, or spin flags, rifles, sabres, and other implements, all while marching around a football field.

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