From regimental bands parading with and accompanying soldiers into battle during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, to the half-time spectacles of today's televised football games seen by millions, pulse-pounding march music rendered by colorful marching bands has been a part of America's heritage since the country's earliest days. Indeed, bands, parades, and Sousa's famous march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever," have come to symbolize freedom, democracy, and the good old United States of America itself.

The word "band" derives from the Latin bandum meaning "banner," and also "company" and "crowd." In popular usage "band" has come to mean any group of instruments, from jug to rock, but its specific meaning derives from the medieval musical ensemble of louder instruments, primarily brass, reeds, and percussion, geared for performance out-of-doors; this is in contrast to the "orchestra" of softer instruments, strings and woodwinds, performing in interior settings.

The...