Pep band season is back! After football season ended and West transitioned into the second semester, marching musicians have hung up their uniforms in order to prepare to cheer on their Spartan basketball players.

Unlike marching band, pep band is not a performance-based ensemble focused around a themed set of music; rather, pep band aims to play a supporting role at basketball games. Due to the reduced performance time and lack of drill marching, students are not required to sport their traditional uniforms, but instead get to partake in the themed attire. In contrast to marching season where musicians have a set prepared for halftime at football games, students in the pep band play short arrangements of well- known songs, such as “YMCA” and “Tequila,”  to help entertain the crowd and help “pump up” the players during timeouts. “I like it because there are more people in the stands for us, and when we make a basket, more people cheer for us” said varsity basketball player Kendra Roth.

“When you’re on the field, it’s more of a performance. In the stands, you don’t need to be as precise,” senior tenor saxophone player Jonathan Arthur stated.

Although the role of the band changes throughout the year from marching band and pep band to concert band, the musicians in the ensemble do not change often. As pep and marching band encompass different styles of music from concert band, several students play a secondary instrument as a supplement during the offseason. The changing seasons in the band results in less time spent on “stand tunes” than during marching season, as the band is also busy preparing for upcoming concert band contests.

Marching and concert band are the two more emphasized genres with pep band following as a bonus opportunity for West students to support their peers on the court. “Having a pep band there, I feel like, brings a greater excitement to it and helps alleviate the stress of the game for the athletes,” Arthur said.