The Marching Tar Heels

The Marching Tar Heels
The Marching Tar Heels
School	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Location	Chapel Hill, NC
Conference	ACC
Founded	1903
Director	Jeffrey Fuchs
Assistant Director	Dr. Anna Scott
Members	approx. 295
Fight song	"I'm a Tar Heel Born; Here Comes Carolina"
Website	http://www.uncbands.org

The Marching Tar Heels is the marching band of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Known as "The Pride of the ACC", the Marching Tar Heels is one of the largest organizations at UNC with over 290 students.^[1] The band plays at all home football games as well as travels to away games, usually as a small pep band. However, the entire band travels to one away football game each year, usually staying close to home. These have included trips to universities such as NC State and East Carolina but have also included some longer trips to venues such as Notre Dame in 2006 and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in 2010 and 2016. On August 27th 2022, the band performed with the Marching 100 of Florida A&M University.

The UNC band was formed in 1903 and had their first performance at a UNC baseball game in 1904.^[2] The band first started traveling to away athletic events in 1905. The band continues to play for multiple sports including men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's lacrosse, women's basketball and field hockey. The band also divides into two smaller bands and plays at all men's basketball home games, as well as sending a pep band to tournament games.

The band is currently under the direction of Jeffrey Fuchs.

Traditions

Several traditions have amassed over the years which include:

The Blue and White Warm-Up Chorale is played before every performance by the Marching Tar Heels. It was written by former band members, Joshua Potter and Ryan Ripperton.^[3]
On football gameday, it has become tradition for the drumline to warm-up (usually in or near The Pit, in the center of campus) before joining the rest of the band for the march to the stadium. The drumline goes through warm-ups, show music, and cadences. It has become a crowd favorite, attracting large crowds at Tar Heel Town.^[3]
Also on football gameday, the trumpets and tubas perform "Carolina Victory" on the steps of Dey Hall one hour and five minutes before kickoff.^[3]
Directly before the march to Kenan Stadium, the band has a "throwdown" about that day's opponent. Seniors re-write the words to the military cadence of "I don't know, but I've been told" and the band recites the verses as a build-up to the drumline cadence.^[3]
The march to the stadium is a parade route that begins in front of Wilson Library, and ends with the march into the stadium. During the march, the drumline plays through their cadences as the rest of the band does choreographed dances to each cadence.^[3]
It has become tradition that the drumline finish each rehearsal with a final beat of each drum in unison. The drum captain gives 4 clicks on his rim and the rest of the drumline responds with a beat.
After the football team makes a defensive stop on 3rd down, the band plays Raise Up.

Traditional songs

The Marching Tar Heels regularly play these songs at athletic events.

Hark The Sound (Alma Mater)
Here Comes Carolina
I'm a Tar Heel Born (Tag)
Carolina Victory
Tar Heels On Hand
Carolina Fight Song (Fight Song)
UNC Vamp
Carolina in My Mind
Sweet Caroline
Aye! Zigga Zoomba
4-C (Carolina Spell Out)
Visitor's Fight Song 2.0

Other music

Other songs that may be heard on gameday by the Marching Tar Heels are as follows.

Halftime music

The Marching Tar Heels have covered many different genres of music during their halftime performances.^[4] Generally, a new halftime show is presented at each home game, requiring that some shows be learned in their entirety in one week of practice. Some of these shows have included:

Queen (2005, 2013)
The Who (2015)
Classical Masterworks (2018)
Latin Jazz (2008)
Journey (2019)
Katy Perry (2022)
Nirvana (2013, 2021)
Lynyrd Skynyrd (2005)
Stevie Wonder (2014)
Elvis Presley (2015)
Michael Jackson (2008, 2019)
Earth, Wind, & Fire (2013)
Beach music (2019)
Swing music (2007, 2012)
The Greatest Showman (2018)
Leonard Bernstein (2019)
Circus music (2008, 2018)
Saturday Morning Cartoons (2015)
Hollywood Blockbusters (2011, 2013, 2017, 2023)

Directors

Charles T. Woollen 1903-1919 ^[5]
T. Smith McCorkle 1920-1932 ^[5]
Earl Slocum 1933-1956 ^[5]
Herb Fred 1956-1963 ^[5]
Major John F. Yesulaitis 1964-1989 ^[6]
James Hile 1990-1996 ^[6]
Jeffrey Fuchs 1997–Present ^[6]

References

^ "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
^ "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Tradition". UNC Bands. 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^ "University of North Carolina Bands". Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
^ ^a ^b ^c "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-24.

External links

UNC Bands on Facebook
UNC Bands on Twitter

[1] "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-05.

[history-2] "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-23.

[tradition-3] "Tradition". UNC Bands. 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.

[4] "University of North Carolina Bands". Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2010-11-23.

[1903-1963-5] "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-24.

[1963-present-6] "UNC Bands". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-24.

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[6]

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels football
Venues	Emerson Field (1916–1926) Kenan Memorial Stadium (1927–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Duke: Victory Bell NC State South Carolina Virginia: South's Oldest Rivalry Wake Forest
Culture & lore	First forward pass Rameses The Marching Tar Heels 2010 football scandal 2011 academic-athletic scandal
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Venues	Bynum Gymnasium (1910–1923) Tin Can (1924–1938) Woollen Gymnasium (1938–1965) Carmichael Auditorium (1965–1986) Dean Smith Center (1986–present)
Rivalries	Duke (Carlyle Cup) Kentucky NC State Wake Forest
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels Junior varsity team Inside Carolina Four corners offense Blue blood status Dixie Classic/Big Four Jumpman Invitational Tobacco Road Academic-athletic scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Honorees Honored players NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer
Venues	Fetzer Field WakeMed Soccer Park Dorrance Field
Rivalries	Duke NC State Virginia Tobacco Road
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels
People	Elmar Bolowich Carlos Somoano
Seasons	1987 2001 2008 2009 2010 2011 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023
NCAA/ISFA/NSCAA national championships in bold; NCAA College Cup appearances in italics

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer
Venues	Fetzer Field (1979–2017) Dorrance Field (2017–)
Rivalries	Duke NC State Tobacco Road
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels
Seasons	2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
College Cup finals	2018 2019 2022
NCAA national championships in bold