Tau Beta Sigma... for greater bands

Gamma Omega Chapter

To contact us:

E-mail: GammaOmegaTBS@gmail.com

The pitt band

The University of Pittsburgh Varsity Marching Band or, as many lovingly call it, Pitt Band boasts around 250 band members. The members of Pitt Band come from many different schools, including Carlow College, Chatham College, Robert Morris College, the Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, and the University of Pittsburgh.  While many college marching bands are comprised mostly of music majors, we have only a few. Pitt Band is proud to draw students from almost every school and department within the University and strives to be as diverse as possible in our student make-up.

Pitt Band has practice Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings in the fall in order to be prepared for all of the Pitt Panther Football Games. On Game Day, you can be sure to find band members up early in the morning making their way to the band room to prepare for the fun day ahead of them. We start every game by warming up in front of the main gates at Heinz Field and playing for the football team as they arrive at the stadium. The band members then move down in front of the river to give the parents, alumni, and fans a small preview of what they can expect at half-time. We then go around to the student and alumni tailgates playing fight songs and getting them pumped up for the game. Just an hour before kickoff, we gather fans as we march back to the stadium in the March to Victory. As the game gets closer, the band and the students get even more excited, creating an atmosphere you would not want to miss.

Then pre-game begins! The herald trumpets take the field to get everyone’s attention on the field, letting the students and fans know that something big is about to happen. The drumline bursts out of the tunnels in a cloud of smoke, pumping up the students, soon to be followed by the rest of Pitt Band in the traditional pre-game show. Pitt Band marches down the field in a military style high march before breaking into squads (groups of four) in order to form the P-I-T-T! We then form the pre-game tunnels and play Hail to Pitt for the football while they run out of their tunnel.

At halftime, Pitt Band takes the field and shows everyone what we’ve got! Our shows range from Bon Jovi music to music by Dragon Force. Each week we learn an exciting new show to wow the fans. We end every game by showing respect to our University by singing the Alma Mater.

This is Pitt Band in a nutshell, but we are more than just a group of students who run around the field on game days. Pitt Band is our family… and Tau Beta Sigma is a family within that family. We all take pride in knowing that we are members of one of the greatest bands that has ever been, a nearly 100 year-old tradition. So keep your eye out for a Pitt Bandie while you walk around Oakland, we are everywhere, showing everyone how proud we are to represent our University. And remember: NO ONE BREAKS THE RANKS!

Hail to Pitt!

Kasey Cahill

Corresponding Secretary 2009

Tau Beta Sigma-Gamma Omega

Pregame Tunnel for the football team