Marching beret

Berets in Marching Band

The beret gained popularity as a type of headwear for marching band drum corps in the late 70s, following the heightened popularity of the Green Berets, a specialized military unit. Many bands then adopted the beret as standard headwear for their percussion sections, and in some cases as standard headwear for tubas. By the late 90s, the beret was commonplace in many high school and college marching bands, mainly due to the beret's increased efficiency over normal marching band headwear.

Efficiency of the Beret

The beret rose in popularity amongst marching bands for a variety of reasons. Aside from the visual representation of the drumline being separate from the band, the beret proved superior to the normal hat for a variety of reasons.

-The beret is form-fitting, thus it moves less when the percussionist is moving. This often prevents unnecessary distracting movement during complex or exhausting sections of drill.

-The beret is soft, thus absorbing any "shock" movement. Whereas the normal marching band headwear would tilt to one side or another when a marcher moved a lot, the beret stays in place, preventing the headwear from slipping over the ear, which could easily cause dramatic phasing or tempo issues within the drumline.

-Drumlines are known to emit intense perspiration while playing difficult or complex pieces of music. The beret doesn't allow pespiration to drip onto the face, possibly irritating the eyes and once again causing a loss of efficiency. Many percussionists name this as one of the primary reasons for selecting the beret over typical headwear.

Visual Style

Easily the biggest reason why the beret caught popularity, is because of the way it looks. A beret serves multiple purposes on the marching field, visually. The first purpose is setting the drumline apart from the rest of the band, giving them a unique look that also helps offset them while the rest of the band is moving and they're not. Secondly, the beret is an easy way for people to identify drumline members at a glance, efficiently making communication within the band easier.

Berets on Sousaphone Players

Berets are often also worn by Sousaphone,or other marching tuba players. With Sousaphones, berets are much easier to fit under the bell which is directly above the head where other marching band hats are too tall. For all marching tubas, the beret is vital because the much greater energy that is needed to create the swift, sharp movements of a marching band with the added weight of the tuba would most often cause the normal shako hats to stir creating a visual distraction.