Marching Ravens Get Keyed In As Preseason Nears

NFL preseason kicks off August 1st, and different parts of the Baltimore Ravens are getting ready for the big day.



WBAL's Dawn White tells us how the Marching Ravens are preparing to start off on the right note in part one of her series on how different parts of the team prepare for preseason.

"It takes a while at the beginning," Marching Ravens flute player Keith Kelsey said. "We spend about the first two months just learning pretty much marching basics. We have a huge repertoire of music, so we're getting that under our belt too."

Kelsey studied music in college and recently moved from Michigan.

"I came across the Ravens' band on the Internet, and I could not believe it myself there's a marching band for the NFL," Kelsey said.

Kelsey works as a teacher and finds time to hit the right notes as a Marching Raven.

"There have been times before where music was kind of difficult, so I had to take time at home by myself," Kelsey said.

Many of the musicians practice for about seven hours on their own. The group practices for three hours one day a week at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills.

Assistant music director Kristin Monroe says the preparation starts even earlier for Marching Ravens' staff.

"The staff gets together before the end of the previous season," Monroe said.

The band begins practices in April. The staff hopes practice makes perfect to wow the crowds during preseason performances.

"We're working on our feet, kind of warming up the bodies as the first segment of the evening, and then we'll break off into sub-sectionals," percussion director Jayson Hart-Smith said.

The musicians then put the pieces together and play as a group.

"We take one rehearsal at a time, one evening at a time, and trying to chip away at the mountain before we're ready to go," Hart-Smith said.

The Marching Ravens are the largest marching band in the NFL with more than 150 members ranging in age from 18 to 68.

"We definitely don't want to make a football and make it flat on one side," drill instructor Shawn Westover said.

Flat footballs aren't good during games or for the intricate band formations. Westover says members can form everything from a football to a bird.

"Programs that we use to write the formations, we can actually send them a video of what it's going to look like," Westover said.

President John Ziemann has been with the band since 1962 and helps the new generation of music rookies join the flock.

"They progress, and they gel, and by the time we hit preseason, they're part of the group," Ziemann said.

"When the fall comes, we have football games about every other Sunday, and I think we do about five different halftime shows," Kelsey said.

The band learn about two dozen different songs for those halftime shows at M&T Bank Stadium.

"The first time you step on the field with 70,000 people in front of you, it's hard to describe the amount of energy surrounding you," Monroe said.

"We sound good for sure already," Kelsey said.

Kelsey's anticipation for the start of this preseason is sky high. He hopes the birds hit a high note as a band and with the football.

"The newer members, they're picking up on things pretty fast, so that's good," Kelsey said. "I think we're starting all the way up here already. We only have so much more to grow, so I'm excited for it."

Musicians travel to practices from six states, which include Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The Marching Ravens perform at many state and national parades, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade. The band debuted on September 7, 1947 as a part of the All-American Conference Baltimore Colts.