No one doubts that high school football players work hard: They practice most of the summer despite the heat, preparing for a season culminating (they hope) in regional and state contests. Not everyone realizes, however, that marching bands work just as hard and are just as competitive as football teams. Casey Turner, 17, St. Peters, Mo., described a typical marching band contest: "It's just teena

Standing on a street corner in the United States, you might hear music reverberating out of a nearby car window or see someone listening to a song on headphones. If you asked a teen what music is, the response probably would be that it is a form of entertainment. In Brazil, you are likely to see groups of kids on the streets using their hands as drumsticks to keep the beat on tables and chairs. If

Some say it is right, some say it is wrong, but everyone agrees it's a way to save money. For people who download music, it's a matter of thrift and convenience to get music from many different Internet sources. For people opposed to it, it is stealing or pirating copyrighted material. Teens who download music have used the argument "one more person won't hurt" many times since Shawn Fanning, crea

Singer/songwriter Peter Yarrow is best known for his role in the popular folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary. However, music is not his only passion. He has participated in the civil rights movement, performing at such events as the Selma-Montgomery peace march and the rally in which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. More recently, he founded a program directed at school-a

To musicians, the goal of making music is to get a message across to listeners and affect them, whether by brightening their day with a joke or changing their views on the United States' two-party system. Making people think about politics is what artists like Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Eminem and U2 do every day. But does music with political overtones face more obstacles than music wit

"I honestly don't care if their music is on tune or off tune; all I care about is if they're having a good time." Tom Vornholt, owner of Franklin's Club Logos, which caters to an under-21 crowd They've come and gone for more than 40 years, but these risk-takers are still cool, original and evocative, according to music experts. In Indianapolis, they have names like The Naked Neighbors, Unikque and

Ronald Craig Jr., 17, is clear about where his love of music comes from. "I've known music before I came out the womb. I am married to music," he said. But Ronald doesn't dream of Carnegie Hall. Instead, he works to transform everyday sounds into his own unconventional art. Ronald, aka "DJ Xcel," is a beatboxer in the group MOB, which stands for "mind over body" or "master of beatboxing." Joined b

Alfred Savia tells how he started in his school band and wound up working with Indianapolis and Evansville orchestras. You may think classical music and conducting are boring. Think again. "Most likely, someone who feels that way just has not given it a chance," says Alfred Savia, the 38-year-old associate conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. "Just give it a chance and most peopl

To many students, activities such as choir, band, color guard or athletics are an important part of their school experience. They drill and practice for hours to compete against other teams, and many say later that the experience made an impression on them. For more and more students, stepping, an African-American art form with roots in African history, has had a similar impact. Stepping groups ca

The influence of rap music is everywhere, from Grammy winners OutKast and Beyonce to Baby Phat and Sean John clothing brands. Search for "rap music" on Google, and you'll get more than 550,000 hits. But can rap's influence extend to an individual's character and decisions, as one study suggests? Teens at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility say "no." Most of the girls listen to rap dail