Brass Band Sections in The United Kingdom - First, Second, and Third Sections

First, Second, and Third Sections

The First section is the next section down from the Championship section, and although the contest music is not as challenging, it is still quite difficult to play. The degree of difficulty of the music used in competitions is progressively less for each section. Many individual players in the First section can match the virtuosity of Championship section players, and the gap between the two sections is always hotly contested, as indeed it is between Second and First. Very often the only reason a band from the top of one section does not successfully migrate up to the next section lies in their interpretation of a test piece at a contest, where their fate lies in the hands of an adjudicator. The adjudicator sits enclosed and unable to see the bands as they play, and then judges them on various points, one of which is interpretation. In the past, deportment was one of the judgeable factors, but this is no longer part of contest judgement. On many occasions success or failure will depend on very small matters, and this closeness increases in the higher sections.

Although many of the players at the top are truly virtuoso musicians, outside the genre they are seldom well known. All are amateurs (players pay for the privilege of being allowed to play with a band), and every player knows that if his or her musicianship is not up to standard, there are other musicians trying for their seat (their place in the band). This means that player rivalry exists even within an individual band.