Establishment

A few days before the second game of the 1937 season, a September 24th tilt against the Chicago Cardinals, a local milk company contacted the Washington Redskins football team to request permission to march at home games.^[1] In the team's words, "For the rest of the season these musical milkmen played to their hearts' content — and to the fans' delight."^[1] The entertainment experiment was a success and team owner George Preston Marshall embraced the marchers as "The Redskins Band."

Twenty thousand dollars were invested in elaborate band uniforms, including gaudy Indian headdresses in lieu of more typical band headgear.^[1]

A fight song called "Hail to the Redskins!" was written ahead of the 1938 season, with music by Barnee Breeskin and lyrics by Corinne Griffith, Hollywood actress and wife of team owner Marshall.^[1] This song remains a staple of the band, played at halftime and after touchdowns are scored.

The Redskins Band also played short musical arrangements during timeout, carefully timed to the 90-seconds allowed for such stoppages.^[1] Some 200 short musical scores were compiled by band officials during the group's first decade of existence.^[1]

According to the team, the band was "composed of volunteers of all sizes and ages — printers, plumbers, sheet metal workers; mechanics, painters, electrical engineers; students, bookbinders, and, oh, yes, of course, even musicians."^[1] This official statement of amateurism understated the group's core of musical competence, however, with direction as of 1943 in the firm hand of Don P. McAdoo, former director of the Akron Symphony Orchestra.^[2]

In addition to playing home games, the Redskins band sometimes went on the road with the team, entertaining at games in Pittsburgh, Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, and New York, among other locations.^[1] The band also marched in parades and played occasional special events.^[1]

The Super Bowl era

Although the wildly stereotypical headgear was lost along the way, the Redskins Marching Band was maintained continuously into the Super Bowl era. By 2010 the band had grown from its original 110-member size to 126 pieces.^[3] Although unpaid, some compensation was provided as band members were allotted two tickets to each home game — which they were free to give to family members or sell at their pleasure.^[3] Turnover was small and aspiring members eager, with about 25 applicants each season for the average of 5 or 6 openings in the band.^[3]

Regular rehearsals were held during the week, with the band playing before home games outside the stadium and giving impromptu concerts^[3] or drum shows^[4] following victories.

New music was constantly added to the bands repertoire, with an emphasis placed upon "music that will, in our opinion, excite people — rouse them up to cheer for the team," according to 2010 band director Eric M. Summers.^[3] "A lot of them are oldies that most of the audience will recognize — those pieces that you will be able to sing some of the words to," Summers said.^[3]

Marching performances during halftime was greatly reduced in the later phases of the Washington Redskins band, with only two or three shows a season given as of 2010.^[4]

After the hiatus

The band went inactive in 2020, during the season with fan attendance shut down by the COVID-19 epidemic^[5] and another in which the Redskins naming controversy added a demoralizing factor, but returned in 2022 after the team rebranded as the Commanders.^[6] New uniforms were unveiled for the band, slimmed down to a 60-member size for its latest iteration.^[6] Band members are paid part-time employees of the team under the current model.^[5]

The Commanders band continues to perform the team fight song, renamed "Hail to the Commanders", after the team scores touchdowns at home games.^[7]

Jeffrey Sean Dokken, conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, was named the first director of the reborn Washington Commanders Marching Band.^[5]