Ohioans have a love affair with sousaphones

Ohio has written some important chapters that have contributed toward the historical significance of a musical instrument invented in 1895 and named the sousaphone, a tribute to America’s legendary band leader and composer John Philip Sousa. 

First, there was President Warren G. Harding, who became the Republican party’s nominee for U.S. president in August 1920. To celebrate the occasion, Harding hoisted a sousaphone to play along with the band that was performing on the front porch of his home in Marion, Ohio.

 

As a young boy, Harding learned to play the alto horn (a brass, valved instrument), and he was quite talented. He once said he “could play about all the instruments,” having yet to try “a slide trombone and an E-flat cornet.” 

Harding went on to win the presidential election of 1920, and his biographer, Willis F. Johnson, recorded that Harding “was known to have picked up an instrument occasionally and joined the Marine Band during its rehearsals at the White House.”

 

Sousaphones became the “featured” instrument within Ohio State University’s marching band in 1936, with the advent of “Script Ohio.” The classic, constantly flowing movement became “the signature and quintessential formation” showcased by the OSU band. 

Band Director Eugene J. Weigel created the looped “Ohio” script, and under his direction, the band transformed into the first all-brass-and-percussion college band in the United States.

 

It’s an amazing sight to see unfold at the “horseshoe stadium” in Columbus, Ohio. First, the band forms a triple “block-O” formation near one sideline. Then, the drum major slowly leads an unwinding procession of the 192 on-the-field musicians. 

As the band performs a classic French march (Robert Planquette’s “Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse,” it’s more than a three-minute journey to get into proper formation. The climax occurs with 16 measures to go in the song. 

The drum major and the designated senior sousaphone player strut to the top of the “i” in “Ohio.” When they arrive, the drum major points to the spot, and the “i”-dotter turns and bows deeply to both sides of the stadium.

Thunderous applause rains down from the stands, as a capacity crowd of 104,944 spectators responds in unison (including the sprinkling of fans who are there to root for the visiting team on the gridiron). 

The ESPN television network selected the dotting of the “i” as the very best college football tradition in the nation. 

There are 28 sousaphone players within the OSU band, and a different member of the senior class is chosen to perform the honor at each home football game. 

On very rare occasions, exceptional non-band members are offered the invitation to be an honorary i-dotter in recognition of their service to Ohio State and to the band. 

Previous honorary i-dotters have included comedian Bob Hope (1978), former Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes (1983), professional golfer Jack Nicklaus (2006) and Sen. John and Annie Glenn (2009).

 Former OSU president E. Gordon Gee was a 1995 i-dotter.

OSU sousaphone player Ben Murawski of Beavercreek, Ohio, near Dayton, was “in line” to be an i-dotter in 2020, but the band was benched for the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Marcus Hartman of the Dayton Daily News. 

Murawski went on to earn his degree in computer engineering but opted to come back for one more season in the band, a decision “the majority of 2020 fourth-year sousaphone players made so they could take part in one of Ohio State’s most cherished traditions.”

 

Murawski got his turn to dot the “i” Oct. 9, 2021, in the home game against Maryland.