The high step is used by a great number of colleges and universities such as all the Big Ten Conference bands, the University of California- Berkeley Cal Band, the University of Southern California Spirit of Troy, The University of Washington Husky Marching Band, and The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, the Lehigh University Marching 97, as well as most Historically Black Colleges or Universities such as Grambling State Univeristy and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
And some bands, such as the Auburn University Marching Band and the Kansas State University Marching Band use both high step and glide step, depending on the situation.

As for the one kind of high step, the band member rolls his or her foot out to the toe, bending the knee. The knee then locks, and the leg is elevated out in front of the marcher before it is put down in the new position.

Another high step includes bringing the foot up to the inside of the leg to the knee before coming down and forward. Some marching band ensemble ensembles refer to this as “tucking” and others as “ankle-knee”.

One more older high step consists in the lifting of the knee with legs directly in front, thighs parallel to the ground, and toes pointed downward. When lifting the leg they should make a 90-degree angle with the body and the thigh, and a 90-degree angle with the thigh and the shin. The leg is then lowered, and this is repeated with the other leg.

They commonly call this manner of step as the “chair step”. Many schools in the Big Ten Conference practice this style and it is also the style for many HBCU bands.

The extended high step is another one, very physically demanding, style of high step marching. This variant of step requires the thigh to be parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the body with the lower leg extended outward at a 45-degree angle from the body (135-degrees from the thigh), toes pointed downward. The leg is then brought quickly back to the ground while the other leg repeats in this fashion. Simultaneously, the upper body swaggers 22.5-degrees left or right of center on every step of the marcher.

The most important part of this manner of marching is known as “stop action,” which means all movement ceases for an instant at the apex of each step.

This requires a mobile band to have a great deal of stamina, but has very effective visual impression. This style is common among most marching bands of the Big Ten Conference
Glide step and roll step
A lot of bands use some variation of the glide step, also called as the roll step.

This step consist in bringing the heel gently to the ground with the toe directed up, and then rolling forward onto the toes before lifting the foot or walkingon the ball of the foot with heel lifted when backwards marching. Actually this style is a direct imitation of drum and bugle corps. It gives the drill a fluid and smooth appearance, and provides better control of the complex formations and various music styles played by those bands which roll step.

Furthermore, marching in place allows performing of a much broader range of tempos; the proper execution of a roll step will give a player marching at 40 beats per minute the same smooth tone as a player who is marching at 180.

The roll step provides much better control of the upper body, and better control of the air support required for playing. The proper and correct form protects the wind player from bouncing and moving around unnecessarily, thus producing an unstable tone. Marching percussionists usually use a roll step solely when a high step is impossible because of drum harnesses.

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