Fifers are

military personnel Military personnel or military service members are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, and space force), rank ( office ...

whose specialism is playing the

fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. The occupation emerged during the

early modern era The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...

, when contemporary military tactics called for the usage of

martial music Martial music or military music is a specific genre of music intended for use in military settings performed by professional soldiers called field musicians. Much of the military music has been composed to announce military events as with bu ...

to function as

signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

to indicate changes in formation. Fifers of the period, who were often the sons of

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s also served as member of

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

s during

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

. Often boys or teenagers too young to fight in regular combat roles, fifers were used to help

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

units to keep keep a march pace from the right of their formation in coordination with

drummers A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's eq ...

positioned at the centre, and they relayed orders in the form of sequences of musical signals. The fife was particularly useful because of its high pitched sound, which could be heard over the sounds of battle. Fifers were present in numerous wars of note, as European and American armies of the 18th and 19th centuries "depended on company fifers and drummers for communicating orders during battle, regulating camp formations and duties, and providing music for marching, ceremonies, and moral." The usual allocation of fifers in a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

during the early modern period varied from five to eight.

Fife and drum corps A fife and drum corps is a musical ensemble consisting of 2 Fife (instrument), fifes, a snare drum and a bass drum. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using 2 fifes, a snare drum and ...

, in particular those in high-ranking units such as foot guards had as many as 32 (in the

Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment The Preobrazhensky Life-Guards Regiment (, ''Preobrazhensky leyb-gvardii polk'') was a regiment of the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Russian Army from 1683 to 1917. The Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the oldest infantry regiments in Imp ...

) or more fifers. Several fifers, as part of the fife and drum corps that accompanied British Captain

Arthur Phillip Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...

and the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

, were present at important events in Australian history, such as the reading of the Governor's Commission on 2 February 1788 at

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora language, Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central ...

. Fifers were also present in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, but there were at times shortages of fifers who were "fit for duty." The staffing dilemma lead to the creation of a "learner" fifer category, which were drawn from within the revolutionary ranks, rather than being externally recruited.

References

Sources

* Nafziger, George, ''The Russian Army 1800-1815'', Rafm Co.Inc., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, 1983 * http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/music/military/ {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905001852/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/music/military/ , date=2008-09-05 Military music

References

Sources

See also