| "American Patrol" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover (1885) | |
| Song | |
| Written | 1885 |
| Published | 1891 |
| Genre | March |
| Composer(s) | F. W. Meacham |
| Audio sample | |
"American Patrol" as performed by the United States Marine Band | |
"American Patrol" is a popular march written by Frank White (F.W.) Meacham in 1885. It incorporates both original musical themes by Meacham and melodies from American patriotic songs of the era such as "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," "Dixie," and "Yankee Doodle." Composed for piano, it was then arranged for wind band and published by Carl Fischer in 1891. Copyright was assigned to Meacham's widow, Cora, in 1912 and renewed in 1919. The 1885 and 1914 printings for piano do not include "Dixie."
Glenn Miller's Orchestra recorded a swing version of the march arranged by Jerry Gray in 1942 which was released as a 78 single on Victor Records.
Morton Gould later composed his own unusual and often dissonant "American Patrol for 3 Bands."
The "patrol" format, also used in Beethoven's Turkish March, was popular in the second half of the 19th century, and other compositions bear titles such as "Turkish Patrol," "Ethiopian Patrol," "Owl's Patrol," "Welsh Patrol" and "Arab Patrol." The format was intended to represent a military band approaching, passing, and fading into the distance. It typically included an introduction played p or pp, in imitation of bugle calls or drums, then themes played progressively louder until a recapitulation of the first theme(s), gradually dying away and finishing pp, ppp, or even pppp. The original piano version of "American Patrol" follows this scheme.