But at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, the tone of the tuba has been silenced by burglars.
"Thoughts came to my head like, why did this happen? How could this happen? We could just march without our tubas, but we still need them to play, we are the bass of the band," said tuba player Julian Schoenfeld.
All four of the school's tubas were taken over winter break. A junior high in Anaheim was also hit.
The crimes match a series of burglaries at schools across Southern California.
"It's real sad, they have no idea its impact on our students being able to practice, play and do the best they can," said Mira Costa Assistant Principal Jamie Mancilla.
The suspects clearly knew where to go to find the instruments and it was only the tubas they were interested in.
Authorities believe the growing popularity of Banda music may be behind the thefts. Tubas are a key part of the sound, and at $4,000 per instrument, it's easy to see why thieves would target them.
Mancilla says the school is trying to figure out a way to recover the cost of the stolen instruments so that the students can have replacements.
In these tough economic times, Mira Costa is hoping someone in the community can help out, either with information about the crime or a donation that will give the school's band its boom back.
There are surveillance cameras on campus, but school officials don't expect the video to provide much help to authorities.
Anyone with information about the crimes should contact the Manhattan Beach Police Department at (310) 802-5140.
