visually. High step marching is often accompanied by a horizontal swing of the player's body or instrument. Lateral marching When band members are marching in one direction but want to focus their sound on another, they may rotate their bodies at the waist, so that only the upper portion of the body faces in the direction of play. This is known as lateral marching, but is more commonly known as either shifting, traversing, or sliding. A lateral march is not a change in the direction of march, only in the direction the upper body faces. Percussion players, whose large drum harnesses often prevent them from twisting their torsos, and sometimes tuba and sousaphone players, instead uses a crab step when moving sideways. During a crab step, the musician crosses one leg over the other, either marching on the toes or rolling the foot sideways. Percussionists may also substitute roll step when their instruments would interfere with performing the high step. Changing direction A true direction change involving the feet moving in a new direction requires either a prep step or a pivot, both of which are sometimes referred to as a flank or “stab”. To perform a prep step, on the last count of movement in the first direction a marcher plants the foot with the heel turned outward at half the angle of the turn desired, with the upper body still facing forward. On the next count, the other foot snaps into position completing the turn. The upper body may or may not turn with the lower body. Some bands plant the heel on the prep step rather than the toe but preserving the angle of the foot. To perform a pivot, the marcher pivots between directions over the ball of the foot on the last count instead of using a prep step. Backward marching A back march may be used when the band wishes to move in the opposite direction from where it is projecting its sound. There are several ways to back march, one of which is to walk backward, putting each foot down and rolling from the toe to the heel (the exact reverse of the roll step). Another variation involves marching on the platforms of the feet, dragging the toe of the moving foot on the ground. Backward marching usually employs the same preference for leg straightness as forward marching (if the band marches with