Seventy-Six Trombones

"Seventy-Six Trombones" is the signature song from the 1957 musical play The Music Man, written by Meredith Willson. The song also appeared in the 1962 and 2003 movie versions.

Seventy-six trombones led the big parade,

With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand ...

'Professor' Harold Hill uses the song to help the townspeople of 'River City' visualize their children playing in an enormous marching band. The band that Harold is describing includes 76 trombones, 110 cornets, "over a thousand reeds," and "fifty mounted cannon" (actually quite popular in bands of the time) - if such a band actually existed, it would be over a mile long.