Page 24 - 2018-BMR-September

The Top 10 Things to Do Right Now To Clean Your Marching Band

the others, you may not know which student needs help. try to setup a parade block in your parking lot or on the
If the four trumpets are spread out across your room, it track. You can develop the skill of moving and playing by
will be obvious who needs help. This will also allow the tracking while working on fundamentals or show music.
director to know which students are not contributing at the Again, be prepared for things to sound very different than
appropriate dynamic level to create proper balance. Other when they are standing still inside. This is why the students
options for adjusting your setup would be to warmup in need to develop the skill of moving and playing.
an actual drill page. Find one of your challenging drill
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pages to help the students become more comfortable in #3 Always Move Your Feet
that environment. With the exception of the pep tunes, the students should
always move their feet. This includes all fundamentals and all
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#5 Use Click Tracks show music. Unless you are working
A click track is an MP3 of just a on actual concert band music, put
metronome or a metronome with the away the chairs and have the students
music. If you have tempo changes stand in class and mark time for
in one of your productions, a click everything. In addition to marking
track with metronome only can be time, students are encouraged
incredibly useful since the tempo to do a step-out at phrase or set
change will always be the same and changes. When choosing tempos for
doesn’t require a staff member or fundamentals, choose tempos that
student to change the metronome at are used during the marching show to
a specific time. It’s best to create click further reinforce necessary skills. The
tracks for all of the sets in your show students must understand how their
so that you can always start at any music relates to their feet. Rather
set in your show. Click tracks that than telling them to put their feet
also have the music playing can be a with the music, they should be told
very useful tool for learning drill or to put their feet with the metronome
cleaning drill with the winds on air. (or drum major hands) and then play
They can also be a good rehearsal tool with their feet.
for your color guard/dance team or your front ensemble to
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help them always rehearse with the wind music playing. #2 Edit the Drill
There are many sets in our show that just need reps and
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#4 Go Outside During Class information in order to clean. More than likely, there are
Moving and playing is a skill that must be developed also some sets that will either never be clean, or the payoff
through repetition. If you have access to your rehearsal field is not worth the amount of time that it will take to clean.
during classes, then you are very lucky. Take advantage of The audience does not know what each set is supposed
the opportunity to focus more on the individual students to be, they only know whether it looks right. Feel free
in that class. You may not be able to “clean” all of your to adjust your drill for better student achievement. A
pictures, but you will be able to “clean” the individual few things that usually create “dirt” in the drill are large
musicians. Be prepared for things to not sound the same as step sizes, direction changes in the middle of a set, and
when the entire marching band is on the field. But know 90 degree slides. It may take some creativity, but rather
that what you hear in class is actually happening when the than fighting a losing battle, save some time by making
full band is there. If you do not have access to a field, then adjustments to the drill.

Bandmasters Review • September 2018 22 Texas Bandmasters Association