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Blog
Choose one of the blog entries below to learn more about my thoughts and philosophies on marching band, drill, show design and rehearsal techniques for band.
What pace should we learn the show at?
This one is easy… for most schools you want to get an award winning program in place and have your students reap the rewards of their hard work right? Well the answer for you then on how fast should you learn the show is … ASAP! When band camp starts, day 1, if you use… Continue Reading
2nd Graders in Marching Band?!
Hello! Greetings from Nara, Japan! This is a clean, lovely (and a bit chilly) town near Osaka in the beautiful country of Japan. I am here with my old friend Kazuhisa Hashimoto who is a music teacher and band director at a primary school here. We marched in the 2006 and 2007 Cavaliers together –… Continue Reading
Your Superstars
Hi Directors, It is mid-Spring and hopefully that means you have all had a successful and COMPLETE concert band festival season. If you are on this site you most likely have a passion for bringing engaging programs to your students and audiences and thus are already thinking about ideas for next marching band season which… Continue Reading
Planning Your Fall Budget
Hi Band Directors, I’ve been getting lots of inquires about writing drill for different schools for next coming marching band season. This warms my heart because I love this work. I see my role as someone who, through writing shows that have the student experience foremost in mind while still pleasing judges and entertaining audiences,… Continue Reading
Hornline Visuals
As is generally the best rule…simplier is better. Keep it simple. Pretty much always. You don’t need to tell the students this. High school age kids need to be motivated and they are often very competitive so you may want to encourage them to believe what they are being asked to do is amazing and… Continue Reading
Small Band, Big Plans
They say a great band program comprises 20% of the school population. If you have 20% of the kids in your entire school in the band program than the presence of your band will be noticeable as people walk down the halls, in the parking lot with band stickers, on the bus with kids with… Continue Reading
Sound Spread Really Matters
Sound Spread Really Matters! I’ve seen it so many times, great show design, amazing guard moment, cool idea, amazing playing band…but when the uniforms are on and the hornline is under the lights on the field the impact is completely lost! All that thought that went into making this such a unique moment for the… Continue Reading
Spring Marching Band planning
Hello! If you’re like me then you are already starting to think about marching band. As a director you’ve hopefully had a successful concert band festival season and are now getting ready for the end of year concert and maybe a musical. If you’ve had an indoor drumline or colorguard GOOD FOR YOU! That adds… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 7
Dear Band Students, I have good news for you today. Marching Basics Scared? Don’t be. Our basics are about training your mind not just your body. Seriously. Marching band is about getting students to understand and internalize a series of tasks. The average show will have about 45 drill sets in it although it ranges… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 6
Dear Band Students, Almost done I swear! So now we know all this stuff (and yes, congratulations you do now know A LOT of stuff about the marching activity) about how things are designed, the history, your responsibilities and philosophy but what about the actual location where it all takes place? How do you know… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 5
Dear Band Students, Now its time to talk about something very, very dear and special to you. To you? Yes, to you and you don’t even have it yet! I am of course talking about… Marching Band Dot Book Your dot book! Behold!! You’ll also need a shoe string or some variation of it to… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 4
Dear Band Students, Last time I told you how drill is written and how the computer executes it perfectly. Now it is time to figure out how we can emulate what the computer does to achieve amazing visual clarity. Marching Band Benefits Did you know (I like these cheesy tid bits): Famous intelligence and educational… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 3
Marching Band Drill Writing Evolves Dear Band Students, Drill writing is an art form that has been evolving for decades. As developments in technology and resources reinvented the way society and band enthusiasts experience and approach the marching activity so too was drill rapidly influenced. Did you know: As late as the 1980’s corps… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 2
Interval Training for Marching Band Camp Dear students, Band camp is coming up and I hope you are all very excited to get started. I know that I am really looking forward to getting to know you all and working with you all. I have heard great things about the students and the program here… Continue Reading
A Letter to Students – Band Camp, Part 1
The Dot System Watch closely…here it is. Here is the conception of ensemble visual clarity that gave birth to what has been called “the dot system.” Witness below the execution of this drill learning method at its highest level: *disclaimer to those of you for whom that may not have been your first time watching… Continue Reading
Creativity in Design – Music Rehearsals
Here is one of my favorite topics for the marching arts. As a musician and composer I love the freedom marching band extends to its music in terms of arrangement and orchestration. Let’s take it a step further and put the director in the creative seat. First read of music – making changes As you… Continue Reading
Determining Your Repertoire – Show length
If you’ve studied music education in the past 10 years you probably have heard of the K.I.S.S. acronym. This meaning: Keep It Simple Stupid. When I was a music education student I didn’t exactly appreciate the tone of this acronym; however there is plenty of wisdom in keeping things simple. What is the minimum length of… Continue Reading
Holy Drill: Why One Draft of Drill May Not Be Enough
Let’s explore an hypothetical scenario. It’s early September. You finally got the end of the closer on the field. Music has been memorized and your students can (just barely) perform the show, visually and musically, from top to bottom. Satisfied with their efforts, you dismiss them at the end of practice, lock up the band… Continue Reading
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