BMFM South-Central School Districts

Marching Band Handbook

Directed by Bryan Hummel

Edited Fall 2013

Table of Contents
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. Introduction Expectations and Policies Music Memorizations Marching Style Guide Drill Rehearsing Strategies Daily Rehearsal Format Band Camp Schedule Schedule of the Year

**Please have a parent or guardian sign the back sheet of this hand book and return it by ____________________.**

Introduction
Hello! Welcome to the program! We are glad to have you here. Throughout your adventures and experiences in this program you will find this handbook to be of use. Use it as a resource for any questions you may have regarding the band program. If you cannot find the answer you need within this, please feel free to contact me. The year will bring us many surprises due to new faces, new music, and new experiences. Enjoy your time here.

Mr. Bryan Hummel Director of Bands ____________________

The Mission of the BMFB South-Central School Districts band program is to mold students into both producers and informed consumers of all types of music, teach the skills necessary to be responsible citizens in society, and to generate a lasting experience for all participants.

Expectations and Policies:

Attendance/Tardy Policy
Attendance to all rehearsals/performances is mandatory of all students. There will be a limited tolerance for absences that have not be communicated prior to rehearsals and furthermore will result in the loss of a letter grade. The grade will remain lowered until the absence has beeb=n communicated between parents, students, and the staff fully. If the absence is in fact excused then the grade will be returned to its original score. Excused absences must be communicated in advance. Things that do NOT constitute as an excused absence: 1) Work 2) Friends are in town 3) Im tired 4) Ive got lots of homework 5) I slept in 6) Etc If the student has an unexcused tardy the result will be the loss of half a letter grade. Tardies will be excused if they are due to participation in other school activities as long as they are communicated PRIOR to the rehearsal/Performance.

Marching Band Attire

Every band member must bring the following to every rehearsal: 1) Tennis Shoes 2) Appropriate clothing (according to weather) 3) Sunscreen 4) water 5) Pencil 6) Music 7) Horn **The Drumline students are expected to bring earplugs in addition to the list above.** If a student fails to bring the items listed above they will be sent home to retrieve the necessary items. Please keep in mind that everything that is being requested is in the best interest of the students health and comfort. If there is any questioning concerning these policies please do not hesitate to contact me.

Music Memorization
All students will be expected to memorize their music prior to the first game. The program has deadlines in place (TBD) to aid the students in budgeting their time effectively, these are called check offs. Check offs are graded and will result in points for the course. These will be the first points in the grade book so be sure to stay on top of music memorization.

Star Spangled Banner Fight Song Movement 1 Movement 2 Movement 3

5 points 5 points 30 points 30 points 30 points

TOTAL:

100 points

Marching Guide
Set/Attention Position
Call: - - - - | Band Ten Hut | Response: SET! 1) Feet together, toes slightly apart 2) Weight on the platform of the foot 3) Knees above ankles 4) Hips above knees 5) Shoulders above hips 6) Ears above shoulders 7) Chins up, chest out, relax muscles, and do not lock knees.

To The Ready
Call: To the Ready! Response: (no response) 1) Feet shoulder width apart 2) Right hand to side 3) Left hand behind back 4) Head down 5) Relax and be comfortable

Horns Up/Down
Call: - - - - | Band Horns Up |

Response: (or down)

Up!

1) Snap horns to up position 2) Trumpet, mello, baritone, and flute should be parallel to the ground. 3) Clarinets should be angled so that the head is in a comfortable and proper playing position. 4) Saxophones should have the horns slightly away from the body in a comfortable play position. 5) Tubas are in a comfortable playing position 6) If the call is a horns down return to the Set position.

Forward March
Call: - - - - | Forward March - | Response: (take a step) 1) From a proper set position, push off the right heal. 2) Extend the left foot in front of you with a straight leg. (do not lock the knee). 3) Step down with the left foot on beat one. a. At this point the left heel is on the ground and the right foot is breaking the toe. b. Keep the center of body between feet 4) Roll through and extend the right in front of the left. a. At this point the right heel is on the ground and the left foot is breaking the toe. b. Still keep the body centered.

5) Repeat these steps. Things to watch for: Look up Smooth movements Proper balance Feet in time bicycling

Halts
Call: - - - - | Band Halt - | Response: Halt! 1) From any directional move, bring the feet together and stop on beat one when the response is called. 2) Be sure that, on the beat prior to the halt, the right foot points (toe first) to stop the momentum of the body. 3) Bring left into the pointed right foot and rest comfortable in the set position on count 1 following the call.

Backwards March
Call: - - - - | backwards march - | Response: (backwards march) 1) On beat 4 of the call, rise to the platforms of the feet and push on the right foot.

2) Extend the left behind your body keeping both legs straight. a. Be sure to keep the weight between the feet not on one or the other. 3) Now push with the left foot, still straight legged, and extend the right. 4) Repeat to march backwards. Things to look out for: - Look forward not down - If you find problems staying balanced, squeeze the core. - Keep leg motion parallel vs. slanted in or out.

Slide Left/Right Horns

Call: - - - - | right slide right - | Response: (slide r/l) (move to the corresponding direction) 1) Turn hips 30 degrees from feet towards stands 2) Turn chest 60 degrees from feet towards stands 3) Turn shoulders 90 degrees from feet towards stands 4) Forward/backward march in the direction called. Things to look out for: - Pull should back to keep upper body parallel to stands - Relax, tension can make this very difficult - Try to keep upper body relaxed.

Crab Left/Right Battery

Call: (same as above) Response: (Same as above) 1) Move up onto platforms of feet on beat 4 of the call. a. When moving right there is a slight back step on beat four 2) On count one, going left, take a step sideways (hips parallel to the stands) onto the back plane. a. Continue you to cross over with the right foot. 3) On count one, going right take a step sideways (hips parallel to the stands) by crossing over with the left. And continue left over right. a. Be sure that when going right you take a prep step on beat 4 prior to the move.

Dress Calls Left/Right/Center

Call: - - - - | dress right1 dress - | 1) This call will be start when the body is in the set position. 2) On beat for of the initial call, the horn pops up to horns up position. 3) On beat one the head snaps to the direction called. 4) During the dress, fix the picture. 5) To get out of the dress you will hear the closing call:
1

Response: - - - - | - - - Horn | head

Left, right, or center can be used here.

Call:

- - - - | ready front - | - - - - | - - - Head | Horn 6) Move the head back to forward position on beat 4 7) Move the horn back to set position on beat.

Response:

Rehearsal Strategies for Drill and Music

Every second of rehearsal time is vital. Therefore, it is imperative that approaches to learning, cleaning, and maintaining drill and music are based in a concise strategies that can be applied, adjusted, and repeated as necessary. These strategies need to be pre-planned and adhered to diligently by the staff. With the multitude of minds on the field that need training it is foolish to think that one could simply play it by ear. The key to an effective rehearsal is a well-planned, objective based strategy. The following are several strategies for rehearsing a marching band: OBJECTIVE DRILL SETTING Drill setting can be time consuming but it is important to keep it systematic. 1. Go to set 1, set it, and identify the shape the band is in. 2. Now Identify the number of bars2 that it takes to go from this set to the next. 3. Play the music for those bars. i. Repeat as necessary, looking for accurate notes/rhythms 4. Now march and play those bars from the initial set to the latter. 5. Repeat steps b f for every set. Setting sets can seem a daunting task and every band is going to digest it differently, keep this in mind. DO NOT set more drill than your band appears to be able to handle.
2

Better to use bars because it more directly relates to music. Counts can work however, its just a more abstract step.

Its much more productive in the long run to set four accurate sets that are now comfortable rather than setting 10 poorly explained sets. The primary goal for drill setting is accurate and long term retention of as many details as possible. OBJECTIVE DRILL CLEANING Drill cleaning can also seem like a long and laborious task. Focus on the retention of corrections. Accurate drill setting will save you time here. The students brains will want to think of the show as individual sets that they have to change constantly and march, this is where we chunk the show and start thinking of the show as bigger ideas3. 1. First select a musically justified chunk of drill. It has to make sense or the brain will not process this. No more than 3-5 sets 2. Next go set-by-set, and verify dot placements and also take time to remind/ask students about the picture they are creating. a. Often times there will be more complex drill moves that need worked out. So this is the time to take to clean them 3. Now stand still, play the music of the chunk, and do step outs on sets. 4. Add the drill to the music. Keep in mind the chunk is not clean until both the drill and music are up to par.
3

Both in terms of Music and Drill.

5. Be prepared to repeat this strategy. OBEJECTIVE CLEANING MUSIC Music is best cleaned on the move. This is not a stationary activity, granted time must be taken prior to drill setting to work out music, but bottom line: they do not stand still and play and they must be ready to move. Spend only as much time as necessary cleaning music stationary and then get moving on the field as soon as the students can. Down fall of most bands is the cleaning of the music while theyre standing still and then never talking about a musical concept again. No, humans need repetition. Talk about music every time you talk about drill because they co-exist in this activity. 1) Select the chunk to be cleaned. 2) In this order, teach the following (rep-by-rep, marching and playing)4: a. Notes and rhythms b. Written dynamics c. Interplay of different voices i. Identify melody, counter-melody, accompaniment, etc. d. Overall phrasing within chunk e. Phrasing of whole chunk, (where is it going?) f. How does this chunk fit into the piece? 3) Singing can be a good technique for this as well. 4) Lastly, when the band can execute all of these things put it in the context of the chunks surrounding it. Rep!
4

Skip the step if the band can already do it.

Things to keep in mind as a director: - Repetition is the only way achieve consistency, sure its time consuming but these are young brains that need concrete, accurate, and diligent repetitions of drill. - Cleaning a chunk of drill is a 3 day endeavor5: 1) Clean, get intense and specific, and rep! (15-20 minutes) 2) Reminder (10 minutes) 3) Execute 2-4 reps (~10 minutes) - Adult brains can only focus for ~ 45 minutes. That is not to say that students need breaks more often; however, staff should vary the intensity of their instruction to suit the focus levels of teenagers. - YOU CONTROL THE REHEARSAL ATMOSPHERE.6 It can be hard at times to see that drill and music can be rehearsed together, but it can. It is useful to note that when part of the band is working a tricky drill move with one strategy, the other can be focusing on their musicality and general execution with another. When a band operates this way, 80 minutes worth of instructional time turns in to 40, twice-as-productive, minutes if the rehearsal is managed well. No student should have nothing to do, that means much more planning for the staff.

40 minutes for a total of 4-6 clean sets is a pretty solid time. Its the difference of spending more time on one thing to get it right vs. less time on many things to get them about right. 6 Energy is absolutely infectious.

Daily Rehearsal Schedule

7:00am 7:15am Warm Up (band and percussion separate). Run Through of show, after wards make easy, quick comments to help the majority of students. *take notes on weaknesses* Clean chunk (day 1) Clean chunk (day 2) Clean Chunk (day 3)7 Run Through, Staff make notes for the next day release the group for the rest of their day.

7:40am 8:00am 8:10am 8:20am 9:00am

Notice that these three steps cover approximately 15-18 sets which is a little under a 4 of a show. Also notice that the bulk of instructional time is under 40 minutes which is about the focus level of a high schooler.

th

Band Camp Schedule

Day 1: Squad Leaders and Rookies
3 3:30pm Meet and great with squad leaders, get to know you games, etc.

3:30 4:30pm Beginning fundamentals on field. 4:30 5:00pm learn how to set drill and read coordinate sheets. Set dots 1-3, (no music).

Day 2 and 3:
8 9am 9 11am 11 12am Fundamentals (band and battery separate) Drill setting Lunch

12 1:30pm Sectionals. Brass, Winds, Percussion rotate instructional time with director. 12pm percussion 12:30pm winds 1pm - brass 2 3pm 3 5:30pm full band rehearsal (music memorization/reinforcement). Dinner

5:30 7:30pm Drill Setting/Cleaning/Review 7:30 8pm Squad Leader Meeting

Day 4
8 9am 9 11am 11 12am Fundamentals (band and battery separate) Drill setting/review Lunch

12 1:30pm Sectionals. Brass, Winds, Percussion rotate instructional time with director. 12pm percussion 12:30pm winds 1pm - brass 2 3pm 3 5pm 5 5:30pm 5:30 6pm full band rehearsal (music memorization/reinforcement). Dinner break warm up walk to field Friends and Family Performance

Schedule of the Year

(Insert Performance/Rehearsal Schedule)

By signing this form I, the parent/guardian of __________ , I am stating that I have read, understand, and will adhere to the information listed above.

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Printed Students Name: ____________________ Date: _______ Parent/Guardian name: ___________________________ Students Signature: ______________________________