Little Lessons Marching Bands Can Learn from Drum Corps

Learn about the little lessons that ALL High School Marching Band students can take away from DCI. Things like ensemble communication, how to play in time, and so much more.

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[PctJuice]

Something I stressed back when I was marching in high school (and briefly coaching afterwards) was "never treat sectionals like a chore." That's your time to practice a run or chord 50 times and get it exactly right, nail a horn pop, or really hone in footwork. It's also a good time to work on dynamics. One of my favorite exercises was having a section just play a single note as loud as they could with good tone and hold it at that level as long as they could. Then have them attack a note that loud and decrescendo to the softest they could play with a good tone. Then run that same exercise while marching straight forward.

Sectionals are, in my mind, even more important than full-band rehearsal time because it's where you hone in everything that goes into making the whole show as good as it can be. Obviously we can't expect high school kids to be able to put in hours for that kind of thing, but it's incredibly important and I feel like too many bands sleep on it. Or at least, the kids don't fully throw themselves into it for this or that reason.

[notesrhythms]

Love the info in this video! As a Composer who has been to multiple DCI events, there's a lot to be learned from the discipline and dedication of the drum corps. It's a pleasure to witness.

[connorself]

Front ensemble member here, one thing our percussion director has instilled in our brains for any kind of music we receive (whether it be concert, orchestral, ensemble, or solo) is that you are expected to have learned your music by the time rehearsal comes around. Rehearsal is meant to rehearse, not to learn. The point of rehearsing is to fine tune, to balance instruments, and to create musical connections to understand the music at a higher level. It is not to learn the key signature. This is a common mistake I see in high school marching bands (still in mine! Can definitely say our band struggles with this despite the efforts of the drumline) and is probably one of the biggest things I’ve learned from Mr. Bingaman. Amazing video!

[ppg_vortex]

I just discovered your channel and I gotta say you are doing an amazing job! Thank you for all the amazing information, keep it up! This video is incredible for all band member or faculty going into this new marching season, well done.

[alexanderjones]

I don’t understand how you have 1.6k views and only 93 likes, this is a great descriptive video and I’m glad that YouTube is finally recommending marching band videos.

[therealeikichionizuka]

even though im a high school senior for front ensemble, i can definitely say one of, if not the most important thing is to work on the small things. our section constantly gets shat on by our caption head for being able to do incredible difficult marimba runs, but not able to use our wrists to play, or even being able to play down beats. ill spend literally hours cranking quarter notes on my bass guitar (yes, i do bass and sampler) just to get prepared. most of all though, my good friend in color guard will constantly practice her rifle tosses for 3 hours every single day after school, and all day on the weekends, no exceptions. it’s necessary to work on difficult stuff to improve yourself and be cool, but its as important to work on the easy stuff as much as you can to make the hard stuff even cooler.

[ResetDoitAgain]

Great video.
Thanks for naming the corps (and years) of your examples.

[chrisjackson]

The two things I took from my drum corps experience are the fact that you're part of a team. You leave the baggage at home, you pour all your effort into it while you're there, and you need to build each other up.

The other is the value of efficient rehearsal technique. Complete the rep, do only what is asked, freeze, and listen. Reset quickly. Raise your hand if you have questions rather than blurting out thoughts, and take every rep as it's own performance. Practice how you perform.

One observation I made is your school band may be resistant to "trying to be like a drum corps", meaning you're not going to single handedly launch your school band to new heights. That said, there are small things individuals can do in hopes of it rubbing off on others. It is still a team effort after all. That rehearsal technique is a great place to start, and from there, you want to drop the ego and be a positive part of the team. You want people believing they can do it.

Thanks for the video!

[YungGing]

What an excellent topic! This is extraordinarily valuable. Please make more videos like this

[masonh.]

How is your channel not bigger? Loved the video - I could've used this in high school!

[ale_isanodd]

i’m a freshman starting a pit at my school. thanks for the vid 🙏

[avanderwolf]

Any advice on how to treat woodwinds when composing for high school marching band?

[theTenorDrummer]

Many truths here, Zachary. Thanks for the video

[benf]

Rehearsal technique is the number 1 takeaway. It doesn't take talent to have good rehearsal technique. Just desire.

[kt]

A few things here, Mr. Savinsky.
1. There is no drum corps. Corps died when the decision was made to change brass pitch to B-flat and F. In fact, I have been to shows where I have seen keyboards, sousaphones, slide trombones, and French horns. Those are band instruments.
2. Be it an orchestra or a band, the conductors' function is not to keep time. It is to start and stop the ensemble. In between, it is to indicate nuance and phrasing. Drum corps drum majors fail at this.
3. The soloist is usually not in position to see the conductor, being in front of the conductor. Therefore, he or she must listen, and listen carefully, to what the ensemble is doing. I think the reason corps position their soloists the way they do is to create a situation where only precise timing can exist.

When I worked in japan, I got to see several national championships. The competitions are held indoors, which limits what they can do with their shows.
The best bands had minimal percussion and only one drum major. Their timing and phrasing was exceptional, even when most of them could not see the drum major. The percussion kept perfect time.

Peace.

[fireantsarestrange]

I'm just going to say that your wrong. We aren't watching the drum major. I personally never once ever looked at the drum major. It's memory only. You totally got that wrong.