Teaching a Brand New Drum Major
The first and most important thing is to teach the drum major how to sound a roll off, usually in conjunction with the drummers. Here’s a decent example of a roll-off. Have your drummers learn a cadence. When the drum major wants the band to play, he/she will blow a long sound on the whistle. The drummers will pay attention to that and when they get to the end of that eight bar segment of cadence, they will sound the roll off like you hear on the video. The sequence looks like this.
- Band is marching forward.
- At the very start of the cadence, drum major extends hands upwards and sounds long blast on whistle.
- At the end of the 8 measures, the drummers sound the roll-off sequence.
- Basically the sequence goes like this…
- 1 2 3 4 5,6 7 8
- Dun dun – crash – dun dun – crash – roll for 2 beats – dun dun – crash
- The numbers represent the beats
- The crashes represent cymbal crashes (and also where the wind instruments will snap)
- When the musicians are new, the crashes symbolize literal crashes between musicians (just kidding)
- The very next beat is the downbeat of the song
Practice having the drum major give the command on your cue, and change it up. If you have a brand new program, you might get a drum major who hesitates too long. This happened to me early on in our marching band program when it was new. I overcame this by having the drum major give the command for roll-off 30-40+ times. Eventually I stop giving the cue and I instruct the drum major that “”I’m the reviewing stand – make sure you are playing when you reach me.” Then I move to various points ahead of the band.
The track (if available) is a great place to practice parade marching. If you have safe streets near the school, actual street marching is the best. It’s more real and little kids will come out to see what’s going on (and be motivated to join band).
Where Does The Director Go
This may be mostly personal preference. Here are a few possibilities:
- Traditional: create a file to the right of the first row of the band that is just you. This is what I did in the Army and what I did when I first started teaching marching band. You march with the band, in step with the band, and become part of the band unit. I quit doing this after a while because it felt too formal.
- Informal: now I walk alongside the band – I don’t try to stay in step with them; I’m usually slightly ahead. From there, I interact with the audience; I give kids high fives; I see and hug people I haven’t seen in a long time who recognize me.
Regardless of which option you choose, it’s your job to monitor the students. If it’s hot, watch them for signs of heat exhaustion. If it’s cold, watch for a student who is shivering uncontrollably. You end up finding out you have two kinds of students. “Slacker Man” complains about everything that is a little difficult.
Slacker Man: Mr. Divine, this clarinet is too heavy to carry for the parade.
Mr. Divine: No it’s not. Have you tried the bass drum?
This is the minority of students in band in my experience. The other type is Superman.
Mr. Divine: You look like you’re about to fall under the load of that bass drum. We’ve been going 3 miles, it’s 108, and you ran cross country this morning. Do you need a break?
Superman: No Mr. Divine; I’m good to go.
You watch for heat exhaustion in their faces, in their steps, in their eyes. It’s hard to explain, but you end up being able to tell when a student is getting close.
I had my flag and percussion coaches follow the band. They would pick up any sticks, uniform parts, or anything else students dropped and – if needed – stay with a student who has dropped out (or more likely who I have made to drop out).
What Should The Director Wear?
Once again, this is an item of personal preference. In my opinion, the director should be one level higher than the students. Nothing bothers me more than when I have seen directors in shorts and t-shirt when their students are in full wool uniforms. Are students in shorts and t-shirts? You can be in slacks and a polo shirt. Are students in full, hot uniforms? Time to get the suit and tie out. Wear a hat! It helps cut the heat from the sun.
Don’t Be THAT Director
I’ve gone through the whole gamut of marching band. I was in the parade in high school. I was in the parade in the Army Band. I watched the parade when my kids were in high school. I led the students when I taught high school. Now my hope is to be in the reviewing stand someday!
Don’t be THAT director, the one who follows his students as they are marching and is constantly trying to correct their feet, or align the rows and columns. It’s too late on parade day! I have never seen a band be better because of this last minute correction. It brings everyone’s attention to the problem, creates stress for the director, and leaves the students feeling STRESSED OUT. Relax, enjoy, be calm. Fix the step later.
And Don’t Wear These Shoes
It was the early 1990s. I was in the army band stationed in Japan. We had a parade, and I had a pair of new Corfam shoes – those really shiny dress shoes we wear when dressed up in the army. I could FEEL them starting to cut into the area above my heel. The pain kept getting worse until finally, the blister popped and the blood flowed freely. Ah, with the lubrication provided by the blood, the pain went away! After the parade, I was able to pour some blood out of my shoes.It took two weeks to heal completely. Don’t wear new shoes in a parade!
James Divine is a retired music teacher. He still teaches half time at a charter school, spending the other half leading Professional Development and creating curriculum like Jazz From The Start to teach jazz and improv to young students. Get an early edition of his book Almost Everything I’ve Learned About Teaching Band.