Help with marching band
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nafmeadmin.
nafmeadminI need some advice for building a dwindling marching band program. What can I do to build a program when performance opportunities are limited to football games and 1-2 parades? I would like to do competitions, but I am the only director (no guard or percussion staff) with very limited resources and money. I don’t want to burn myself out preparing a competition group when I am the music arranger, drill writer, guard instructor, and band director all in one person. (Been there and done that. Lesson learned!)
How can I get my kids excited and build enrollment for a small marching band program?
nafmeadminHow small is your program and what state are you in?
The biggest mistake I see here in Ohio with smaller groups (under 40 kids), is that they try to do way too much. Competition does not attract kids/recruit for you unless you are successful. You are not going to be successful with no staff, and a very limited instrumentation.
Step 1: Hire a percussion instructor. Have boosters pay him/her if you have to, but marching bands need a percussion instructor. I can’t even imagine trying to have a quality marching percussion section without additional staff.
Look for band shows, college band days (massed band events on game day), etc in your area. Get the kids excited about being part of the band by making it “the thing to do”.
My very first gig out of college was a small rural school. The HS band had about 35 members in it when I started. We did band shows, etc until the numbers grew. By my last year (year 6), we had 75-80 members and were starting to compete. It takes time.
How many students are in the high school? How many are in the band? Is marching band separate from concert band?
Christopher M. Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy, is currently the Chair of the Music Education and Music Therapy Department and Director of the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Johnson earned his Ph.D. from the Florida State University.
Since his arrival at The University of Kansas, Johnson has taught courses in Instrumental Conducting, Teaching Instrumental Music, Managing Behaviors in the Music Environment, Psychology and Acoustics of Music, and Research Methods in Music Education and Music Therapy. Johnson served two terms as the editor of the International Journal of Music Education: Research, the research publication of the International Society for Music Education. He is currently serving his second term on the National Association for Music Educations Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. He also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education, and one earlier term as the Chair for the MENC Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. Johnson also served as the Chair for the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education.
Johnson’s research interests include applied research in music education, and basic research in all aspects of the psychology of music. He has published articles in many journals including the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music Education, the Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Band Research, Contributions to Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, among others. Johnson has also been an active member and contributor to the Research Seminar of the International Society for Music Education and World Alliance for Arts Education.
Johnson received a university teaching award – the Ned N. Fleming Award for Excellence in Teaching and received the recognition for Graduate Teaching Achievement from the Center for Teaching Excellence. Johnson was also awarded a lecturing & research award as a J. William Fulbright Scholar and recently received the Ella Scoble Opperman Citation for Distinguished Achievement from the Florida State University College of Music.
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