Multiplication by Division?

Let's do a countdown, shall we, starting with ...

6 - USSBA groupings, based on total band size.
5 - The State of Texas UIL (school size)
4 - Band of America (school size), TOB (winds), Cavalcade of Bands, ISSMA
3 - WGI (World, Open, A), a possible expansion from ...
2 - classes based on ability (DCI, USSBA*)

1 - "champion"?

How much is ... too much? How do you compare "like" bands, especially in contests where too many cuts make for too few competitors, leading to watered down championships? When does a band (and school - and face it, sometimes directors need "wins" to satiate principals and boosters and to justify ongoing investment in the marching program) start to break away from seeking quality, constructive and educational evaluations, and move in the direction of self-esteem contests?

I believe in the value and values of a marching program, to the kids, school and the community. The marching band is the one music education entity that touches the community, not just the parents.

Maybe in starting, or immature, programs some self-esteem is necessary. But this isn't life, and it isn't music education. Music education means the kids get scholastic adjudication. That being said, what does that mean?

One of the things I often wonder is what is the right balance of music (and the validity of percussion sub-captions), visual (with or without the color guard sub-caption), and effect (music and visual). Consider this:

... TOB weighting is 40% music, 20% visual (performance), 40% effect
... USSBA weighting 40% music, 30% visual, 30% effect
... BOA weighting is 20% music, 20% visual and 60% effect (although 2/3rds of that is music effect, upon which arguments that they are 60% music can ensue)

TOB and USSBA use other classifications based on ability, which I think is appropriate. But when you get to large bands, are you just watering it down? Some large bands can be thought of as "developing" marching programs, no doubt, but by breaking them into ability classes are you rewarding their achievement or encouraging their mediocrity?

Does "over"-weighting effect put too much emphasis on design (or, "the adults"), or is this a reward of how much the kids learn (or how well the teachers teach?).

I'm not an educator. I'm a band geek ... and band parent. I believe the scholastic programs should be education based, not design based, rewarding the teaching and the student.

Little wins do matter and they are necessary. (I use the term "little wins" from the business lexicon). But we need to encourage development and growth of the program and the kids.

So if it was up to me ... Two classifications ... two "5 Box" scales ...

Classification I - for the "leading bands":

* Music Performance - 30% ... 20% music, 10% percussion
* Music Effect - 20%
* Visual Performance - 30% ... 20% ensemble (which is an outgrowth of individual), 10% guard
* Visual Effect - 20%

It is "marching (and) band", after all. With this scale music and visual performance are balanced (50/50 on this scale), and performance is given greater credit than design (60/40 in this case).

Classification II - for the "developing" bands:

* Music Performance - 40%, with no sub-caption
* Music Effect - 20%
* Visual Performance - 20%, with no sub-caption
* Visual Effect - 20%

Here performance and music are given greater weight, and music outweighs visual, because from what I have seen developing programs are weaker in fundamentals and music, and this encourages development and growth in those areas.

Program growth - more kids, more bands - is the multiplication effect of this division!

This, of course, will be debated among circuits, among states, among regions ... but I am optimistic it will be settled soon. In fact, I'm told that the experts will get right on it!

After NCAA Division I Football Playoff's implemented. And Texas high school football goes back to A-AA-AAA-AAAA-AAAAA playoffs. And Indiana returns to one high school basketball state champion.

Contemporary Flashbacks (A Review of TOB Chapter 9 Championships)

It was a beautiful day for a band contest, and so I went to see most of the TOB Chapter 9 championships. In a way, it was a contemporary flashback.

As is the case this year, Huntingtown (playing 1980s MTV hits in "Video Killed the Radio Star") and Annapolis Area Christian School ("... But the Greatest of These Is Love") battled it out with two very distinctive but well performed shows. I think the recaps came down to music, which I gave to AACS but the judges gave to Huntingtown. AACS had strong effect, but maybe were dragged down by their visual performance, which is rougher than usual. Kudos to Brandwine for a taking on some difficult music by Ron Nelson ("Rocky Point Holiday" and "Sonoran Desert Holiday"). It was a good arrangement, at the right level, and therefore was well played by the kids. The guard (3rd overall) was enhanced by thoughtful design that allowed them to be featured. The third place band, Parkside, had a nicely done show that didn't quite match the title. If it was up to me, I would have called it eMotion, because that is clearly what they demonstrated - emotional variety and a lot of good movement!

The Towson University Marching Tiger Band did what they usually do - halftime! That is the first time I've seen this band, and they mixed one part corps style and two parts "college band" into a recipe for a show that was fun for the audience and great for recruiting. Did you know every member of the marching band gets a $500 scholarship?! Too cool!

Group 1 Regional and Championship divisions bookended Group 3. The Group 1 bands are smaller, and to some less talented. This is the first time that I really sat through the Group 1 bands, and I can tell you, talent is not what they lack! What they lack is just sheer numbers. I don't know if it is because the school is small, or the school district discourages music, the feeder programs are weak, or all of the above. But the enthusiasm of the kids and staff (about 1:8 staff:kids) was phenomenal. I don't think any had more than 18 winds, a half dozen percussion and rarely that many in guard. For that reason, the demand on each individual member is high, but they have to still be an ensemble. The result?

Calvert playing entertaining funk (and recovering nicely from a runaway sousaphone bell) ... Delaware Military Academy shedding their "military bearing" for some slow-then-fast rock ("Come Sail Away" by Styx and "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney's other band) ... McDonough putting "West Side Story" on the field in a way that required every member to contribute at a very high level ... Laurel having fun with music from tense and scary "Movies You Watch in the Dark" (which I think is all movies, but you get what they mean!) ... LaPlata (6 percussion, 2 front ensemble, 3 guard, 3 sax, 1 bari sax, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, and 1 trumpet) capturing the nightmarish darkness of the music by Danny Elfman ... Thomas Stone resurrecting high school memories with with the music of Styx ... and champion Chesapeake not being fearful of music and drama, bringing out the hidden talents of their kids.

I came from a small band. Memories get fuzzy after 25 years, but I hope anyone who saw us perform maybe had the same feelings I did watching these bands.

Of course, MP is in the Group 3 bands. Meade started the group with a neat take on "The Four Seasons", setting you up for Vivaldi but then playing more contemporary music ("Autumn Leaves", holiday favorites, and even "Summertime"). Severna Park followed with "Les Misrables", led on and off the field by their award winning pit crew and drum major. I have really come to admire the drum major of this band (see the previous post). He runs a great rehearsal, is positive in his criticism, friendly to everyone and yet still commands their respect. (MP, I hope that rubs off on you some!)

The State of Delaware then took the field, starting with Middletown taking a little bit of Cadets-inspired narration to a show that opened up "Pandora's Box" and landed them in 5th. Smyrna ("smur-na", not "smeer-na") also went 1980s, finishing their season with solid accomplishments and a 6th placement. It is too bad they are short of funds to go to the ACCs or even the USSBA championships. They are a good band with a good contingent of staff that still marches today.

Of the next four bands, William Penn (4th), James M. Bennett (3rd, from nearly-Delaware Salisbury on the Maryland Eastern Shore), and Caesar Rodney (1st) all performed well rounded shows. They were well designed, musically strong and competently performed. But my first place (and the judges 2nd) was the Cab Calloway School of the Arts.

A school of the arts gears itself toward cultivating the most talented visual and performing arts students. (My sister went to one of the best!) The students are good artists and musicians intent on becoming better. But in all these years I have never seen a school of the arts with a marching band. Until now. And this one is GOOD!

Performing "The Rodin 47" (go to the band website for a listen) the Cab Calloway band was not just musically strong (which you would expect) and guard strong (which you may not expect but when you think about it you should), but they were visually strong, too! The entire band was thematically costumed, and the marching was taken as seriously as the music. (My initial reaction in a text message: "I just saw a drum corps!") Since SPHS isn't going to Allentown, I wish this band the best!

So with 80s music, small bands and a nice November night, I definitely was flashing back 25 years ago to my own Texas high school days. But unlike TV's "Life on Mars", this still had modern twists!

(P.S. Congratulations to Maryland's Westminster HS on a 4th place finish at the BOA Super Regional in Atlanta.)

Our first band ...

There is a lot to say now that I can, but let's start with a band. My high school band was small; micro by Texas standards. The one I saw on Saturday was larger than the one I was in, but it is in the small Group 1 on the Tournament of Bands circuit.

This band took a complicated concert band literature by David R. Holsinger (based on scripture - 2 Samuel 11, 1 Chronicles 20) and made it about the modern war. I have a long memory, so I remember the Cadets doing this music in 1993, before most of the kids doing this show were even born. Whenever a band tries to do music that a corps has done, especially one that won a DCI World Championship with the show, I wonder what the staff was thinking. Why do this to the high school kids, setting them up for constant criticism by failing to achieve what kids 3 to 4 years older dedicated a summer to perfecting?

Sure enough, it started out that way. The first part was a bit too literal for me, like the staff was thinking about how to make the music work on the field from an interpretative standpoint, but gave up.

But when the black scrim came down between the guard and the band, magic began. The sheer scrim with a soldier on one side mirroring the guard member on the other, touching like a reflection on the Vietnam Memorial Wall ... it was a reminder of the sacrifice that others have given, no matter what your opinion is on this current war.

The band placed its uniform helmets on the ground and then moved away, leaving the form where they stood as a silent, graveyard like reminder. The band and the guard were elsewhere on the field, but the image of the space they left was moving me and the audience to near tears. Then came the haunting Taps, as the solider walked away with head high, into the backfield corner.

Oh yes, I remember the scrim and the helmets from other drum corps shows (Suncoast Sound, Phantom Regiment). But this time the unique take in the modern setting just clicked, and I hope everyone was suddenly jolted back to understanding that a real war has real sacrifice.

Thank you, band, for honoring the memory of our fallen soldiers, and reminding me of their sacrifice.


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Marching band is like that for me. The kids moving me to cheers or tears, and making me think. Yes, adults design, but the kids make it happen, and these kids did. Their size was irrelevant - larger bands performed that day but the performances were flat. Maybe since it wasn't under the lights (it was an afternoon show), they weren't into it.

This band was willing to say, "Forget how small we are, because we can perform." I hope through this blog I'll introduce you to - or remind you of - the commitment of performance in band and in life.

No matter what the size of your "band", performance is what matters.* What you get out of it will be what you put into it. If you think you need to be in a big band to "win", then look inside. Small may make you think it is hard, but performance when you are out there exposed makes the achievement so much sweeter.

I got a lot out of my marching band experience. We weren't much - legends in our own mind - that the effort in my last year that resulted in a II rating in the only UIL contest I remember - tops in our class! - the fun of putting a show on the field - that sense of achievement drives me even today.

Well, that and the two biggest lessons I learned from my band director:

1. "Always leave early so if you're late you'll be on time."

2. "I don't care if you have been in this band room since 4 this morning. If you are not in your chair, warmed up, ready to go, when the bell rings, you are late!"


* A shout out to the 1983 Laredo Nixon HS Band, Texas Class 5A champions - the smallest of the finalists that year.