Establishing Efficiency in Your Marching Rehearsal Presented by The Iowa State University Cyclone Marching Band Staff Steven Smyth, Associate Director of Bands Christian Carichner, Assistant Director of Bands Scott Szurek, Drumline Staff Theresa Birch, Guard Staff and Members of the Iowa State University Marching Band 2016 Iowa Bandmasters Conference Friday, May 13, 2016 3:00 p.m.
10 Steps to an Efficient Rehearsal by Dr. Steven Smyth Associate Director of Bands, Iowa State University 1. Have a plan • Using your philosophy, draw up a detailed rehearsal for the week ahead • Try to have a rough idea of what the entire season’s rehearsals are going to be • Spread different musical and visual concepts throughout the season • Music should be learned throughout the season to always keep minds fresh 2. Communicate this plan to your students • Send the students weekly/daily feedback on what they have done and challenge them with what they need to do better • Emails and paperwork great! Avoid social media and things that EVERYONE can read. You don’t want to broadcast what the students don’t do well to the public • Stick to this plan. If rain or another unforeseen event happens…make a new plan. • Include things like drill, warm-ups, and music so that the students know to have these materials with them and practiced. 3. Start on time • This is most important. Get the students accustomed to starting at the rehearsal field REHEARSING at your class time…not arriving and getting out their stuff. • Always start on time • Always start where they will be rehearsing….in other words, OUTSIDE!!. Warming up inside is nice and will sometimes corral them together, but you want them to warm-up in their listening environment and ready to transition to drill faster. • Don’t give up time to transitions. • Assign student leaders to bring equipment to the field; make sure they are responsible and able to be to rehearsal early enough to take care of this before you begin. 4. Incorporate a good musical warm-up that includes breathing, lip slurs, long tones, articulation, and technique. • This is the easiest to cheat but should be the last thing you cheat • Drumline and guard can either be with you or separate, but they need to be doing warm-ups too. • If you need to integrate, have a comprehensive warm up for both winds and percussion; you can find these all over JW Pepper. “Ultimate Warm-Up” is my favorite. • Have a guard specialist write a warm-up that incorporates all the visual silk techniques that you will use throughout the year (drop spins, etc.) 5. Incorporate Marching Fundamentals. • This doesn’t have to a take a long time, but should focus entirely on the skill. • The goal is to affirm the technique taught in camp and further refine and define those techniques you use in the drill. This could include sets of the drill where everyone can work on the same skill. • The goal is to focus on building habits….practice so you can’t get it wrong. • Include dance positions for contemporary bodywork.
6. Students need to have all materials on them • Music, Drill, Instrument, etc. • I like coordinate sheets to encourage individual responsibility and to avoid fights • Memorizing music is good, but I feel they need to have the music and the drill handy so that they know where they are going (avoids cryptic instructions that only half of the students may understand). • I like the use of nail aprons (bummers), because you can carry the materials you need in them. 7. Use water bottles—not water coolers. • Water breaks take forever. • Bottles are much healthier, faster, and better for the environment. • Will still need water coolers or a source available for water throughout rehearsal. 8. Students should mark their drill in their music. • They learn the phrasing of the music and how it coincides with the visual program. • Makes less materials they need to have on field. • Given enough time in the summer, directors can insert the instructions in the music itself. 9. Use a system for starting and stopping the band. • Avoid excess commands like “parade rest” and “stand by” • Use clear commands that reflect what you want them to do (form, dot, etc.) • Define when they can and can’t talk. • Give leadership a chance to talk….but not too much!!! • USE A METRONOME (in the back of the field)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Avoids having to yell “hurry up”… “I’m going to start….really this time”…etc. • Count down the sets. This forces them to hurry. You need to try to stick to your word so that the students know the expectations of when they are to be set. • Leave enough time so that they can get to their sets as long as they run, and so they can set up that beginning set correctly. 10. Train your student leadership to run sectionals efficiently • Have a separate camp to teach strategies. • This builds ownership in the group. • This is the most efficient thing you can do. Great for some music and for most fundamentals. “Efficiency is doing things right; Effectiveness is doing the right things” - Peter F. Drucker
Marching Fundamentals Definitions Position of Relaxation • body should be confident without tension (completely relaxed) - shoulders are relaxed • heels and toes together • knees should not be locked • “focus air” by moving chin to chest and breathing in while lifting head to maximize air flow • chest should be expanded (hug a tree) • body alignment should be connected by these five points to make a straight line: ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and the top of the head • balls of your feet should be in the middle of the yard line • center your body weight over the balls of your feet so that there is no weight on your heels Start-Up Sequence Count Action Vocalization 1 Metronome, Whistle, or Hands will give these three beats 2 to establish tempo 3 4 - Horn initiates movement towards embouchure “Go!” - Left Knee pops on the “and” of the beat - 5 Horn is in up position on the S of “State” - Left heel initiates contact with ground on beat “State” 6 Three count breath towards 7 Continue Mark Time Sequence initiation of sound. 8 Horns Up/Down • motion is as quick as possible yet precise (exception for the slow horns up) • after horns hit on the up or down motion, there should be an immediate relaxation to avoid tension in the upper body, but body will still be at the attention position
Mark Time (low/glide-style) • feet will be parallel to each other • weight of body must be on the ball of the foot, not the heel. • to initiate the mark time, the heel will rise and left knee will pop on the “and” of the beat, and touch the ground on the downbeats (left on odd, right on even) • heels raise three inches, toes stay on the ground • movement should happen quickly, heels should spend more time on the ground than in the air. • upper body posture is the same as the position of relaxation Forward March (Glide Step) • upper body and instrument remain in the position of relaxation • weight is slightly forward • to initiate movement, “push” with the right ball of your foot to propel your body weight forward on the upbeat preceding your move. • on count one of your move your left heel should extend from the hip and make contact with the ground. • toes should always point upward as high as possible during the forward march - calf muscles should feel a slight pull. When done correctly, the foot will form a curved shape that you will “roll through”. • during the roll, the weight distribution should be centered as much as possible, do not roll on the outside of the feet • ankles will cross on the upbeats. • the heel of the foot in motion should stay as low to the ground as possible when moving forward - no bicycle motion • the feet stay parallel; there is no crossing over of the feet or a motion of tight rope walking Backward March • upper body and instrument remain in the position of relaxation • on the upbeat before the move you should push your weight forward just like the forward march, the difference is that both heels will come of the ground and you will be balanced on the balls of your feet. • the first step should be straight back in a full 22 ½ inch step. The left ball of your foot should never leave the ground and should instead brush the ground as you step. • your legs should extend straight back, not in an arc that creates excess motion and bouncing. • stay level during the move - avoid dipping the body down or raising up on the toes • on slower tempos, it is extremely important to keep the steps and motion smooth, continuous, and even - avoid jerky, rushed movement • the weight should always be forward on the balls of your feet..don’t lean back Slides • shoulders should be square to the point of reference - especially the lead shoulder • pivot the upper body at the waist - the waist should almost be at a 45 degree angle • horns and upper body should look similar to the position of attention • try to avoid tension in the upper body • the most important part of unity in sliding is keeping horns at the correct forward position (as if at attention) • always stretch before attempting slides and continuously work on dexterity GO CYCLONES!!!
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