Program
Abruptly shut down mid season and all competitions cancelled.

😳

My sister’s bass drum harness broke after weeks of our band director brushing it off. She lost the hook including the screw and nuts. Now he’s upset that she broke it and told her to find the hook.

I want to help her find the pieces at a store. I think I found all pieces except one piece. Do any of you know what it may be called? Or do you know where I could buy the whole piece?

I believe the harness brand is Mapex Monoposto.

Thank you guys.

I rest my case

Im applying to college and dont have that many honors, but our band wins alot like best guard,best ge, etc i was wondering if i should put that

How far in advance is the prelims schedule released? Our band is going and I’m excited to find out all of the information I can. Thank you!

With USBands States and Championships on the horizon, I wanted to get a discussion thread going so see if anyone has any thoughts. Predictions, shows you like, or just any thoughts about the competitions/circuit. Let’s hear em!

I've always struggled with multiple anxiety disorders over the years, but this year has just been physically debilitating to me. Last year I was able to complete a whole season of marching band although slightly uncomfortable, now I feel too ill to even leave the house. The first month was going well, I was able to attend most of the games, until my anxiety spiked in physicality. I've contacted my BD, who is luckily very understanding about this, but there's only so much I can do when I've missed so many rehearsals. It's also weird in general to describe the feeling with the implication that it's technically a mental condition. One of my biggest issues is health anxiety, so I already struggle with some bad physical symptoms that make me constantly uncomfortable, which also triggers panic disorder which is stopping me from going anywhere.

Obviously, I'm devastated. Band was one of the only places where it felt like I finally found a community to belong to, and I really do feel committed to it (Supposed to be an incoming section leader and have even considered auditioning for DM before all this happened + part of the social media team), it's just the mental and physical strain I experience that isn't even related to doing band that's stopping me. (If that makes sense) I just started a new medication for it, but of course it takes weeks-months to really take positive effect, (plus harsh side effects) so marching season will be over by then, and I don't have any of the parts besides part 1 down on the field anyway, which sucks since this week is the most important week in terms of certain events that obviously require us to have the whole show complete. Even if I do start to feel better, I'll be reminded of all the opportunities I missed. I haven't withdrawn completely, but I do know deep down that if I don't have the physical/mental capacity, I won't be able to participate much anyway. The worst feeling for me is telling myself "I could've pushed through" after something knowing I would be uncomfortable and unhappy the whole time, even if everyone and I know that it's best for me to not do this.

Right now I feel completely hopeless. I do want to note that none of the anxiety I have is caused or related to band in any way, more so the opposite, which makes things even worse. I miss my friends, I miss going to competitions, and I miss the comfortable feeling of being a part of something in general. I do have hope that I might be able to participate in the next season plus upcoming parades this season if I can, but I'm just mourning this season right now. Thanks :)

Hello!

This is a bit of a long one, so please bear with me. I have had the honor to work with a local high school on their color guard staff, and really fell in love with the job. The kids were wonderful, i greatly appreciated my fellow coworkers, and the atmosphere was great. This school is one that, despite being small, does wonderful things.

I am on their colorguard and winter guard staff. There are 4 people on staff: our main director, an assistant director, and two technicians, myself being one. I was very close with all of them and maintained a great relationship with each of them.

I got through two seasons well with them, and had minimal issues. The only issues I had is a) my pay was changed without me being told. I simply just asked why, got an answer, and that was that. I wasn’t upset, I just wanted to understand why it changed from the prior season. b) the assistant director sometimes made me feel inferior. We are the same age. She is an alumni with the school, very talented, and knew that program very well. I graduated from a neighboring school, and have been involved with WGI/DCI (finalist groups for both) for over 3 years. However, there were many occasions where I was “shushed” walking into rehearsal, I would be working with students and she would just come over and tell me to go elsewhere, made any time I did my job a “big deal,” etc. There was an incident that occurred at the end of last winter season, where the assistant director started crying because myself and the other technician did a job that she wanted to do. She wanted to do both, and we had nothing to do. The other technician and I stepped in, did the job, and she left crying because we “didn’t do it her way.” Once the students left, I expressed to her my concern that she makes me feel like I am incompetent and unable to do my job. I was asked for that position, I did not apply. I am not perfect, and I have plenty of growing to do as an educator, but I also have worked with many high schools before and deserved my role. She brought up that she felt my tone in the conversation was rude, where I apologized, and we cleared this up, or so I thought.

I took a hiatus this past marching band season due to working a full time internship, marching with a soundsport group, and taking over-capacity of college classes. Whilst marching, I had three prior students march with me, and this was incredible. However, one of the students was incredibly apprehensive around me, and cried anytime she was around me for her first rehearsal weekend.

At the end of our season, I offered to take this student to coffee to clear things up. I could not figure out why she was so upset with me to this caliber. We met in a public place (she graduated in ‘24, so this was legal) and she explained why she was upset. She said that she thought it was rude of me to speak so highly of her high school guard though i was “fired,” and that she was told I was the reason she did not make the winter group I march with.

I was not the reason she did not make the winter group. I do not have that power, and it would be messed up for the organization to exclude someone due to someone else’s testament. I found out she did not make it due to a response she had to a correction made by a staff member.

Secondly, I was NOT fired. I asked her where she heard this, and she told me she had been in contact with the assistant director. They had been in contact for multiple months, and the entirety of their relationship had been saying terrible things about me. She said that the assistant director “fired me herself” (again, untrue, and she doesn’t have this power), said the “downfall of my ego would be the greatest day of her life,” that the other staff didn’t like me, etc. She had also been spreading this to other directors in the area.

I brought this to the guard director, and he told her she needed to stop, and that she did not have the authority to be doing this. I also brought this up to the band director, and was basically told that this isn’t good, but they’re keeping her because she brings too much to the group. They said they will tell her to say sorry, reinstate my name on their staff website, and sent me on my way.

The assistant director then retaliated by completely unfollowing my previous student on all of the school’s social media accounts. Though this is minor, this was because she told me everything that happened. The retaliation really upset me further. This strongly affected my prior student in a negative way.

A few weeks later, I got a message from the assistant director saying she was sorry, that was unlike her, and that she was diving deeper into her faith because of it. She said it started with the conversation that I had with her overstepping (though the conversations between her and the prior student predated that conversation).

The main guard director has heard me and realizes the depth of this situation. The other tech, and the band director, have both taken her side. The other technician (i left on us both having a great relationship) ended up blocking me on social media, and will not speak to me.

I am feeling very conflicted and disrespected. She fully defamed me, saying that I was fired from that position to other staff members in the area. Additionally, i felt her talking poorly to prior students about a prior instructor was so incredibly disrespectful. This has had a detrimental effect on many of the relationships I have had, and it has been exhausting running around trying to pick everything up.

I’ve practically been dismissed by everyone. I want to take this to the board of the school, as she is not a safe person to have around the students, and this is borderline illegal. The only thing holding me back is that I don’t want to affect the current students’ ability to march. If she isn’t there, I don’t know definitively how that would affect the program.

I was hoping to return to be on staff for this next winter season, and I have been told by the main guard director and the band director that I have a position. Do I talk to the board? Do I go back to the school? How do I navigate this? I miss coaching, but I also don’t want to walk into an environment where I am unwelcome, or that this could potentially happen again.

Being an educator in this field has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done, and my kids mean the world to me. I am so conflicted on this situation and how to approach it. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!

Friend of mine in Texas has a kid that was in a big UIL competition last night. Apparently their band had some technical issues with their setup that delayed the start of their performance a bit, which led to the band finishing about 5 seconds over their time limit. Unlike every other band competition that I know of which simply penalizes you points, apparently exceeding your time limit in the UIL results in an automatic disqualification. Not only is the band not ranked or considered for any awards, their scores are completely nullified. They don't even know how well they did.

Is it just me, or is this the most bass-ackwards rule you've ever heard of? These are kids, for crying out loud. Kids that have been working for months and months to pour their hearts out for this 8 minute show. And they have the audacity to just throw it out like a piece of garbage because of a stupid little technicality. Imagine that a high school football team automatically forfeits the rest of the season as a result of a delay of game penalty. Parents would be calling for blood.

For comparison, BOA and DCI both assess a 0.1 point penalty for every 3 seconds that you go over your time limit. That means that the Bluecoats could have gone 45 seconds over and STILL won the DCI championship this year. And those rules pretty leniently enforced, from what I've heard. So how can the UIL possibly justify such a harsh rule?

Sooooooo my band kinda sorta got first place in 4A in Colorado over the weekend. I personally was not expecting that.

I mean we all knew it was a possibility. My band also won first place in 2023, and we had a win streak of consistently getting first in 2012-17 (albeit in 3A). And this year we've been doing really well at competitions, like consistently getting first in 4A and 3rd overall (there are these two 5A bands that are really good).

I still expected that we would get third, maybe even second, at state. That didn't happen. Scores were incredibly close. For example, my band in first place got a total of 84.85, and our sister band, who got fourth, got 82.35.

We also won high music, which isn't super surprising because our show did have some pretty good music and also you could actually hear the woodwinds sometimes, not to mention we had a really solid percussion feature.

But yeah, first place. Retreat was absolutely insane. They did 4A and 5A at the same time, and they first announced all the 5A things, so we were just waiting through all that before we could hear how we did. Then they started announcing 4A scores. I wasn't too surprised when the first four bands (5-8 place) were called, and then we all started getting nervous. Fourth place was announced, and we were all like "okay we podiumed what the heck". Then 3rd place was announced, so we knew we had gotten top two, and then we were all like "okay it's us or Loveland".

My band has a rule about not cheering louder for our band. So if you want to cheer really loud for us, you have to cheer equally loud for every other band.

When second place got announced, this rule was broken. Not in a malicious way, just in the way that we just found out we won the state championships. I personally tried to keep it down a bit to not be rude to the other bands, but it was realll loud from our section of the stands nonetheless.

So yeah. first place. i was REALLY not expecting that.

My band is going to Washington DC for the Veterans Day parade. We’re gonna be gone from November 5th-11th. I always have had bad anxiety about literally everything but its been really bad as its getting closer to it actually happening. Like to the point where its keeping me up at night and Ive cried and I’ve had multiple anxiety attacks. I’m just scared and anxious and I don’t know what to do to help. Theres no way I’m not going on this trip but I’m worried I’ll be so anxious I won’t have any fun. Any advice on how to handle my anxiety?
Edit: Why the hell did someone downvote me for this. God forbid a girl be scared lmao

Just before every performance or practice in Japan, every marching band forms a circle and does their "battle cry" to unite the band members into one cohesive unit in body, mind and spirit. Are there any bands here in the USA that do the same thing? I talked to two different local schools in my area, and they do not do this but they think it's a great idea.

I march in a show-style band that is currently transitioning from a traditional corps-style marching band to a show-style marching band. During my freshman year, we were fully corps style. In my sophomore year, we adopted a hybrid style that incorporated elements of both corps-style and show-style marching. Now, in my junior year, we have fully transitioned to show style.
Since we are in Texas, we participate in UIL marching contests. This year, we advanced past the regional level but did not advance past Area, finishing in last place. The band that finished just above us was also a show-style band. Based on these results, it feels as though show-style bands have little to no chance of advancing in UIL competitions. I also understand that there are competitions specifically for show-style bands, but I feel that our band is still relatively inexperienced with this style. Many of the bands we would compete against have been performing show-style for five or more years, while we have only been doing it for about a year and a half. Because of this, I feel that we are still trying to find our footing in a style that other programs have had years to develop. However, I am unsure of what to do because my friends and I are gradually losing interest in marching band. It is becoming difficult to stay motivated when we feel like we are going into competitions expecting to lose rather than having a genuine opportunity to advance. I also feel as though our district does not care enough about our concerns or the challenges we are facing during this transition.
I genuinely do not want to quit marching band, especially because next year will be my senior year. I want to enjoy my final year of high school marching band but I also do not want to spend my final year feeling unmotivated and disconnected from something I used to enjoy.

Hey y'all,

I'm currently the Audio Technician and Designer for a high school marching band. I also am a stage hand. Packing our trailer after a competition yesterday, I had a thought - why don't bands use road cases that live music does?

They stack better, and have a more geometric fit than cases for, say, snares, basses and tenors usually have. The cases we have for our drumline don't stack, so we have to put them on a shelf.

Is there a reason a not many bands use road cases, other than cost? Genuinely curious.

Band Parent here.

Whats your opinion on traditional uniforms vs costumes for band members?

What do judges think? Do they care? Is that part of the grading metric?

Is it normal for marching band kids to be doing 18 plus hour days for competitions?

My son is 14 and is in band at his high school. In the summer they did 13 hour days m-f for 3 weeks. And now since school started in August they do 3 hours after school m-th and then football games Friday nights. I thought it was a little excessive but he has been a trooper. Now I feel like it's getting ridiculous. A few weeks back they did a Saturday practice for 14 hours and today they had a competition where they had to be at the school at 7 am and didn't get released until 1am. Next Saturday they have another competition where they are leaving at 6am and expected to be back the next day at 3am. Then another practice the next Saturday all day and then they go out of town for a couple days for another competition. They are doing this on top of the daily practice still after school and football games Friday nights. This just seems like much and almost a little illegal expecting minors to be out so late and have no time for anything else. He loves doing it but I'm not sure he will be able to continue as his dad only gets to see him on weekends and it is starting to affect his time with him.

Our final show is on Wednesday and lowk I dont wanna buy a GoPro for that single performance. Has anyone had any issues using a headstrap/mount with their phone? this isn’t a competition. it’s a run for the community where they pay like 5 bucks to get in and see us perform without being judged.

I am currently a freshman drum major, I think i am pretty good at conducting, as i got first and second place at the two competitions we went to, But I am still nervous about auditions, Last year i used the piece "Mask Of Zorro" And i am currently looking for another piece, as we have auditions right after our last competition (yesterday), There is a junior and two other freshman trying out, also any other tips about leadership or anything like that is greatly appreciated.

so yesterday my band placed 3rd in our division of AA, and we had the opportunity to qualify for the nj garden state cup. Ultimately, we qualified with a 86.1.

If this isn't the right subreddit or flair i'll fix it sorry

so bit of background. i'm a sophmore rookie (trombone), and i just finished my first year of marching yesterday. I loved this marching season and i'm devastated on the note i left it on. We finished second in our class at a 79 ish on state sheets, which is great i think. but that was one of my worst runs of the show i feel like. I missed sets i'm usually able to hit, i had to stop playing for a whole measure in our first song because i physically couldn't breathe or produce sound which has never happened that early in the show, and i missed a few notes in easy sections. i feel horrible about it, and i feel like i held the band back from getting first in the class. granted one of the judges had us at last 'cuz he didn't understand it (??), but i still feel like if i was just better we could've gotten first.

It's bexause of all this that i don't think i'm good enough for this. I don't know if i'll be doing this again next year.

I've loved marching band, i have, but god it's a lot. I feel like i have no free time, and i've been dealing with personal stuff with a girl i like that i feel like marching band has kinda forced me to keep from acknowledging in a healthy manner. I love it. But i'm no good. So what's even the point anymore? It's over and i gave my worst performance and we won't perform this show anymore so i can't even fix what went wrong. If i do this again, i don't know if i should play. Maybe i could do colorguard, but even then i'm terrified i'll be worse.

What should i do? I'll stick it our for the rest of the years with parades and whatnot but next year i don't know. I don't wanna hold the band back next year like i did this year.

Our season just ended, and it’s killing me. The routine, the rehearsals, the competitions… they’ve been everything to me. I’ve been going through som really hard times lately, and it’s been my lifeline. It’s kept me busy, and brought me joy when I didn’t think I could find any.

The deep connections with my section members, the joy in leading and helping younger students, the social opportunities for hang-outs and traditions, sharing excitement and care with offer bands, the routine and consistency, the constant safe place, the reliable source of light and laughs, the excitement of performing, and (for me) the musical challenge and pride in being a soloist - it’s been my world.

Now those section members (mostly male, I’m female) are back to their own friend groups. It’s not natural for us to be close, without marching band bonding us together - I’ve tried. The younger students are in lower band, so we’re separated, and it’s also difficult to stay in touch naturally. I no longer have those traditions to laugh and hang out during, no longer have the performance and musical thrills and fulfillment.

And the nail in the coffin? I’ve been diagnosed with some nasty health issues, and I’ll likely never get to march again, despite deeply loving performing in the activity - it was a dream for me since my childhood.

I’m going to try and hold on to those connections in the ways I can, and seek out other avenues for music and leadership, but it won’t be the same, it won’t be together, and it won’t be… us. This show, these people. The moment has passed, and it was my last one to have it all still. How do you live with this?

I know this has probably been asked a hundred times already, but seriously, I feel like i can never have my best runs on the field

this is only my second year marching, last year I marched alto sax and this year i’m doing snare. but even last year I never felt like I could get a really good run on the field, even when I was really trying

the thing is I don’t even feel like super nervous out on the field or anything. i always try to calm myself down and get into that state of concentration or what not, but it never seems to work. and the thing is, i always tend to mess up on something i have never done before. for example, I had a comp yesterday, and that run wasn’t my worst but it also wasn’t my best. I overshot my first dot by a little and i played this one part so weirdly, i don’t even know how to explain it. like it wasn’t all wrong but my technique just felt so off idk. and i’ve done this a thousand times so that makes it even worse, it’s not like i just learned how to play it. and we warmed up beforehand in the lot and i swear that run was probably my best one so far, I actually felt kinda proud of it. aaand then I went on the field and fucked it up💔

also, another thing i caught myself doing was like going on auto pilot? I’m usually always aware of all the things i need to improve and be aware of while doing a run, but when i play on the field for a comp i feel like all of that goes out the window and I just end up doing whatever honestly. I don’t mean to but i feel like it just happens and i can’t stop doing it

I don’t wanna feel like i’m holding everyone else back because I can’t go one comp without messing up. yesterday was only our second comp and i was hoping for some advice so I can try to improve my next runs on the field. so if someone would please help a girl out it’d be very appreciated 🙏

Good luck to all the bands competing today!!