Marching Band

Be Remarkable! By Randy Gilmore, Marching Show Concepts, Inc. First printed in Fanfare, Vol. 22, Issue 1, Autumn 2007.  Reprinted by permission. Marching bands can hardly help but be noticed. People instinctively turn their heads…
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It's Your Story...Stick With It! By Randy T. Gilmore, Marching Show Concepts, Inc. Originally published in The Bandmasters Review Online, September 2008 - volume 10 - issue 1. Reprinted by permission. Even though the Olympics are…
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What did You Say? The hallmark of effective teaching is based on successful communication. The basis of successful communication is intrinsically bound to our use of words. Words have power. Rudyard Kipling goes so far as to say, “Words…
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Going the Extra Mile By Randy T. Gilmore Our inner drive to “be the best,” to run farther, jump higher, have the best band program, or do anything better than ‘the other guy’ is ingrained in us as children. You never see a…
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Checklist for Success for Your Upcoming Marching Band Season Last fall, after I had just finished judging state marching band finals in another state, it got me thinking about what I would tell each of the band directors of the groups…
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Marching Band “Kickoff Rehearsal” Visual Teaching Progression Jeff Young This teaching progression is designed for the very first marching band rehearsal of the year, typically in late spring or early summer. This may seem…
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Techniques for Drawing Focus Scott Kurtzweil Sounds of the Desert Music: Lawrence of Arabia, Sandstorm from Hidalgo & Caravan In the last installment of this series, we discussed basic design elements with regard to…
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Preparing the Marching Show Visual Design Scott Kurtzweil I. Degree of Demand (Grade Level) Before sitting down to design a visual package for a particular ensemble, I like to review video of its previous three years of performances.…
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Show Concept and Design Clinic 2007 Scott Kurtzweil Banddirector.com was gracious enough to ask me back again this year to provide another series of articles related to show concepts and design. For the 2007 installment of this online…
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RESEARCHING YOUR BAND - Pt. 2 If working with a new marching ensemble, the first step in putting together a successful field show is to research the program as much as you can. For me, this information gathering is done through three…
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Common Design Elements - Part 3 At this point we have gained all of the pre-design information that we will need to put a successful product on the field. ·        We know that our band has a strong history of musical excellence and…
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Writing With a Musical Purpose Pt. 5 Sccott Kurtzweil A good visual design should always take work in conjunction with the music book. Not only is it important to match drill pages to the musical phrases but also match the score in…
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More Musical Interpretation / Drawing Focus Show Design 2007 Pt. 6 Scott Kurtzweil Welcome to Cuba provides the designer, as well as directors, a myriad of challenges. The Afro-Cuban rhythms present the young musicians with plenty of…
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Teaching & Cleaning Scott Kurtzweil The complete drill package for Sterling Heights High School is now complete and it is time to begin working with the students to get the designs on paper transferred to the field.…
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How to Compete at a WGI Competition So you have decided you want to compete with WGI?  I bet you have a lot of questions!  This "How To" webpage should guide you through an easier registration process and help answer all your…
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