Marching Band “Kickoff Rehearsal” Visual Teaching Progression
Jeff Young
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 overwhelming, but remember that all of the details of each of these exercises are covered on one of our three DVDs. “Dynamic Marching: Volume 1”, “Dynamic Marching: Volume 2”, and our newest DVD, “Dynamic Marching & Music performance series – Visual Performance Individual with Todd Ryan” (June 2012).
1) Physical fitness warm-up
2) Stretching
3) Posture Checklist
a. Feet
b. Knees
c. Hips
d. Spine/Upper Body
e. Shoulders/ Neck
f. Head/ Eyes
g. Arms/ fake horns up
4) Body movement/ Dance basics
a. Foot positions
b. Tendύ
c. Lunge
d. Plié
e. Relevé
f. Arms (beach ball)
5) Point exercise
6) 50/50 exercise
7) HABT(Heel Arch Ball Toe) exercise
8) Mark time
9) Teach how to do “across the floors”
10) Forward march half-time scuffs, then reg. time
11) Point Close
12) Forward -arms above head
13) Backward 50/50
14) Backward march
15) Primary direction changes (fwd to bkwd & bkwd to fwd)
a. Stab lift tap
b. Lock flick
c. Forward 8 back 4 hold 4 exercise
d. Backward 8 forward 4 hold 4 exercise
16) Slides
a. 30/60/90
b. Laying down
c. Cross-legged sitting up
d. Marching in a slide
e. Closing and pushing off
f. Arms straight out in a “T”
17) Secondary direction changes
18) Zig zags/traffic
19) Instrument carriage/ horns up and down
20) Alignment, spacing, dress, cover
21) The swagger walk
22) Role playing
23) Poise
24) Toe-lead walks (legato march)
25) Jazz run
a. Poneys
b. Pracing
c. Leaping
d. 6-5,5-5,4-5
26) Music rehearsal step-outs
27) Poise
28) Up for 4’s Down for 4’s, High mark time
29) Review all across the floors adding new tempos and mixed meter (if necessary)
30) Flip-flops (front to back to fronts)
31) Teach about coordinate sheets, how to read a drill set
32) How to march a drill set:
a. Straight-line path
b. Equal sized steps
c. In tempo, In style
d. Correct prep step
33) Advanced Drills
a. Plus drill
b. Ice cream cone drill
c. Gorilla drill
d. Company Fronts
e. Circle Drill
f. V Drill
34) Rehearsal etiquette issues
For More Information Please visit http://dynamicmarching.com/