Marching Season. If you have a marching band kid, then you know that Marching Season is a whirlwind adventure of practices, games and competitions. Time that was dedicated to other things gets funneled into fixing uniforms, helping build props, teaching teens how to clean and polish band shoes, watching shows, giving feedback, driving to and from football games, taking photos, cooking pre-game dinners for the band, and a hundred other things that band parents do in order to help make the season a success for the kids.
For those who don’t know, competitions are judged by high school and college music directors from around the country. The bands are graded on music, marching, overall impact of the show, musicianship, how well the band is marching together, and visual aspects of the show. Each competition has different criteria, and I’m sure every judge grades differently. In our area scores are given in the form of numbers. A rating of 1 is a Superior rating. 3 is the lowest rating possible.
This year our band’s marching season was OUTSTANDING. The band attended three marching competitions. They received Superior ratings for all three competitions. For two competitions, our band received the “Best In Class” award. This means they earned the highest number of points of any of the bands in their class. (Classes are divided by the size of the band. Each class contains between 5 and 10 or more bands. ) For one competition, our kids earned “Best In Division.” Some events group the classes into upper and lower divisions. The lower divisions are the two or three smaller classes, and the upper division includes the two or three smaller classes. In addition, our band was voted “People’s Choice Award” in their last competition. This award is exactly what it sounds like – the audience can vote for their favorite band.
Our kids and their band director did an excellent job this season and we’re proud of them!
