This is also a vent/rant so I apologize in advance if it is long winded and convoluted will leave TL:DR.

Hello! I'm in a Colorado HS, and we're around a 40-50 person band during a good year. Most people coming into marching band have little to no musical experience and we are small so there aren't any auditions. Basically, if you want in you're in.

Some individuals take the class and after school/weekend stuff not seriously whatsoever. It's almost as though they took it thinking it would be an "off period do nothing" like how it is in most middle schools in my area, which is not the case. We tend to take band pretty seriously while still being accommodating for less skilled individuals even like myself.

My issue is with some of the newer people and even a couple of the veterans never respecting set. It is one of the mose basic and important rules for any marching band to have the most productive and smooth rehearsal. No talking at set, no moving at set--basically don't break set unless youre on the verge of heat stroke or bleeding profusely or similar. For instance a bee sting does not constitute breaking set unless you're allergic or something.

Yet somehow people just cannot understand. They move, hack and peck, talk, even leave their instruments to mess with other people or make jokes. Often times when an instructor is actively telling them to not talk or move and to stay SET. It's very distracting and sometimes I want to break a mallet over their head and it is very frustrating and overwhelming. I myself have diagnosed ADHD and find it difficult to stand still and not hack or something but you just gotta lock in for set. Focus on set. Think about the upcoming rep.

And when we're not set they talk while an instructor is talking. Hello?? You just played random notes during a scale and you're not listening to feedback?

I understand everyone's different and I want to know how to make them understand set and help them with it. Note I refuse to raise my voice or get physically violent thanks.

TL;DR

People commonly break set or don't even get set in the first place, even when the instructor is actively telling them specifically to stop moving and taking and basically get set. I want to help them learn to respect set in a productive manner with no yelling/telling them off. Thanks!

Hi y'all. Just want to rant about a situation that's been happening this last week. I am a section leader for the tuba section in my marching band. Our band marches contras instead of sousaphones. We have two brands of contras we use. Jupiters and Yamahas. The only difference is that Yamahas (imo) play much better, and Jupiter's are much heavier and have triggers. The triggers are what's causing some issues. There's this guy in my section and my gosh is he trouble. He's always an ass to the younger marchers and he really sucks at playing. I know it may sound like I'm being mean talking about him like this, but just listen. This guy has been using the trigger on his tuba to play really low notes and it sounds horrible. Me and my director have told him to stop. When we told him this, he was really butthurt about it and kept arguing with me. He eventually caved and I thought it was the end of it. The next day, someone catches him tinkering with someone else's contra. They asked what he was doing and he confidently responded with "Oh, I'm installing a trigger on this tuba so this person can play with the trigger!" What the hell?! He is messing with other people's RENTED and SCHOOL OWNED instruments because he himself couldn't play his trigger notes. There are loads more problems with this guy, but this one really ticked me off and I just needed to rant. Our brass captains and drum majors are handling it right now and if there's an update and people want it, I'll update.

i’m a senior in my fourth year marching at a tx hs that has made state the last two years. we march exactly as much as uil guidelines let us, meaning our schedule is pretty rigorous. our practice lot is completely concrete and is honestly killing my ankles and feet. i already have really bad bone structures from my knees down, on top of very flat feet, and i just don’t know what to do for the pain anymore. i practice in typical running/athletic shoes with special insoles in hopes for relief on my legs but it’s not working. does anyone have any recommendations for what to do to help? the pain is so much worse this year than years past and i need relief. i was thinking maybe ankle braces but i honestly dont know what to do

I did trumpet last year and Mello this year and am debating if I should switch or stay

Hi, it’s my first year ever joining marching band. I was told by a friend in it that it was something a beginner could join (I play clarinet), i was also told if I skipped a couple weeks of the summer rehearsals since I was really sick It’d be totally fine. Hearing that I thought I’d be able to catch up once I got back, but Its been almost 2 months since I got back and I tried my hardest and I still haven’t caught up with playing.

I used to enjoy playing my instrument, but not as much as anyone in marching band since they seem to put so much time into it and I realize I mainly enjoyed playing as a small hobby and not like in a way where I want to commit hours practicing. I don’t know if this is normal but Rehearsals just drain me, I’m just not interested in playing most of the time..I don’t even play most of the time because everyone is playing so quick and I can’t catch up. once we are free to leave im the first one out meanwhile my friends stay and they seem to be really enjoying themselves.
Ive never felt any motivation to practice just because I wanna and ive only been practicing in my free-time to try catch up with the others. I don’t feel like this is for me, but I signed a contract and I was told they spent a lot of money for the show and I’d feel extremely guilty for ruining it because I’d be missing. Not just that, but my section leader would be upset in me. My director would be disappointed. And my friends said I shouldn’t quit because everyone in Mb will hate me. There’s only 3 clarinets too, I’d feel horrible leaving them :(

I don’t know what to do, I could just keep on showing up since it’d all be over in a couple months. But I’ve been trying mb for a while and it’s really not for me. I do wish I could enjoy it like everyone else in mb.

Throughout the seasons my section leader has definitely struggled with note accuracy consistently. Im like the section prodigy so I need to not sound smug or in a way that will be negative. Thoughts?

Blue Stars was the best show this year. Fight me.

So basically I just started marching with my mom’s old pumas and they worked until this last week. When I backwards march or any kind of marching that needs me to be on my platforms, my arches feel god awful. I’ve never had this problem before so I asked one of my leaders and they said it was time to put my shoes to rest. I usually just grab whatever tennis shoes that work and use them, but now I’m trying to take care of my feet. So what is the best and most comfortable pair of tennis shoes for marching band under $100?

EDIT: I got new balance 608s. They are very comfortable and have a nice marching feel. I’ll put a pic in comments

We have: Sullivan

Fountain city

Southern boone

Reed springs 🥹 I

would like to find some band peeps and be friends so we can hang out at theses comps!

We won 22-0 against a good team. Also Im the mellophone in this picture

Okay so im literally crying right now. It's 8:28pm and I showed my dad the prices to my school's marching band and he got angry with me. My school does something called a "fair share" where it actually lowers the costs for families in need. So instead of buying individual items, you'd pay a lower, broad price for it. The first price is 150 and the due date already passed but im a first year so it's okay. My dad knew that it was 150 and he told me he can pay it. But the next 2 prices are 230 and 235 dollars for September and October. He didnt like this and said If he knew the prices he'd never let me join. I do live in a house with divorced parents, grandma, and older brother, in which they're all adults. My mom is homeless and she moved in with us, she is unemployed and refuses to leave and my grandma has her own place and refuses to leave. My brother is a college student, unemployed. So my dad pays for every thing. I didnt know that the prices would be so high, my section leaders told me it was decent and affordable prices. I've been paying for little things like the water bill, the instrumental rental fee, and more out of my moving out savings account. I dont know what to do. I dont want to quit band, I just starting loving it and now im stressing and upset. My dad is angry with me, im angry at myself for being stupid and not asking for the prices first because genuinely I didn't think it'd cost much because my brother did band and he only paid 10 dollars every year at his school. I just started loving band and it's been slowly healing a part of me that i didn't know I needed to be healed. It's important to me and it's only my 3rd week in. What do i even do.

hey guys! i'm a senior at my high school marching band, and for the senior show (we pick the music, write the drills, and teach them to the rest of the band), we decided to do the marching band version of "welcome to the black parade" arranged by allen gray. however, we do not have a score for it. in the last ten years, the position of band director as changed probably five or six times, organization of music became non-existent, and many things were lost, including the score for this piece. my band director can't find anything other than the first six pages of it. she tried to ask multiple band director facebook groups, but they're not helpful. the score is out of print everywhere, even to purchase as an e-reader. my director simply does not have the time to type out the whole score, and neither do i. we obtained the music for "welcome to the black parade" legally some years ago, we just need the score. if anyone can give us a pdf copy of the score or something, that would be greatly appreciated. thank you so much in advance.

hello, I’d appreciate any advice! for my show this year it requires us to crab 8 counts with chromatic scale down crossing the break and then crab back 8 counts with rests. they’re making the woodwinds do that and its so hard 😭 the tempo is at 172 bpm at 4/4.

as a clarinetist we start at a high B and then all the way down to an open G. I can sort of do the crabbing, however, the movement is so fast that it makes my body shake a lot while doing the action and so it’s hard for my fingers to cover the keys.

help🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💔

Hi, I’m a freshman in a HBCU college band and I’m slowly losing my mind. I just wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing themselves getting amnesia while replaying songs they’ve been rehearsing for several weeks. Like today in sectionals, we were practicing a field song a we got last week and people (including me) are still messing up. Because of this, our section leader scolded us for ten minutes about retention and “not bullshitting the music”. I practice the songs almost every day and some how during sectionals I fuck up and then we get yelled at. I can’t be the only one who feels this way.

(Images sorta unrelated)

I don’t have any competitions coming soon, but I’m sure some of you guys do. What are your best ways to prepare?

so I have a post that I posted earlier on this subreddit about my section and how I don’t really like them. well I just had a realization that they don’t have to be my section I could just play something else especially since I already have to switch instruments for marching band anyway. the only downsides I’m seeing here is that I gotta abandon my mellos and the mellophone section which is feels sad in a sentimental way and I would have to learn how to play a low brass instrument since I am not playing trumpet. I’m gonna give it more thought and if I’m still considering it by April I’m gonna talk to my director to see if I could play Baritone or maybe Sousa (trombone seems hard)

I’m a freshmen in band and have me an alternate even if I know the music much better than the people that have spots. Every week my school has pass offs. Pass offs are like playing tests that grade show music and stand tunes. You have to get a higher than a 90 percent to pass off. I have the second most passed off in my section. The person with the most is a junior. They even have someone that just started playing their instrument 2 months ago have a spot. This is frustrating because I’ve practice my music and I’m not even a bad marcher. Most of my section is also freshmen. 7 freshmen. 4 sophomores and 1 junior. Any tips for the director to notice me. I can’t wait for concert season tho.

Mostly useless background info: I don’t normally seek advice from Reddit but I’m not sure what to do here. I have been marching for years and haven’t had an issue with my mouthpiece falling out until now. I recently changed mouthpieces and also washed my trumpet (same time roughly) and that’s when it began. I have had the mouthpiece trebuchet into my sternum like 3 times now including once in a performance.

Question: How can I prevent this? I have seen an elastic connector that held in place for a spinner, but I can’t find that without the spinner…

Hey guys! Im going into my senior year of high school and am a section leader. Its my third year marching (i had to take a break last year because of scheduling conflicts/school). I had to work really hard to do band, but now that its happening, I feel...off.

I don't feel like I fit in. The other student leaders and officers are friends. They see eachother out of band, hang out, call often, etc. Though Ive known these kids for a few years now and speak to them when I get the chance, I feel devastated knowing I will never be invited to their outings or actually feel wanted. I had an easier time expressing myself freshman and sophomore year, but because of my probable ocd/depression, I can not be myself anymore. And its not like I have access to support- my parents arent the most understanding of mental health conditions and I dont feel like I have anyone i can go to. I find myself more often than not feeling sad and lonely in a group of 85+ people, including those I call my friends.

When I look at literally everyone else, they're all having a great time. They all have their friends but for some reason, its just so difficult for me to click with other people. I have no idea what to do. Nobody can tell what I'm feeling from the outside- I'm friendly and dont mind being social. But I just know I simply do not click with anyone.

Has anyone felt something similar? If so, how do you deal with it? Tysmm!!