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Hi Everyone!! Wow, it's been awhile since i was last here!

Ok so, last year I auditioned for drum major...and didn't make it. So this year I've decided i'm going to audition again. I need some advice. Last year my salute for my audition wasn't that good. What should i include in my salute that will really make my salute stand out from everyone else??
Also, at my school we have to pick a song, then conduct it. What songs do you guys think would be good for a drum major audition.

Any advice is greatly appriciated!! Thanks! smile

So today at lunch we were having a "conducting party" with our special guest, the anorexic strangled pencil dude(a picture on the whiteboardXD). Well, it mad em wonder how everyone here conducts.

Apparently, we are changing our conducting style next year. Where we used to do a high-up, palm-forward type, now we are doing a lower, palms-down style. I like this new style. it is way more natural and comfortable, but it can be just as big and noticeable as the old style. With the old style, you weren't supposed to hit beats any lower then your chest. Now, you shouldn't go higher then your chest or lwoer then your waist. It looks way better and feels a lot nicer. With the old style, my arms would have been hurting by the middle of lunch, but today, they didn't hurt almsot at all.

So anyone else use this style? Anyone use a different style? I really want to know, because I'm really curious.

I'm glad I came to the optional conducting class though. i've been conducting the old way and would have been in bad shape come auditions.

Auditions are in a week and I'm really nervous.

And we took out all field amrching requirements for auditions thanks to the possibility of no marching band next year.

I've got a week to work on pulling tempos, though that is comming prety easily to me.

We also have a piece given to us by the bd that we are rquired to conduct in the audition along with a cd of that song. This year is the same as last year, Pictures at an Expedition. I've conducted to proffessional music, like pirates of the carribean, but i've never actually conducted a marching band piece, played by a marching band. It is really fun.

During class he occasionaly has those of us auditioning for dm conduct the warmups. we have to decide which of a list of warmups to do and what aritculation to do them and wether or not they are quarter,e ighth or half notes. The first tiem I did Iu tried to make the lower band do really fast eigth noptesXD It was pretty embarassing, and did not go well at all. The second tiem I managed to conrol my nerves and gave them quarter notes at a slightly slower tempo, which ended up being a pretty good tempo.

But anyway, does anyone have any last minute advice they can give me?

Yeah, ours are a bit earlyXd Its so we can start preparing to be student leaders, before the end of the year concert comes around.

We are judged on personality. We have to be tortured through an interview as part of the asudition. I'm not sure about what people think of my conducting. My friend said I have to work on cutoffs a bit. Mine are really...unsure. He said it looked like I didn't lknow that i was supposed to cut off. Truth is, i kept forgetting how to do it correctlyXD

upon practicing with pulling tempos, I realized that I am actually really good at thatXD I managed to hit 110bpm right on, and I wasn't much slower when I tried 70. 160 and 120 were extremely close as well.

my chances are pretty high. I've gotten maybe 4 people who are actually competition. Two were ineligible pretty much their whole high school career, which is pretty much an automatic disqualification. Another is always late to band class and also has a prblem with ineligibility. There is also a percussionist who, once again, was ineligible for most of marching season. Finally, we have the only one of the unlikely candidates that doesn't have ineligibility issues. He is my work in the progress. I suggested he played a grade 1.5 piece we played at the last concert as his prepared piece, and he couldn't play it. We've had this song for nearly 2 monthes. And it seriously only used like...3 notes. And his conducting is terrible as well. Good news, if he was a baby bird, he woudl be perfectXD

I auditioned for drum major last week and I made it! This year my band's entering first division and our theme is Tai Chi and the Art of Discipline.

Auditions were today and I made it! It's actually a split this year, me and one of my best friends got it. He and I are both really excited to get to work together and we're excited that we will both get to marching some of the show and conduct some of it. smile Fun!