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| Are you a current drum major, past drum major, or band member? |
| Are you a current drum major? |
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33% |
[ 59 ] |
| past drum major? |
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7% |
[ 13 ] |
| or band member? |
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59% |
[ 106 ] |
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| Total Votes : 178 |
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 Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:52 am
Ulyoath32 surge5 dm auditions in 3 mo. any advice so i don't have a repeat of last year? Give more specifics on what you would want for advice. There's a broad range (conducting, marching, vocal commands, etc. and those can be broken down into even smaller topics) of tasks that a Drum Major has to fulfill. just any advice in general! mainly conducting, marching, and getting my bd to stop playing favorites and just impress him. i have the commands down lol i'm freakin loud when i talk usually and he even told me i have good tempo. oh and what advice do you have like what i should expect when im dm or what are the do's and don'ts. i also need help with interview questions. haha lots of things smile
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:31 pm
Killagai I wish our band was as close-knit as you say yours are, it seems as though everyone is at ewach other's throats... Anyway, I'm currently second Drum Major in our Marching Band, though we all were new this year so we didn't exactly have a leader to look up to. We have about 70 people in the band and are very suprised if we place anything at any competition. I like the other two Drum Majors but we never really quite agreed on anything. I have very little experience and I only play trombone and don't intend on going into music as a major in college, though I'm not ruling it out either. I agree.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:47 am
surge5 Ulyoath32 surge5 dm auditions in 3 mo. any advice so i don't have a repeat of last year? Give more specifics on what you would want for advice. There's a broad range (conducting, marching, vocal commands, etc. and those can be broken down into even smaller topics) of tasks that a Drum Major has to fulfill. just any advice in general! mainly conducting, marching, and getting my bd to stop playing favorites and just impress him. i have the commands down lol i'm freakin loud when i talk usually and he even told me i have good tempo. oh and what advice do you have like what i should expect when im dm or what are the do's and don'ts. i also need help with interview questions. haha lots of things smile What do you find is your problem with conducting? Is it maintaing the tempo? I doubt it since you've been told you keep good tempo... Getting down the ictus, or everything? Marching depends on your style, if it is a roll step style, then the best thing to do with this is march where ever you go. Whether it's in school, at home, the street, etc. You might look like an idiot, but hey, you want to get better. Always remember that when you step that something is written on your foot (not actually) and others want to read what it is. That means your foot has to be pointed pretty high up. And always practice keeping time in marching with a metronome. I've had a lot of timing issues, even as a drum major, so I know what it's like to have that problem. Of course, none of this may concern you, but it might help. If you're loud, that's good, but also make sure you sound confident and the command is clear. You may not think that if you're loud you won't sound confident or in control, but you'd be surprised how many times I've heard it in other Drum Majors, even being for only one year thus far. Record yourself. Sometimes the voice you hear is different from the voice others hear, check for inflection of the commands and loudness... you might think you are loud (not saying that might not be) but you could actually be kind of quiet, I experienced that last year. When being placed under the position of Drum Major, a lot is different then what you would think it to be (this might be different for others but for me it was this way). Expect to do whatever your band director tells you to do, expect being in front of people, expect that the moment you do something wrong everyone might go against you as a leader, expect to be told to do something differently despite how much you may think it helps with the band or overall effect in a show, and always expect criticism. These may seem personal, but in my experience others have experienced the same (I used experience twice in a sentence...). Oh and remember, ALWAYS be positive, no one wants their Drum Major to be a pessimist about how well the show or parade might be done.
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:54 am
Ulyoath32 surge5 Ulyoath32 surge5 dm auditions in 3 mo. any advice so i don't have a repeat of last year? Give more specifics on what you would want for advice. There's a broad range (conducting, marching, vocal commands, etc. and those can be broken down into even smaller topics) of tasks that a Drum Major has to fulfill. just any advice in general! mainly conducting, marching, and getting my bd to stop playing favorites and just impress him. i have the commands down lol i'm freakin loud when i talk usually and he even told me i have good tempo. oh and what advice do you have like what i should expect when im dm or what are the do's and don'ts. i also need help with interview questions. haha lots of things smile What do you find is your problem with conducting? Is it maintaing the tempo? I doubt it since you've been told you keep good tempo... Getting down the ictus, or everything? Marching depends on your style, if it is a roll step style, then the best thing to do with this is march where ever you go. Whether it's in school, at home, the street, etc. You might look like an idiot, but hey, you want to get better. Always remember that when you step that something is written on your foot (not actually) and others want to read what it is. That means your foot has to be pointed pretty high up. And always practice keeping time in marching with a metronome. I've had a lot of timing issues, even as a drum major, so I know what it's like to have that problem. Of course, none of this may concern you, but it might help. If you're loud, that's good, but also make sure you sound confident and the command is clear. You may not think that if you're loud you won't sound confident or in control, but you'd be surprised how many times I've heard it in other Drum Majors, even being for only one year thus far. Record yourself. Sometimes the voice you hear is different from the voice others hear, check for inflection of the commands and loudness... you might think you are loud (not saying that might not be) but you could actually be kind of quiet, I experienced that last year. When being placed under the position of Drum Major, a lot is different then what you would think it to be (this might be different for others but for me it was this way). Expect to do whatever your band director tells you to do, expect being in front of people, expect that the moment you do something wrong everyone might go against you as a leader, expect to be told to do something differently despite how much you may think it helps with the band or overall effect in a show, and always expect criticism. These may seem personal, but in my experience others have experienced the same (I used experience twice in a sentence...). Oh and remember, ALWAYS be positive, no one wants their Drum Major to be a pessimist about how well the show or parade might be done. i was taught the same thing u were about the "there's someone that wants to read what's written on the soles of your shoes." my dad used to tell me that all the time (he's a former band director, now he's a cop. don't ask how that happened i have no idea). thanks for the advice and i hope it helps. my dad says i do real well at commands but i need to slow down a bit. i am always and i mean ALWAYS hyper and i tend to talk fast a lot. especially when i'm nervous so yeah. i was a little nervous to do it in front of my dad because he tends to be overcritical at times. my brother helped me a lot too because he's a dm now in a music college and he attended tons of dm camps. thanks so much for ur help! TJ
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:26 pm
Ulyoath32 surge5 Ulyoath32 surge5 dm auditions in 3 mo. any advice so i don't have a repeat of last year? Give more specifics on what you would want for advice. There's a broad range (conducting, marching, vocal commands, etc. and those can be broken down into even smaller topics) of tasks that a Drum Major has to fulfill. just any advice in general! mainly conducting, marching, and getting my bd to stop playing favorites and just impress him. i have the commands down lol i'm freakin loud when i talk usually and he even told me i have good tempo. oh and what advice do you have like what i should expect when im dm or what are the do's and don'ts. i also need help with interview questions. haha lots of things smile What do you find is your problem with conducting? Is it maintaing the tempo? I doubt it since you've been told you keep good tempo... Getting down the ictus, or everything? Marching depends on your style, if it is a roll step style, then the best thing to do with this is march where ever you go. Whether it's in school, at home, the street, etc. You might look like an idiot, but hey, you want to get better. Always remember that when you step that something is written on your foot (not actually) and others want to read what it is. That means your foot has to be pointed pretty high up. And always practice keeping time in marching with a metronome. I've had a lot of timing issues, even as a drum major, so I know what it's like to have that problem. Of course, none of this may concern you, but it might help. If you're loud, that's good, but also make sure you sound confident and the command is clear. You may not think that if you're loud you won't sound confident or in control, but you'd be surprised how many times I've heard it in other Drum Majors, even being for only one year thus far. Record yourself. Sometimes the voice you hear is different from the voice others hear, check for inflection of the commands and loudness... you might think you are loud (not saying that might not be) but you could actually be kind of quiet, I experienced that last year. When being placed under the position of Drum Major, a lot is different then what you would think it to be (this might be different for others but for me it was this way). Expect to do whatever your band director tells you to do, expect being in front of people, expect that the moment you do something wrong everyone might go against you as a leader, expect to be told to do something differently despite how much you may think it helps with the band or overall effect in a show, and always expect criticism. These may seem personal, but in my experience others have experienced the same (I used experience twice in a sentence...). Oh and remember, ALWAYS be positive, no one wants their Drum Major to be a pessimist about how well the show or parade might be done. Being positive is really important. Another tip for marching and for conducting is to use a mirror. Watch your conducting in a mirror and your feet for certain marching moves. You can get a video of your recording, marching, and shouted commands, too. That way you can see what everyone else will see.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:52 am
what all do u guys do to get dm. my bd's doing the same as last year.
Commands:
Band ten hut
band horns up
mark time hut
band hault
band horns down
band parade rest
Marching:
Mark time hut
forward march (forward 8 cts)
left slide move (left slide cool
backmarch move (back march cool
right slide move (right slide cool
band hault (shud b right were u started)
Salute:
Band ten hut
Present arms (do salute)
Conducting finally:
4 measures of 4/4
4 measures of 3/4
4 measures of 2/4
4 single beats
4 measures of 2/4
4 measures of 3/4
4 measures of 4/4
cut off
Cutoff on 1
cutoff on 2
cutoff on 3
cutoff on 4
Conduct a song of ur choice under 2 min give or take a few seconds(better chance if there is time changes, tempo changes, and dynamic changes)
Interview
I was also wondering, what song r u guys conducting to? i chose follow on the halo soundtrack and i'm going to shorten it using a program called audacy. from what i hear (pretty good with figuring out time signatures) 21 measures of 3/4, 8 measures of 2/4, switches between 5/4 and 6/4 for a while, soft 4/4 but building, huge 4/4 with a couple of crescendos and decrescendos, then goes back to 5/4 and 6/4 and repeats itself. it's rly cool. crazy with the 1 measure of 5/4 then 1 measure of 6/8
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:08 pm
surge5 what all do u guys do to get dm. my bd's doing the same as last year. Commands: Band ten hut band horns up mark time hut band hault band horns down band parade rest Marching: Mark time hut forward march (forward 8 cts) left slide move (left slide cool backmarch move (back march cool right slide move (right slide cool band hault (shud b right were u started) Salute: Band ten hut Present arms (do salute) Conducting finally: 4 measures of 4/4 4 measures of 3/4 4 measures of 2/4 4 single beats 4 measures of 2/4 4 measures of 3/4 4 measures of 4/4 cut off Cutoff on 1 cutoff on 2 cutoff on 3 cutoff on 4 Conduct a song of ur choice under 2 min give or take a few seconds(better chance if there is time changes, tempo changes, and dynamic changes) Interview I was also wondering, what song r u guys conducting to? i chose follow on the halo soundtrack and i'm going to shorten it using a program called audacy. from what i hear (pretty good with figuring out time signatures) 21 measures of 3/4, 8 measures of 2/4, switches between 5/4 and 6/4 for a while, soft 4/4 but building, huge 4/4 with a couple of crescendos and decrescendos, then goes back to 5/4 and 6/4 and repeats itself. it's rly cool. crazy with the 1 measure of 5/4 then 1 measure of 6/8 In comparison, your audition seems a lot harder than the one's at my school. We do the Attention command, mark time, band horns up, band horns down, forward march, and parade rest command... in any logical order we choose while auditioning. We get graded on how we do the command and how we march. Our director chooses our piece that we conduct. Typically he chooses something with erratic time changes... well, actually no. He just makes sure there are a lot of time changes to make sure we are on our toes. We have to turn in our essay the day of the audition. And the 'interview' is called an Oral question in our school, though that really does not matter. As for that, he asks it on the spot. He usually asks 2 questions, one to one half of the audition-ers and one to the other half.
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:17 am
Dang my high school has to do waaay less than your guys' when it comes to tryouts... but then again a lot of people try out. It takes our band director 3 days to a week to figure out who's going to be the drum major lol! But our band has 400 people, so it's a REALLY big responsibility; like all the people in the school know your name. xD
I was only the drum major of our middle school band, but I think I'll try out for high school dm next year or something. Our middle school band has about 100 people (including guard, drill, back flags), so sometimes it's hard to get them to pay attention (those 7th graders.....).
For tryouts at the middle school, we only had to do an I pattern in a parking lot across the street... not much. But for the high school band, we have to do an L pattern in which you can even get graded by random people passing by. If there's a history teacher passing by, our band director will just give them a slip that asks them what they think about the person's appearance, their posture, etc. He doesn't ask candidates to conduct because our drum majors don't do conducting lol...
After the L pattern, our band director interviews each of them and disappears into his room for a long time haha... And he magically reappears and tells us who's drum major at the band banquet!
Our band's kind of weird... I'm wondering what you guys do as senior/junior drum majors...? O:
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:53 am
haha i lied, i'm not doing follow because it's too long. instead i'm doing something from lilo and stitch (haha very manly). last year we only had 5 people audition, and this year only 4 r auditioning, me, very egotistic saxophone player who thinks he's better than everyone, our dm last yr whos gonna be a senior, and my best friend. hehe this is gonna be fun cuz there's about 15 flutes comming in, and my best friend and i have a better chance then the dm cuz she broke the rules
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:23 pm
This is great advice! I was really considering auditioning for dm at my school, since no one else (in my entire 250-person band) really wants to try out. It seems like a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too. And you get to yell at ppl for screwing around. xd
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:51 am
megamanfan66 This is great advice! I was really considering auditioning for dm at my school, since no one else (in my entire 250-person band) really wants to try out. It seems like a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too. And you get to yell at ppl for screwing around. xd just don't yell at them for no reason *wink wink* lol
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 4:51 am
lol changed my song to the rudy theme song smile
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:48 pm
Hi everyone!!! (I'm kinda new to this guild) This year i am trying out for our schools Jr./Sr. High drum major, and to say the least, im really nervous. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice 4 me since im new at "drum majoring". I'm learning all the basics like how to conduct, give commands, and stuff like that, but i wuld really appricate it if i could get any advice on making a salute (which i have to do for my audition) and conducting a song (which i also have to do for my audition) any advice would be greatly appricated!!! Thanks everyone!!!!!!! smile
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 9:51 am
musicchic2012 Hi everyone!!! (I'm kinda new to this guild) This year i am trying out for our schools Jr./Sr. High drum major, and to say the least, im really nervous. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice 4 me since im new at "drum majoring". I'm learning all the basics like how to conduct, give commands, and stuff like that, but i wuld really appricate it if i could get any advice on making a salute (which i have to do for my audition) and conducting a song (which i also have to do for my audition) any advice would be greatly appricated!!! Thanks everyone!!!!!!! smile My name is Jessica, I'm currently a sophmore... & i'm the 09-10 drum major 4 a lil bitty band of abt 24 members... & my advice on ur salute would b, keep it snappy & clean... Ur song, when ur different sections enter give a cue, when the mood of the music changes change ur form (either restricted canvas or bouncy or legatto)... get in2 ur music & go w/ it... don't sway or move thru the whole song tho... make changes where they need 2 b & makes ur cues & accents big... Make sure ur band kno's wat 2 look 4... find ur routine & keep it consistent... anything else u need jus ask!!! i'm willin 2 help cuz i kno i had a lot of trouble w/ my 1st tryouts...
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:13 pm
Jessymuka musicchic2012 Hi everyone!!! (I'm kinda new to this guild) This year i am trying out for our schools Jr./Sr. High drum major, and to say the least, im really nervous. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice 4 me since im new at "drum majoring". I'm learning all the basics like how to conduct, give commands, and stuff like that, but i wuld really appricate it if i could get any advice on making a salute (which i have to do for my audition) and conducting a song (which i also have to do for my audition) any advice would be greatly appricated!!! Thanks everyone!!!!!!! smile My name is Jessica, I'm currently a sophmore... & i'm the 09-10 drum major 4 a lil bitty band of abt 24 members... & my advice on ur salute would b, keep it snappy & clean... Ur song, when ur different sections enter give a cue, when the mood of the music changes change ur form (either restricted canvas or bouncy or legatto)... get in2 ur music & go w/ it... don't sway or move thru the whole song tho... make changes where they need 2 b & makes ur cues & accents big... Make sure ur band kno's wat 2 look 4... find ur routine & keep it consistent... anything else u need jus ask!!! i'm willin 2 help cuz i kno i had a lot of trouble w/ my 1st tryouts... Thank you!!! My tryouts r tomorrow and im ready (well at least i think im ready) I did take ur advice on a lot of things....it really helped!!!
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