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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: Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:58 am
This is a place for all current or past drum majors to talk to each other - about problems or just sharing stories - and for any band members to ask drum majors about auditions, marching, or problems with band members (after all, drum majors are used to solving these kinds of problems).
I have requested a sticky for this, so hopefully, this will become stickied.
I suppose I'll start by introducing myself. I am the senior drum major of a high school band. We have roughly 100 people and until this year, we've never quite made it to our state competition. I have an amazing co-drum major this year (she's a junior), but last year I had some issues with the then-senior drum major. I would love to advise anyone with issues involving drum majors, section leaders, or band members, as I've had a lot of experience. I play piano, French horn, flute, and mellophone and plan on majoring in music education or in music performance on my horn.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:39 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:46 am
I have not been to this guild in a while...but I saw this sticky so I thought I'd drop by.
I am currently the Junior Drum Major at our High School, and my Senior Drum Major is one of the greatest people in the world...(sadly, she is out of school for now on account of health reasons...but she will be back). Our band is smaller, around 60 or 70 people, but we are a like a family so it is simply amazing. Currently we are in our Pep Band season, so as a Drum Major I choose and start all of the songs for the basketball games. It's a lot of fun, and this year we are doing themed games, so any suggestions as to themes to dress up as would be fantastic! At our last game it was Seasonal Spirit, so everyone was in red and white and green, and there were many Santa hats up in the stands; what fun!
Anyway, I play Clarinet, Tenor Sax, and Piano, but am not pursuing a career in music, but in medicine, but I will ALWAYS keep music in my life by playing for my own personal enjoyment!
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:04 am
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.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:15 am
WickedSong is my sister, and was my drum major last year when she was the junior drum major. I am now in band at college, but our band is seriously small, as in 5-6 people...but we eventually want to make a marching band.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:17 am
Thanks Tubariffic! We're a sticky now!
Capt. Mary Read, your band shows sound like a lot of fun. I guess...the only suggestion I have is rather overused, but Pirates of the Caribbean is a lot of fun. People can dress up like pirates? It's an enjoyable show, but the music is really, really easy.
Killagai, I hope your band gets better. A band should be like a family (although by the end of marching season, I know some of our band members are ready to kill each other). You know...if you're interested, there's a Drum Major Academy you and your school's other drum majors might want to go to (if you don't already?). It's a lot of fun and they have a lot of suggestions for getting the band closer and for helping drum majors agree or at least seem like they agree. It's so much fun.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:48 pm
I posted a topic about it earlier, but since I saw this stickied one just now. I figured I'd drop in a restate my situation. Right now I'm a sophomore that plays Tenor Sax at my high school. We're a field marching band, not military. And I'm looking into trying out to be a drum major at the end of the year, for next year. And if I don't make it, or again if I do, I'm thinking I'll try out next year. But basically, I'm just looking for tips from former or current drum majors about thinks I can improve on and work on for the audition.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:18 pm
Well, I had a lot of help from my boyfriend's older brothers, both of whom were Drum Majors in High School and one is currently the Drum Major at his college. Both of the brothers advised me to just relax when you audition. For my audition we were asked questions, and we were judged based on how we responded to see how you would be able to handle certain situations. If you are asked questions like these, I'd suggest answering them in a way that would demonstrate your leadership abilities by possessing the capabilities to handle tough situations. I was named Drum Major over my fellow band member who auditioned because he stated that he would go to an adult to take over and run to if there is trouble, without first trying to correct the situation. I was told later that a Drum Major should be able to control situations without running to the instructor every five minutes. Also, some other key things to keep in mind are just WHY you want to be a Drum Major, and how you would use your position to help others. If you are auditioning because you want to look cool and have the title...you're in a tougher position, but if you want to be able to help others succeed, and help your band be the best that it can be, make sure to let your judges/instructors know just how you'd be able to help others become better people.
This may have been sort of confusing, but if you have questions, feel free to PM me with more specific questions and I'll answer them to the best of my ability, and I can also ask the previous Drum Majors as they are both back for Winter Break. Good luck, and don't be afraid to PM me if you have questions! I'll do my best to help you out!
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:36 pm
to WickedSong: We the (new Drum Majors) all went to George N. Park's Drum Major Academy at Illinois State last summer. Seriously the greatest week of my LIFE! Me and the other male Drum Major are going back plus whoever makes it at tryouts this year. Really the big problem I think with our band is that our normal Band Director had a problematic foot so he's only made one marching season in the three years I've been here, we've had a different director each year. PLUS All of us were new, so we didn't know what to expect being Drum Majors. All that mixed together led to ignorant discesions, re-organization that didn't work, and poor leadership. I can think of a lot of things that I myself could've done better. All in all, Our regular Director should be back next year and we'll have two Drum Majors with experience so next year should be better....hopefully
to Patches Chase : What I did when I tried out was I practiced conducting alot and studied up on drum majoring, just google Drum Major and you should have plenty of sources to choose from. That and you gotta want to be Drum Major for the right reason. I became Drum Major because I love the band and I thought I could help it more by being a Drum Major than being LowBrass Section leader. If you do make it, go to an Academy durring the summer if possible, it seriously helped me out alot. Fun too.
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:13 pm
Yeah, I loved DMA (which is why I advertise it every chance I get). Illinois, you said? That sounds considerably cooler than Phoenix. Phoenix was really small though - last year (the first time DMA was in Phoenix) we had about 30 people and this past year, 50. Was your group big? I know my past drum majors went to Texas, where they had 150 people or something insane like that.
I learned marching band is magically delicious! (Lol, did GNP say that?)
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:46 pm
Hey, our drum major is a senior this year so we're losing him and we're not quite sure who's going to be next years' drum major. If I was interested in being drum major, what would I have to do?
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 2:32 am
I'm currently a band member in my cities marching band well I've heard that my Drum Major will be quitting soon and I was interested in the position. I have learned a few things from my previous try-out(Which I failed miserably) I don't really know what else to add so yeah...
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:16 pm
Caskets_and_Constance Hey, our drum major is a senior this year so we're losing him and we're not quite sure who's going to be next years' drum major. If I was interested in being drum major, what would I have to do? It depends on how your school does things. I know that for my school, I was given a packet, and I was supposed to get teacher recommendations, and answer a bunch of questions, and fill out how many absences and what my GPA was and such. Then, on the day of auditions, they asked a bunch of questions to me, and I had to answer them to the best of my ability. Then, I was told to call out commands, and then execute them...it was extremely embarrassing because I looked incredibly stupid, but it demonstrated how you could use force in your voice and how well you understood the moves and techniques. All schools do things differently though, that's just how ours did it. We didn't have to conduct in front of him, because he knew that anyone who was chosen was going to be someone who they could teach.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:08 am
I will be the drum major for our 150-member band next year.
I have had issues in the past, involving an actual fistfight with the current senior drum major.
I now have a scar on my right arm
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:38 pm
colonel masterfreak I will be the drum major for our 150-member band next year. I have had issues in the past, involving an actual fistfight with the current senior drum major. I now have a scar on my right arm Oh wow...What happened?
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