Summer marching band camp is starting next week. YEAH YEAH (lets see if i feel the same way at the end of next week lol)Well with this exciting time I am faced with the same questions every year.

1. The flute section is realively large and we have similiar intruments. Is there any ideas to help us tell the different between our instruments that won't damage them. We have tried using the hair bands on the tip of our headjoints (not rubber bands i know that would be damaging) We are still slighly worried about damage though and are running out of colors as well lol.

2. Other then not locking your knees do you all have ideas to reduce the people passing out in practice. I would like as many ideas as possible to help out the rookies that have never been in this kind of situation.

3. A nother question I would like many answers to is ideas on memorizing music as fast as possible. This can be extremely stressful for new people and as many different suggestions would be helpful because different things work for different people.

Of course any other suggestions are welcome. I would, as stated above, like as many and different suggestions as possible because different things work for different people, and my one suggestion on how I memorize music my not be as helpful. Thanks again I appreciate the time you took to read this post.

SomeNewbie

For not passing out.. water! I'm assuming its pretty hot. Tell everyone to drink lots and lots of water.

For telling instruments apart.. I don't really know. We have a decently large flute section as well (at least 20 people) but I don't think we had any problem.. each flute has their own little thing about them. I'm sure not everyones is the same brand. My friend always found hers but the large dent on the hj, lol. Hair ties is a good idea, but there are only so many colors! I dont really have any ideas for you..

For memorizing music- How long do you have before you are expected to have it memorized 100%? We have at least a month, maybe more of every practice before we aren't allowed to have our lyres anymore. For me the easiest way is to just play something a ton of times, i'll have it memorized eventually. Otherwise i just go and play a few measures with music, turn around and try to play it a few times without and when I feel i got it go back and read a few more measure with music, turn around and do all of it without a few times. It takes a while, but it works for me. The biggest thing IMO is repetition.

For telling instruments apart, I personally keep a sticker on the inside of my foot joint, not something massive, but like a little gold star. You could give everyone a different sticker to keep in the foot joint :D

Worked last year, but this year it'll be different for me... Won't fit in a stupid marching picc xD


For not passing out, keep a big thing of ice water at your disposal with some hand towels. We dunk the towels in water and put 'em on our necks to help keep your body temperature a little lower. No one that did this passed out last year, and it was between 95 and 105 here everyday. >.< Also, make sure everyone stays hydrated and eats (relatively) healthy meals. No milk is a big thing.

I made that mistake once... Tasted awful coming back up. >.<



For memorization, just run it as many times as you can. It's all muscle memory for me, personally... That's all the advise on that I ever received, and it's worked fine for me so far, haha.


Hope your Marching Season goes great! :D

to answere some questions:

we have about one week from the day we get the music before we have are first memorization test of course if you fail it you don't perform until you can play it but that won't really be in effect until football games and compititons start however they are in front of the entire band and rather embarressing if you don't know your music I of course always tell people about muscle memory and just practice i like to practice it form the last measure then two measures because if you learn it from the beginging and you get far you forgot what you just learned in the middle of the piece as you were running through the first part if you do it backwards you play the new stuff right a way and i works better for me

of course eating right and water are the most important to not pass out i agree and the wet towel was a good idea to i will start giving that idea out thanks

the sticker was a great idea thanks very much because we can give everyone with out a color hair band a stick so we will have just as many options and we won't have to worry about running out of different types

does anyone know if the stickers will effect the flute in anyway (i hope not) also i had heard a while ago about nail polish (small color dot to tell your flute) but it sounds like it could be a bad idea does any flute technicians know about this

well I still would like any ideas no matter what they are or just any ideas i could start to tell all of the freshman coming in about marching band that i forgot to get ideas on

my goal is to have more ideas then in the past to make life easier for new comers

SomeNewbie

also any new people to marching band have questions that could be answered on this post so i can address that situation before it even comes up in my band

most of my section use there worst flute they own for marching band which means majority of them are silver plated verse solid silver but thanks we will keep it in mind it might still work for the plated ones too

I don't understand why you need to mark the instruments at all. When I was in marching band I always kept my instrument in my hands or in its case. I was never confused which instrument was mine.

a lot of the time when people can not play the music yet (begginging of camp) we all put are istruments on the sidelines in sections for hours at a time or when we are working on a really hard set we don't play the music and just work on finding our correct placement so we do have a lot of time when our instruments are outside and not being used when they are kept together

Have a plan for when you have to leave your instruments on the sideline: always line up in order of height, and put your flutes down on the sideline in that same order. If you all expect to do this every time, it will be quick and easy and the flutes should all be in the same order unless someone is sick.

A corn-ring (little foam O with adhasive backing for your feet) will not harm a flute if it is stuck on there. I think a sticker would be just fine. Put it on the barrel or on the headjoint, and when you have to remove it use a damp cloth and maybe a little bit of dishsoap. Just don't get the soap anywhere near the pads.

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As the section leader, you could take the responsibility of writing each flute player's flute brand, model and serial number down so there aren't any permanent mixups. There will probably be duplicates of, say, Gemeinhardt 2sp's, or Armstrong 104's. Then you could mark only the flutes that have 'duplicates', so you don't need so many different colors to identify them.

Lots of good ideas.

1. Nail polish won't hurt anything. Eveyone can pick their own color, and way to mark it. Then at the end of camp nail polish remover will take it right off. A label inside the flute barrell. Afterwards make a solution of dish soap and water. put a wet paper towel (or portion of a towel) let it soak for 15 minutes, and it comes right off. As said earlier don't get the pads damp!!!. Tibiecow makes a great suggestion with model numbers and serial numbers. Make a master list at the begining of the week.

Have someone buy white hand towels for the section. You can all mark them anyway you want with markers or embroidery, or patches. The towels can tuck into your pants pockets or waistband. When you need to put your flute down put it on or in the towel. This will help divert the suns direct rays, keep dust off it, and everyone will know to be careful around the white towels, and each towel will have your name on it so you know whose it is.

2. Consistent water replacement. I don't like gobbling down gallons at a time, but constant sipping or small drinks is a good way to go. The wet towel, wash cloth, or handkercheif around the neck area is great. Don't eat big meals, stay away from alcohol and sodas. Smaller healthy snacks to keep you lite.

A common thing I have seen when standing at attention is people often have their heads tipped back and not truely straight. This will pinch the blood flow to your brain and encourage a pass out episode. Your head should be tall and front facing not tilted and pinched in the back at the neck.

3. I have always been told your best time to memorize is the first 10 minutes of practicing. I like the idea mentioned earlier of starting with the last measure, and adding another measure each time. In practice you will start your pieces a million times and finsh them only about 20 times. So you will have ample opportunity to memorize the begining. Memorize backwards first.

Look at the piece in patterns. A lot of people try to memorize every note. Sometimes there are five sections the same with only a very little difference. Memorize the section and then the small changes. The more you know about the theory and structure of the piece the easier it is to memorize the piece.

4.If anyone starts not liking the camp and is getting annoyed and upset. Remember you don't get to do this when you are out of school. It is a memorable experience. You will be part of a secret society when you are out in the working world. Have fun, even if it's hard.

thanks so much for all of the responses i think i have everything answered

we should have a good year and have a ton of fun thanks