Its cold and miserable in the middle of January and band programs are knee deep in the middle of concert season preparing for spring concerts, music festivals and solo and ensemble events. This time of year is no doubt the most important part of the year to the improvement of our young musicians. With our heads down and our focus centered on music making, when do we begin planning for the upcoming marching season?

This is it! This is the time to begin looking at what we did last year, and begin looking at how we can improve our product for the 2015 fall marching season. The problem many of us face is that we are afraid to self reflect and “die to self” when we take a step outside of our programs and look at what needs to improve. What decisions were wrong decisions? Why was our program not as successful last year as we thought it might be?

It is easy for us to say “those judges last year were not great,” or “I think I might try a different circuit, as they do not like us in the circuit we were in last year.” Instead of looking for excuses, we need to self-reflect and make changes.  What we need to realize is:

Every Decision Matters

There is no decision that we make from January-November when planning, implementing, and rehearsing a marching band, that is not important.  From deciding what music to play, to if I should have a first trumpet play a high G in measure 15, every decision must be the right decision.  In fact, to be extremely competitive, every decision must be scrutinized and pondered until you are certain it is the right one. The problem is that we all think our decisions are right most of the time but we need to not be afraid to ask for help and accept advice. Being humble, learning from others, and being constant learners in our profession will help us make more educated decisions. We have to realize that we cannot do everything ourselves. We cannot design the guard costumes, rehearse the brass, make music changes, handle student/parent issues, balance an ensemble, refine marching style, arrange the music, etc. without HELP!

When planning the upcoming program, ASK FOR HELP!

What do we need to do when looking at the upcoming season? Well, assuming all the right steps are being taken in the concert season to improve the musicianship, begin asking yourself some simple questions to SELF REFLECT.

1. Am I providing these young musicians with the best opportunities for success in brass, woodwind, visual, guard, drill writing, music arranging, etc.? It is ok to make changes, but do not make changes just for the sake of making changes.  The grass is not always greener on the other side so be very specific in providing students the best product for success.

2. What did I do last year that hurt the product? This is a hard one. None of us want to admit that we did anything wrong, but the truth is, we all do things that we wish we could do differently. Try to humble yourself, and improve.  BE HUMBLE.

3. Why do I do competitive marching season? What are my goals for the program and most importantly the students for this time of year?

4. Labor over every decision, and take money out of the equation.  Yes, we all have budget restraints that we deal with, but just for sake of argument, make a wish list of things that provide the best experience for your musicians, and see what you may be able to change, or move around to make it work.  Do you really need the new winter guard mat this year, or would a new woodwind instructor benefit the students and program more this year?

Make every decision an important one and remember. Your decisions affect many more than yourself. Every decision made must give the young students the best chance for success and give them the best education opportunities.

Are you making the right decisions?