I've agreed to march in a St Patrick's Day parade in a couple of weeks.
I haven't marched a parade in probably 25 years, and marching band in college was 1971. But I remember that playing without the horn bouncing was a tricky skill, and breathing was a problem.
Any advice? Some of you must teach marching band.
I'll also have to memorize the music. There's no way to see a marching lyre with bifocals. Hopefully some of it comes back, I've played these pieces before. Again, in 1971.
The key is to walk from the waist down. The upper body needs to be as if you were just standing still, and relaxed. So engage your legs, and roll step.
The band will often try to get you to hold the horn parallel to the marching surface, so if you're craning way back to do that, it can have a negative effect too.
Don't forget that marches shouldn't be played like orchestral music -- most notes will not be played full value. That should help with the air. Arthur Pryor wrote an article on how to play a march that is worth a read.
Harrison is correct on the mechanics. I took a 15 year break in from marching and playing after college. I noticed my biggest weaknesses after that time off were in my core and my calves the first time back. Driving a desk caused both to get out of shape. If there is any way to get out and walk more and and do a light farmers carry will help get those muscles engaged.
Also, as an older player, watch the tempo. If the leader insists on a fast (120 bpm or more), better drop out. As a fat 40 my best marching tempo was the British standard of 108 bpm. One day I had a guy who thought we should go faster and I was spent after 1/2 mile.
The trumpet players often swap off resting through one strain and playing the other. If there are two of you on the same part you might try this as well; one plays the strain the first time and the other on the repeat.
Bruce Guttman
Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra
"Almost Professional"
BGuttman wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 8:40 am
Also, as an older player, watch the tempo. If the leader insists on a fast (120 bpm or more), better drop out. As a fat 40 my best marching tempo was the British standard of 108 bpm. One day I had a guy who thought we should go faster and I was spent after 1/2 mile.
The trumpet players often swap off resting through one strain and playing the other. If there are two of you on the same part you might try this as well; one plays the strain the first time and the other on the repeat.
I'm in good shape for my age, and my experience with parades is you can't go faster than the group in front of you, and they're not in a hurry. Shriners, bagpipers, etc.
It's a Notre Dame alumni band, i expect Victory March over and over, maybe a few times through Hike Step or Down the Line. On Youtube that might be circus march tempo but in real life I think more like a polka.
John,
Nah. It's an alumni band. We'll probably have a few young fit recent grads but many will be old geezers like me. For sure we won't do the hike step, and that's good. I hated that thing. You took two high quarter note steps and shuffled four fast eighth note steps, giving the impression you stepped then slid. If your part called for playing opposite rhythm it was a challenge.
Pieces with no rests have nowhere to breathe. Have to work around that.
I found a good description of Harrison's roll step I think: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glide_step Military bands used to do a lot of marching; I'm not sure that's as true anymore. I remember attending a lot of pass-and-review where a full band played and marched, but the last few years a quintet sat in chairs while the other units marched.
But a new (or maybe old) problem has surfaced. I got the music, played through the first march, and my chops were fried. I don't know why that happened. I'm in playing shape and don't think I'm playing too incorrectly.
Possibly old music triggers old playing habits? Maybe I'm not playing correctly?
timothy42b wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2024 7:53 am
John,
Nah. It's an alumni band. We'll probably have a few young fit recent grads but many will be old geezers like me.
I wouldn't worry.
All of us old geezers slow down as we age. The music and the parade pace will reflect that.
The parade step will be a comfortable walking pace, and sound volume will be low as all the oldsters are conserving stamina. A cheap pair of "drugstore glasses" of the proper diopter can focus on the lyre and still have adequate vision for marching. The other focus is just having fun. Enjoy !!
We still march ceremonies. Generally for brigade and higher, change of command or change of responsibility is usually going to be the full band, marching sound off and pass and review.
It's the glide step, but not quite so heel-toe as you see in DCI. It needs to blend with the other units on the parade field.
If you have enough trombones, maybe you could take turns taking breaks; for ex. switch off on each strain but have all play on the dogfights.
I'm probably in your age group, and played several parades a year until the pandemic hit, then decided it was time to pass the marching gigs to the younger folk.
I wear bi-focals full time but couldn't read marches on a lyre with my glasses, and found it better to go without.
Ohhh, yeah that's another trick. The first time through the last strain on a Sousa march, the trombones should lay out and let the Euph or Flutes be heard.
We had a rehearsal Sunday. An hour of marching around the gym. Turns out we do high step, swing arms, and keep fast temp. I'm glad I had the chance to refresh the whistle commands, wheel turns, etc.
It also turned out bringing a stand was a really dumb thing to do. Most are playing from memory; a few have flip folios which are near impossible for someone with bifocals and artificial lenses. Besides I can't find my lyre. Probably loaned it to someone.
Memorization is hard at my age but I will not accept I can't do three marches. I dug out Jim Prindle's method and started this morning.
I realize that this is probably just a review of what you already learned long ago, but here goes anyway:
You can control your impact by marching softly on the balls of your feet and then lowering your heels. This saves wear and tear on your chops by cushioning your step, and it also enables you to move the rest of your body as you choose.
Memorizing the music keeps you from having to wrestle with floppy pages (Guess when that gust of wind will come along!) and the extra weight of the music and lyre. Better still, it enables you to focus on staying in position, avoiding irregularities in the marching surface, and avoiding collisions. In other words, you're focusing on your movement, not little spots on little pages.
In the nostalgia department, in one Christmas parade in high school, some punks along the parade route thought it would be funny to throw firecrackers at the trombone section. One alert player was able to sidestep a firecracker on the pavement, averting injury to his foot. Ah, the good old days!
Current instruments:
Olds Studio trombone, 3 trumpets, 1 flugelhorn, 1 cornet, 1 shofar, 1 keyboard
Firecrackers be damned. My one wish was to be in front of the horse groups. Watching for those brown lumps was distracting. Especially in the front row.
Bruce Guttman
Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra
"Almost Professional"
I marched the parade. I was able to memorize the music with a little effort. After I had it well into memory I played it multiple times with YouTube recordings. Marching was not a problem even though this band does a high knee step. I was one of the older members but there were a couple other geezers too.
What I did wrong was not practice loud enough. I worked at a comfortable volume like I would play in a regular ensemble, never louder than lovely. <smiley> Increase that a couple notches and articulations become very different, it's harder to not blat. Lessons for next year.
Doubler wrote: ↑Tue Feb 20, 2024 2:29 pm
My band directors had enough clout to arrange for us to always be placed ahead of any horses.
This sometimes works, unless the color guard is mounted. There is no getting around marching behind the flags. Not without really breaking conventions.
The trick would be to get near the back of the parade, so that all the horse droppings are already picked up by the boots of everyone marching in front of you.
timothy42b wrote: ↑Mon Mar 11, 2024 6:15 am
Here's the update.
I marched the parade. I was able to memorize the music with a little effort. After I had it well into memory I played it multiple times with YouTube recordings. Marching was not a problem even though this band does a high knee step. I was one of the older members but there were a couple other geezers too.
What I did wrong was not practice loud enough. I worked at a comfortable volume like I would play in a regular ensemble, never louder than lovely. <smiley> Increase that a couple notches and articulations become very different, it's harder to not blat. Lessons for next year.
Glad you made it through in one piece. I, too, haven’t marched since high school, and I don’t want to start now.
Playing outdoors is always a challenge. It’s tempting to play too loud to hear yourself because your sound tends to dissipate so quickly, along with the sound of other band/orchestra members. People then tend to play louder to hear themselves, and then the whole group starts playing louder —except the strings who just mash their earplugs in more.
When I play outdoor gigs with a band or an orchestra, I try to think of making a “full” sound with plenty of “core,” even more than I usually do. (Parentheses because those terms tend to mean different things to different people.) It helps me relax and not try so hard to play to be heard. It’s then easier for me to hear the rest of the section and the band.
But when you’re marching, everything is a moving target… even the road apples!
Kenneth Biggs
I have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.
—Mark Twain (attributed)
Kbiggs wrote: ↑Mon Mar 11, 2024 1:33 pm...except the strings who just mash their earplugs in more.
In my (admittedly limited) experience, strings don't do well outdoors in general. They're usually worried about their instrument (too warm, too cool, too dry, not dry enough, temperature and/or humidity changing quickly, UV damage), unless they leave their "good" instrument at home and use something expendable - which causes other issues because it doesn't play as well as their good instrument.
Playing outdoors without some sort of shell completely changes the way one hears an ensemble, both from within the group and from the audience.
—except the strings who just mash their earplugs in more. 