Many books and articles have been written explaining how to play your instrument with good tone quality, proper articulation, and good intonation. Very few words have been written how to achieve similar fundamentals of marching & movement. In many marching programs all over the world, marching fundamentals are taught in the early summer, the drill is learned in the late summer/early fall, and the "show" is put together and performed soon after. At that point, the show is given to the audience and the judges saying, "Here we are... We have worked very hard... What do you think?" In this article I would like to suggest we work backwards - to look at fundamentals of movement in a whole new way. Let's look at the judging sheets and design a fundamentals program that drives your group to maximize the score on those sheets.

Visual judges use a "rubric" to determine a score based on criteria that are clearly spelled out. On one such rubric a typical description might be, "The performers consistently display a defined style of movement." If you replace the word "consistently" with never, seldom, or always it can place a group in various boxes that correspond to a score. Great groups will always display a clearly defined style in all situations. In addition, the top boxes of these rubrics, i.e. the highest score, mentions "The performers consistently display a refined style of movement." How can you use these sheets to make your group better?

Define: What is a defined style? In my opinion, a clearly defined style is one that addresses seven major fundamentals.

 

1. Posture: Each individual displays the same definition of how to carry his or her body. This mainly refers to the relationship between the shoulders, hips, and ankle bones, both when standing and while on the move.
2. Forward Marching: Each individual displays the same style of moving forward. This applies to the straightness of the leg, the placement of the heels and toes, and the position of the feet in between steps.
3. Backward Marching: Each individual displays the same style of moving backward. This applies to the straightness of the leg, the placement of the toes or balls of the feet, the degree of height off the ground, whether or not the heels roll down to the ground, and the position of the feet in between steps.
4. Beginning of the set: Each individual begins movement from a dead stop with the same muscle usage.
5. During sets: Each individual understands that from set A to set B there is a defined path, step size, and tempo.
6. End of the set and transition to next set: Each individual displays an understanding of how to stop moving ("the close") and how to change effort into a new direction. This change of direction can be a smooth "roll-through", a toe-down "point", or a sharp "pivot" of the feet.
7. Instrument Carriage & Shoulders: Each individual carries his or her instrument the same way and uniformly carries the shoulders with respect to the hips and the front sideline.

The actual style that is chosen for each of these fundamentals is not a factor in the judge's decision of whether or not that group has a well-defined style. For example, the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps use completely different styles of forward and backward marching, but each displays their chosen style at the highest level. Through lots of great teaching and hard work, each performer clearly understands that style and uses it during the show. An audience member may not understand the specific differences, but can easily tell that they are "good marchers". After a style is defined, it is up to the performer to refine his or her performance of that style.

Refine: What is a refined style? If you have ever watched a professional athlete and thought "Wow, (s)he made that look easy", then you understand what "refined" means. It is a style of movement that uses all of the elements of a defined style plus that "X" factor. Qualities that lead to this refined style include, but are not limited to:

• Poise
• Confidence
• Display of the style in all step sizes and tempos
• Display of multiple responsibilities (a difficult drill move while playing a challenging musical phrase)
• Extended periods of extreme demand
• Use of multiple styles (ex: using a different style of movement for legato passages)
• Jazz running
• Body, dance, and choreography
  

Plan of Action:

Write down your style of movement in every minute detail and make sure that you and your staff agrees and they all understand it the same way.

Be a "life-long learner." Just when you think that you have it all figured out, it is likely that you could still do better. Even the best teachers bring in consultants and other teachers to make them better. Hire a consultant... Write down a list of the marching bands and drum corps that you admire the most and go watch a rehearsal or talk with the directors... Buy resources that will help you learn - for instance, the Dynamic Marching & Movement DVDs.

Use many fundamentals drills, preparing your students for any situation that they might encounter in the actual drill sets. Don't get stuck using "box drill" all the time. Make up your own drills in a block or in "across the floors" or ask experts what they use.

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