Thomas J. West Music

During a car pool with another judge this past weekend, we were discussing rehearsal techniques for marching band programs. One of the techniques my colleague had used extensively while learning or teaching drill is "drill in reverse", when the performers turn around and march the drill set the same number of counts back to the previous set. He asked me if I used that technique and I emphatically replied, "No."

A former colleague of mine whom I worked within a summers-only band circuit for ten years was fond of the "drill in reverse" technique. I eventually convinced him that pedagogically speaking, it confuses students, especially if the students are young (as in middle school) or inexperienced.

The benefit of "drill in reverse" is that students are not afforded the opportunity to get off-task and waste rehearsal time. It keeps control of the rehearsal pacing in the hands of the band staff. That, however is a trade-off for the extra time it takes students to learn the drill because of the added dimension of marching the drill in the opposite direction.

When marching the drill in reverse, nearly every technical aspect of the drill changes. The facings are different, the form the students are marching is mirror image, they are dressing the form to a different set of performers, and most backward march sets are turned into forward march. The only thing that remains the same is the number of counts and (theoretically) the step size. As anyone who has done modern marching band with backward march steps knows, step sizes feel much different going backwards than they do going forwards. So even step size can be negatively effected by marching drill in reverse.

Not only does "drill in reverse" make the physical actions of the drill different, it requires the performer to think about the drill set in a completely different way. While some may argue that this broadens student understanding of the drill, for most students "drill in reverse" just clouds the issue. This is readily apparent when the drill is being blocked for the first time. It is difficult enough for anyone, let alone a fourteen-year-old, to memorize their dots and mentally make the connections between sets and define the direction and path traveled. By adding "backwards drill" into the mix, the student now has double the amount of mental work to do.

An Alternative Drill Rehearsal Technique

When students are learning drill, there really are two different tracks of learning happening simultaneously. The first is obviously learning the sets, counts, facings, and step sizes of the drill itself. The second layer of learning is even more important: students are learning how to be a member of a marching band. They are also learning what is expected from them in a visual rehearsal setting. To make each student an independent, effective contributor to the show both visually and musically, they must simultaneously learn how to block drill sets and they must learn the band's rehearsal technique system.

The rehearsal technique for learning and cleaning drill needs to give the performers the structure to be able to memorize the drill both mentally and physically. Not only do they have to "learn the dot" for each page of the drill, they need to see the formation they are a part of, see the dress points within their peripheral vision, and see the drum major podium (if applicable). They also need to feel the upper and lower body separations (for wind players), feel and see the direction of travel, and feel the size of each step of the drill.

In order for drill forms to become consistent in today's contemporary curvalinear drill, all steps of a drill set must be of equal size. The only way to get students to accurately memorize the correct step size is to give them as many opportunities to march all counts of the drill phrase exactly as it will be marched in performance. They need to be trained in how to march consistently with their goal being exact repetition of the correct movement and step size. They need to be trained on what to think as a repetition begins, what they look for and feel during the repetition, and how they assess their success in both traveling the correct path and taking the correct step size for all counts.

All drill set repetitions should start with the full group's attention and no extraneous motion. Before the set begins, students should be engaged in checking the drill for for accuracy and looking once again at the correct form and location on the field. When the director or drum major announces "set", performers put their equipment in position and position their feet in the last count of the previous set so that they can approximate the change of direction or body facing that occurs from the prvious set to this one.

When marching the set, a student must successfully step off in time and march all counts of the drill phrase with the same size step, not adjusting step size during the move unles it is blatantly obvious that the step sizes they are taking are wrong. When arriving at the final count, performers must freeze in position. At this point, they compare where they ended and what the form currently looks like to the correct location. They make a mental note of what correction to make for the next repetition. Then, they move to the correct coordinate when instructed to "check it" and look at the correct shape, once again reinforcing the drill form as it looks when it is performed correctly.

After instructions are given, the students hustle back to the beginning of the set (or earlier), stand on that set, look at it, and remond themselves of what their correction will be for the next repetion of the drill set.

Training the students to use this system is an investment in time. I taught it to my bands with a short demonstration session, then reinforcing the concepts as we blocked drill for the show's opener. Initially, this makes blocking the opener take significantly longer, but the payoff is that every band member becomes more independent. They all (sooner or later) become capable of finding their own dot on a drill sheet, pacing it off, and marching drill sets with a mindset that helps them clean their own drill.

The only downfall of this system is that students have to hustle to go back to previous sets to begin another rep. Without sufficient motivation, this part of the process can lag. Firm expectations form the staff and charging section leaders with motivating their sections can be effective. Giving the band a count of ten to move to position is alos effective. I found more success with keeping the motivation centered on what they should be thinking and addressing each rep to be a more effective motivator than just "hurry up!" It gives them ownership of the process.

"Drill in reverse" is an effective technique for short-term control of rehearsal pacing, but it does not allow students to take ownership of learning and cleaning their own show. Teaching a "successful repetitions" system is a large investment in time, but the long-term benefits to the show and the marching band program are numerous.

This article (c) 2011 Thomas J. West. All content on ThomasJWestMusic dot com is licensed under a Creative Contributions Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Please contact the author before publishing on or off-line.

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