oddlynormal

My argument is specifically for 5A in the Houston area. In 2019 some great bands got hosed by super small area contests. This could be why you don't get what I am trying to say. The Leander's and DFW 5A bands will always get their due. However, the Houston area has been diced up before and I fear an attempt to do the same for next year is coming. I hope I am wrong.

Nothing should change in terms of advancement. UIL MUST stay 5 for 1 at Area. We do not need to make things harder. I fear with bands moving up to 6A in larger 5A areas dumb decisions may get made. Back in 2019 UIL split Houston up and royally messed over a few groups in 5A across the city. They recombined back to larger areas and things have been great since. If anything all 5A/6A areas need to still be a minimum of 20-25 potential bands when possible. Bands that get first divisions will continue to do so. However, messing with Area allotment can really hurt. The process is already nuts in Texas. I love it, but we need to keep our Areas on the larger side ESPECIALLY in 5A.

I went to a HS in the DFW area that has won the SMC a few times and made national finals several times as well. Things were just starting to shift for the better as I was leaving HS.

I love all of this. My heart goes out to the Flower Mound Band. I am sure it was a hard pill to swallow. However, this artform is very competitive and every single band in national finals is great. Just like the San Antonio Super Regional and the UIL SMC contests every finalist is great. Since I was young, and I am older now, the Texas band scene has exploded. I mean, it has always been great, but the last several years has just been transcendent. With that being said there is a reason UIL evolved a LOT over the last 10 years. When I was a kid the UIL SMC was a dry, boring and uneventful contest. BOA was really running over UIL pretty hard in the late 90s-the early 2000s. Once UIL moved to the Alamodome and started the modern shift UIL has the same feel as the BOA super regional does. When I was a kid we considered the BOA SA show the end of the season and the UIL SMC just a lame last contest. Those directors who now kinda run things at UIL were students in many of those bands and hated the experience. I am so glad to see UIL really step up for this very reason. A trip BOA GN is NOOOOOOOT cheap for any band. I do not care what demographic you come from. It is stupid expensive. Marching band is also now a lot more expensive than it was when I was a kid. You combine those to things and you have to move a LOT of money. I am so thankful to have a BOA Super Regional and the UIL SMC contests ran the way they are. You get the very same experience as nationals as close as you can without going. I wish we could have nationals travel or even come to Texas. This has been a dream of so many since I was a kid in HS. However, it is not going to happen. This is why we have the SA Super Regional and the UIL SMC step up so much.

You already know the answer to that question. No offense to Arlington Bowie.

And that is fine. However, I would love your take on why.

Heartbreaking for some of these bands. However, caution everybody...you cannot compare scores to a few weeks ago at area with a totally different panel. There is no historical brownie points given anymore. It is all about what you bring in the moment. Some of these older perennial finalists just were not up to snuff THIS year. The top 12 are correct. Unfortunately, they have to pick 12. That's how it is. I do not want to call out any programs because everyone is so strong. However, UIL will NOT let a band make finals that does not make consistent IN tone sounds the entire program. You cannot go off the rails tonally ever. The bands that made top half of finals are pretty much 100% in that category. Also remember that some of these bands were the big dogs in their area. Sadly, not all areas are created equal. You may be the area Z champion, but at state you are not that anymore. State is the great equalizer. I think the judging at this contest was a little better than 6A, but 6A was not incorrect either. We are splitting hairs to get the top bands. This is the most fair...unfair process that will never be perfect. The old system was not perfect either. Congrats to ALL of the bands. This is probably the strongest 5A contest I've ever seen along with 4A and 6A.

His daughter is about to graduate and I suspect may be attending a VERY good music school not far from Guyer HS.

Having experienced Area at the Berry Center last year this is the right call for the Houston area. That was NOT fun for anyone.

Former head band director at L.D. Bell HS is the Associate Director at Guyer now. This could be very accurate.

Such a great contest! I got to see all of the finalist bands and all 10 were fantastic! Not sure I love the set up with that awful track. I am sure it made things weird for the performers, but over all every band was so good. Congrats to all!

I am not sure if this is a typo but calling Mayde Creek "Maybe Creek" is a tad insulting. Again, not sure if that is a typo, but just wanted to make all of you aware.

FLOMO, Vista Ridge, and Hebron may have a thing or two to say about that...

And I will have to disagree with your disagreement. I understand what you are saying about there being great junior colleges and community colleges. I am not discounting the value of what you can learn there. However, I do have a music education bachelors and a masters. I also have been teaching for quite awhile. My point is every university has its own system of music theory and common language. Some universities use movable Do for sight singing and some used fixed Do. Some use La based minor. This can cause a major headache for transfer students who expect to transfer theory, aural skills, and keyboard credits over to their selected university. When you audition as a transfer you do typically get placed in to your music core classes based on your understanding of these skills in adherence to their system. If you are not successful on their terms then you get to start all over in the first portion of each of these classes. Piano is a BIG one that gets a lot of transfer students. I am not at all discounting your post, but I have lived these experiences and I have had many students of mine go off to college to be music majors. If you do choose to go to community college it is my personal view that you avoid taking music classes if you intend to go to a full 4 year university. More often than not your College or School of Music will not take your transfer credits as anything more than an elective unless you can ace their placement test. And even then, you have to do things their way to graduate. Unless the community college you go to is somehow connected to the 4 year university you are going to, which is VERY unlikely, you may find your self with wasted money and time. I have always told my students to take your common core classes at a community college during the summer and mini-mesters, and only do your music classes at your chosen university. Again, there are GREAT community college teachers, but you can find yourself on an entirely different system when you arrive to your university.

Older guy here...I have some GREAT advice... START at a community college and do most if not all of your core classes there. If you choose to go to your university right away try to do summer and minimester classes at a community college and transfer them over. If you are going to be a music major DO NOT TAKE MUSIC CLASSES AT YOUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE!!!! Their are certainly good music teachers at many community colleges, but you need to learn your college's system for music to be successful. Music theory and other fundamental items can be very different at various campuses. If you can save money in any way at all DO IT!

I have struggled with this as well. I cannot see why we cannot go to a Div 1 and Div 2 6A contest like the football brackets do. Some of the MEGA 6A are massive while there are quite a few 6A schools that are smaller. I am curious how this would affect the contest. Could there be a possibility of a 7A class eventually? I know we only went to 6A to split 6 Man and 11 Man football (essentially). I wonder what that could look like for marching band. All of this is hypothetical and will likely never happen, but I am curious.

"Seven Lakes not rich enough..." That is HILARIOUS! Seven Lakes, and the surrounding area, is EXTREMELY wealthy. As one of the best academic performers in the state I don't buy this at all. Seven Lakes can make a nationals trip. All bands fundraise, but you gotta be kidding me with the "we aren't rich enough for nats" line. Please tell me another joke. That was funny. (18.12% Economically Disadvantaged) Granted, a trip to nationals is never cheap or easy for any Texas band, Seven Lakes has the community to make it happen. But in all seriousness the Seven Lakes program is amazing and absolutely earned their keep this year. Congrats to them.

And then they will have two MEGA powerhouse 4A or 5A schools. The growth moving northward toward Denton is getting explosive.

Chances are, I think, the day will go as normal OR is pushed to Monday. UIL will keep student safety at heart. If the weather is so bad you can't get woodwinds out I am almost certain they will call the contest because no directors would put that kind of incomplete product out there. Maybe back in the early 2000's, but things have changed.

Galena Park is about to EXPLODE in growth. That program always seems to bounce back one way or another. The teachers in that district are amazing at what they do for those kids. GPHS is actually a very good school, but has possibly the highest low-socioeconomic standings of any successful band program in the state. Same can be said for North Shore, their sister school. Lots of great teaching has been happening over there for years.

Complexity is not scored heavily until the state contest. Area is all about achievement and SOME design elements. The band who performs what they do the best will win. Woods has a very clean and highly well performed show. If they score according to the sheet it will be tough to deny them.

I can see Cypress Woods pulling the upset and win the area. Their show is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN and absolutely the most musical product they have put out. Bridgeland is a fierce competitor, but Woods' show will likely score better on an Area sheet. Cy-Fair will be in there too. Now it is down to Jordan, Cinco Ranch, Seven Lakes and Taylor. I seriously think Taylor can snatch one of those spots. Seven Lakes' show could score better on an Area sheet compared to Jordan. I do not envy those judges. Man, this will be a tough contest to call. Looks like 5 will advance.

This will be a GOOD one! To State most likely: Friendswood, Barbers Hill, A&M Consolidated, College Station, La Porte/Porter/Kempner Other Finalists: Galena Park, Angleton, and Randle/West Fork

Probably the most competitive outside of the DFW metroplex by and large. The big boys are out there, but there isn't much in between.

I am not surprised to see Mayde Creek place where they placed. This isn't the Mayde Creek band people think about. They have REALLY evolved over the last few years and even so more than ever this season. They COULD be a dark horse for finals. They are playing the clean and clear UIL game really well. Between Langham, JV, Cy-Park, Cy-Ranch, Mayde Creek, Paetow, Katy and a few others those final few finals spots will be VERY CLOSE. Probably closer than ever. It will be a game of inches. I have never seen these bands this close before.