Getting Freshmen in the zone?

[ch1k3n123]

Hello!

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to get the whole band fired up and willing to give their all every single rep?

 

Anyone have good tricks that work with their band?

 

Thanks!

Edited September 30, 2012 by ch1k3n123

[Danpod]

  ch1k3n123 said:

Hello!

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to get the whole band fired up and willing to give their all every single rep?

 

Anyone have good tricks that work with their band?

 

Thanks!

 

The best way to get this done is to make it part of the culture, which means it must be taught from Day One. Student Leadership and Officers must also practice what they preach. Being consistent with rehearsal etiquette and technique keeps the little ones from thinking you're full of crap when you tell them to hustle.

[Centex_band_mom]

I don't have experience with this but I can share what I heard from my son when he started out and was vying for a spot as a freshman and then preparing for his first marching season. The things that Danpod mentioned ring true for our experience, but also in my son's experience their leadership and just upper classman did such a good job of drawing them in by sharing their stories of their struggles and rivalries and progress in improving their scores and rankings at the various competitions in the past years. By making it personal to them (the newbies) and making them part of the overall mission to achieve excellence they felt like they as freshman were part of that fight/mission to meet the goals of the band. The older marchers did a good job of expressing that each dot was as important as any other and so the freshman seemed very committed in knowing that they were key to the success of the band. But it was including them in the past stories, struggles and achievements that made them feel more included and that they were being depended upon to continue the progress which led to a good level of dedication in practices and performance. Also, they have an awesome director who makes them think about what they want to get out of their efforts - again making it more personal than just leaderships wishes.

[takigan]

Also, as tempting as it often is, never whine about "how good things used to be" or "how awesome last year's show was compared to this year" or "how much better we were last year". You're just going to alienate the freshman, and they're not going to feel welcome in the program. If the leadership and upper classmen are always pining away about yesteryear, they won't be able to build anything for the freshman to take and run with.

[ch1k3n123]

So what about if you ask them to do something but they completely ignore you?

 

I'm not a rank leader, but I'm trying to help by telling the freshmen around me to "look left and right at the form around you, and not have your eyes glued forward" and "this is a cover down situation" but they just don't listen to me.

 

Usually they don't even look at me, sometimes if I'm lucky, I'll get a blank stare.

[takigan]

  ch1k3n123 said:

So what about if you ask them to do something but they completely ignore you?

 

I'm not a rank leader, but I'm trying to help by telling the freshmen around me to "look left and right at the form around you, and not have your eyes glued forward" and "this is a cover down situation" but they just don't listen to me.

 

Usually they don't even look at me, sometimes if I'm lucky, I'll get a blank stare.

 

I have no idea who you are or what your personality is so don't take this the wrong way, but I have heard so many people yell out and try to take charge and many times I'm thinking in my head "Who are you, and why should I listen to you?", not because I don't know the person, but because I don't see them as a leader type....If people don't think you know what you're talking about and don't look to you as a source of progress, or even someone they wish they could be like personality-wise, they won't respect you in any way shape or form.

 

There are people who carry themselves a certain way and give off a certain image...Or they've simply developed a reputation for one who always knows what's going on and what needs to happen. These people will be listened to whether they actually hold an official position within the band or not. They are natural leaders. There are also many people who think their rank or title deserves them respect and means that their underlings have to do what they say. This is false. Respect is earned, the title just puts everyone on the same page on where to place that earned respect.

 

I don't really have a solution to your problem or a specific reason why they don't listen. Checking forms and spacing in realtime during the show is complicated business, and some freshman can be quite slow on the uptake. It could be that they're trying, they just don't "get it" yet. Or maybe they're ignoring you for a number of unknown reasons. Couldn't say....