West TN Marching Arts

232 - We talk about Concert Band?

How does Concert Band fit into Marching Band, or vice versa?  Does your school charge admission to their Band concerts?  Why or why not?  We talk about these things and more!  

231 - Weather, Spring Break, and Show Reveals

It's been a few weeks since our last episode.  Spring Break happened, and then the crazy weather happened!  Our thoughts go out to all those in the West Tennessee area who were affected by the storms, especially in McNairy County and the Obion County flood area.  
We also talk about the Winter Guard Championships that just happened.  And we start our online stalking of bands as Show Reveals start to happen!  This part of the year really gets us hyped up for what's coming!

230 - Concert Festival

This week we try to wake up from losing an hour of sleep to daylight savings time.  Then we talk about Concert Performance Assessment, better known as Concert Festival.  We talk about some of the scores from Memphis and preview the bands and songs being played at the UT Martin Festival.  We also discuss the benefits of going to concert festival as it relates to the Marching Arts.  

229 - Spring Fundamental Camps

We talk about how we use time in the Spring to get the fundamentals and lines set for Color Guard and Percussion.  What do they do at these camps and what is their purpose?  Do you do the same thing or something similar at your school?

228 - How to practice at home

There is only so much you can do in class.  Students need to practice at home.  But how often? For how long?  What exactly do you need to practice?  We discuss these things and wonder at our recent crazy weather in West Tennessee.

227 - Hear from students who made All West and DCI

We are joined in studio by some students who made All West Honor Band.  They tell us what they are excited about and give us their favorite memories of previous years at All West
We are also joined by Eli Lickey, who just signed with Music City Drum Corps.  He fills us in on his experience with the audition process and what it has been like so far in his first time as a Drum Corps member.  

226 - Concert Band's role in the Marching Arts

We discuss Concert Band how it prepares us to excel in the Marching Season and how it makes us more well-rounded musicians by exposing us to varied literature, skill sets, and musical styles.  And at a time when many students might consider Concert Band boring, we talk about why for many others this deepens their love for music and performing.  

225 - Recruiting new members for next year

Getting 8th graders and other new members to sign up for band next year is an important part of a marching program.  How do we do it here at our school?  Is the same or different than other schools?  Is there a best way to do it?  
We talk about this and more as we fend off the sicknesses closing down schools across West Tennessee!  Stay healthy (or get better soon)!

224 - DCI Rule Changes and Honor Bands

In this episode Wyatt tells us about his All West Audition experience, we discuss what we learned about DCI rules after watching a video about proposed rules changes for this coming year, and we talk about Honor Bands in general and what they are for.

223- A New Year!

We talk about what we did during our break and what we did during our snow day!!  Then we discuss what we are doing in band this semester, from concerts to Winter Guard to All West Auditions this weekend.  Welcome back!