Cut the Fat!
I have spent hundreds of hours in the parking lot at marching band competitions, where each band’s warm up process is on full display. For many years I watched with envy as bands would go through intricate visual and musical warm ups that I’m certain took hours to perfect. I got down on myself for not having a 10 minute set of lip slurs like I heard from so many bands, and even hoped that no one would listen to our simple long tone and Bb scale tonguing warm up that paled in comparison. My embarrassment was usually short lived, however. Once my kids got to the field—where it actually counted—their performance matched or exceeded that of most other schools. After many years (I’m a slow learner) I finally realized that those long, intricate warm ups weren’t a necessary component of success. In fact, they may have been a detriment depending on the amount of precious rehearsal time invested in learning them.
The best band directors I have known realized the value of cutting the fat. They streamlined the rehearsal process by eliminating unnecessary processes while focusing on what was most effective. They didn’t waste precious rehearsal time on things that didn’t produce results. They believed that mastering one or two processes was better than glossing over several. I’m glad that I was able to learn from some of these master teachers!
With limited time to perfect our field show during marching band season, I knew that we needed the most simple and effective processes to get the desired results. We kept our marching visual block to two basic exercises—box drill and adjusted step drill. Detailing these two exercises with variations in tempo and style provided everything we needed for marching success. Our music warm up was often nothing more than playing long tones or scales while marching box drill. On the football field, I always went with depth over breadth—perfecting two exercises yielded far greater results on the field than learning several, but never getting very good at any of them.
The band room was no different. We started every rehearsal with a long tone F concert. We played that F until it was balanced and perfectly in tune. We also used F throughout rehearsal. Using just one note to detail articulations, rhythms, and dynamics yielded amazing results when we went back to playing all the written notes!
As anyone who has dieted will tell you, cutting the fat isn’t easy! Sometimes you have to give up some things you really love, but if you stick to it you will love the result. Consider the following lessons as you work to cut the fat:
Amateurs are good at many things. Professionals are great at one thing. As Doug Collins said, “Good is the enemy of great.”
A line is defined as “the shortest distance between two points.” Look for the line.
The level of difficulty is irrelevant. Sometimes the simplest methods yield the best results.
Always ask “why.” Adding a process just because you saw someone else do it is not a good reason!
Some time honored methods never lose their value, but in our ever changing world some methods become obsolete. If the activity has lost its value, stop doing it.
