1. Be a team player:

It’s about playing together, getting along, and having fun. Being a great musician is good, but unless you are a Jimmy Page and are in constant demand, then it is really more important, when you play in a marching band, to know how to work with a group of people and get along, to be able to to exchange. idea and have fun.

Some musicians are the type, my way is the only way, making your life miserable and a little more difficult. Working with a good team can be really good and very rewarding. When they pull off that near-perfect concert together and then reflect after the show, it’s a feeling that always affects me. Everyone’s team effort is what makes playing in a marching band rewarding.

2. The people and the place

Partnering with people outside of your band is very important. Get to know your bartenders because if they like you, they can be a great promoter of you, and also the owners (the ones with the cash) and your customers and followers (the ones who are there to watch you). Always try to find out what kind of bar or establishment it is, so you know what the king of the genre is before you arrive and be prepared. On your breaks, talk to people and treat them like friends. Your audience will notice not only your music, but also your behavior and the way you socialize with them. It’s great to get that reward of your audience liking your music, but when you hear that they also think you’re a good group of guys, then you can say that playing in a marching band is really worth it. When playing in a band, there are a few things to consider:

1. Your presence on stage (starts at the beginning of the concert, whether you look like a group of fans

or if it seems like it knows what it is doing).

2. Play with feeling (you know when you have it and you know when you don’t have it). Even an easy song

played with feeling it will sound amazing when you are all together.

3. Association with the crowd (don’t despise your audience, talk to them, they are the ones

see you again next time).

4. The music itself (how it sounds, your song selection, how you play together (that team thing).

5. Stay in your comfort zone (if a song isn’t ready to play, don’t play it and risk the

reputation) and if someone asks you for a song you don’t know, be honest and tell them.

Playing in a marching band is about giving. I think the above guideline is a great start for any band looking to improve their performance. If you really enjoy the music you play, you will find that the feeling of playing together gets easier all the time, and when the feeling is there, your stage presence will follow. Stay in your comfort zone.

3. Practice

Practice is time consuming, but very rewarding. If you want to have that feeling, practice! With the internet and all the magazines today, there are several ways to learn new things. Online programs are one of the best learning tools, because you can learn and watch on your own time whenever you want. The magazines have all kinds of great articles and also today’s cheap guitars are very easy to play and great value for money. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to start playing in a marching band. “So get on the bar,” as they say, and get that first guitar and lesson program online and get started today. So practice, practice, practice, if you are not making mistakes, you are not learning.

4. Know the material

When playing in a band, learning a song is more than working on chords, solos, and lyrics. It’s about the feeling, whether a song is easy or difficult. Know what the songs are about and tell the story.

You have everything you need at your disposal to create the feeling and make each song unique. The effects are good for short periods; subtle effects are good for long periods. I am partial to this as I play in an acoustic band and I like the clean sound. Using a little reverb and chorus on vocals is fine.

5. Don’t blame anyone

Always remember that playing in a marching band is a team effort and no one is to blame. Don’t be angry or blame if your audience doesn’t dance or clap. Don’t blame if they don’t ask you again, because it could be a list of different things. Don’t blame other members of the band if something goes wrong or a mistake is made, because it happens every now and then and it ends up creating a tension that you don’t need at a concert. Do not blame anyone for equipment problems or the way it sounds on monitors or on the network, because everyone is trying to do the best they can. All of these things will happen and blaming anyone will only make things worse. All of these things can be solved in a positive way that can also be a learning experience for the next show or even learning a new song.

6. Have fun

It’s all about fun and enjoyment, chances are you’re either having fun or you’re not. One of the most important things to show your audience that you are having fun is looking at them and making eye contact and maybe even smiling a little at them, that’s fine. If you have fun, so will the people around you and you will feed on their energy and they will feed on yours and that makes it a successful program. Practice should be fun because you’re getting together with the band and friends to socialize, talk about songs, learn new ones, or just think about how to play in a marching band is what you’ve always wanted to do. Have fun just trying to be better at what you love to do.

7. The song list

When playing in a marching band, song selection is very important. For example, if you are a dance band playing covers, your song list should be:

1. Known songs that the audience can relate to

2.has a danceable beat

3. songs that you like to play yourself, because the feeling is much easier to capture when you enjoy the song.

Deciding which songs to play is, again, a team effort and if someone in the band has a problem with a song, then they should think of a different song. It should be a band decision. The leader or singer will know if he / she can sing it or if it needs to be changed to a different key to sing it or if it is a song that he / she thinks they cannot sing, then the band should take a look at the song because it will be shown to the audience. If any player has a strong rational objection to a song then find another song, it is not worth trying to sell it to them because it will end up being a song that will not capture the sentiment.

8. Mix while you play

When the band is all playing and singing together, listen to what they are doing and see if it fits into the overall sound of the band. If you think you can do whatever you want and have the sound technician fix it, then you are not playing as a team, you are playing alone. Nothing can fix a played guitar or an overly played keyboard. You have to listen to the sound of the band and make adjustments on the fly. Some things to think about: am I leaving enough room for the other musicians to do their thing? Do I have too high a volume that makes it difficult for the rest of the band to hear themselves? Is what I’m doing fitting with the sound of the band? . There’s a lot on this topic, but you really have to listen to the sound of the band as a whole and mix a bit on the go. Playing in a band is not easy when you have to try to listen to everyone and not yourself, and the sooner you can do this, the sooner you will be playing in a marching band together. When it does, who knows where it will go. Remember that it’s all about the feeling and the music as a band.

9. Be positive

You just have to prove it to yourself. Just like being physically fit, it’s also about being mentally fit. Just like you run your life, you try to be as positive as possible and work towards your goals and I know it is not as easy as me to write this article. You have to trust yourself to do what you have to do. When playing in a marching band, you should also stay positive, this is what will keep you going. Don’t be discouraged when you can’t get the gigs you want or when you want. The positive way of thinking is that we now have more time to practice and learn more songs before the next concert. Life in general is too short not to be positive. Everything tends to work its way. If you try this approach, I hope it will help you as it has helped me. Think about the old saying, the glass is half full and don’t consider it half empty.

10. Mood

If you are serious about your music and playing in a band, know your own mood and what is good for you. Some people have to have a drink before starting because they say it relaxes them, others may need to smoke, but the point is to know your limitations, your gig depends on it. Playing is more physical than many people think. They always say why are you so tired, all you did was play music, but the fact is, playing in a marching band is very physical and you need to be able to be in the right state of mind and physically fit enough to get through the concert. . Speaking for myself, I am in good shape, but at the end of a concert I am exhausted and sometimes in pain, from tapping my foot or just dancing and feeling the sensation. The more you give it, the more pain it will have, but it is a good and satisfying pain.

“KEEP THE BRIGHT SIDE OUT”