How to be in a Marching Band

To start off you’ll need to get used to moving your feet the right way. When you march your feet must, “kick the soccer ball” and “roll the toothpaste”. Kicking the soccer ball means your feet should come directly in front of you and on your heel in a fast easy step. That way when you roll the toothpaste, your feet will roll until you’re to your toes. You will do this every time move your feet. This whole motion is to make sure you’re not bouncing around and can keep an even tone and quality to your sound when you start playing, you will always step off with your left foot. Even if you’re moving to your right, use your left foot to step off. The idea is that everyone is on the same foot all the time.

Staying in time takes effort. So you should practice with a metronome to stay with the beat. The metronome will click in time. Every click is where your foot should touch the ground. Although, during performances, you will not have a metronome. This is when you have to watch the conductor. Just like a metronome, every time the conductor’s hands come up, your foot hits the ground. You have to stay in time. If you don’t, you won’t make it to your spot the same as everyone else and will miss step offs.

Counting is also important. If you do not count, you will miss step offs, keep going when you’re supposed to stop, and will not know how many steps it takes to get to one spot. Just like stepping with the conductor, you have to count with it.

When marching to your spots, you have to keep an equal step size. If you are going a small distance, take little steps. You can’t take a bunch of big steps and then a few little ones. You also