KBB Music Festival

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Spring Cleaning
Although written with American bands in mind, Robert Rawlins reveals tips
that can help you give your music programme a spring clean.
Just when things are winding down,
that’s the time to rev up next year’s band
programme.
In his discussion of timemanagement
skills, best-selling author
Stephen Covey distinguishes between
activities that are urgent and those that
are important. By Covey’s definition,
urgent activities are those that demand
immediate attention but are of limited
long-term benefit - the daily problems
that crop up in our lives, mundane
matters that need to be dealt with right
away. By contrast, important activities do
not need to be addressed immediately,
but their completion is vital to our future
success; they define our overall progress
and lead us toward our goals.
For the band director, the academic
year is crowded with tasks, events and
obligations that impose deadlines and
take up most of the available time. When
daily operations are in full swing, a band
director must turn his or her full attention
to keeping things going smoothly. There
is little time to step back and see the
overall picture.
The end of the year, however, is
another story. The time when scheduled
activities are winding down is precisely
the time to address the really important
duties of the band director – wrapping
up the current year and planning for the
next.
With this in mind, we spoke to Mike
Lynch, director of bands at Pitman High
School in New Jersey (USA). He provided
the tips that follow.
Uniform maintenance
First impressions are important, and the
public’s first impression of a band is
based on appearance. Band uniforms are
meant to attract attention, which means
that they need to look perfect. The end
of the year is the right time to inspect
uniforms carefully for items that need to
be repaired or replaced. Inventory should
be taken to ensure that enough uniforms
are available for the following season.
Uniforms should be cleaned twice
yearly in order to sustain their longevity.
Your programme’s schedule of events
will determine when the uniforms will
be cleaned, but a good plan is to have
them cleaned prior to and immediately
following the marching band season.
This brings you to the football field
looking sharp and new each season and
also allows you to be prepared for any
spring and summer events that may be
forthcoming.
Recruiting students
Recruiting efforts must take place prior
to the scheduling conferences at which
guidance counsellors assist students in
choosing their courses for the following
year. Be sure to know the date when
middle schools (or Intermediate schools
in NZ) schedule guidance sessions
for eighth-graders (or Year 9 in New
Zealand). Coordinate this date with high
school counsellors and plan an event to
bring present and prospective students
together.
A good strategy is to have select
high school students visit middle school
programmes with a prepared topic to
speak on. Suggestions include “Balancing
Extra-Curricular Activities”, “Rewarding
Experiences with Band”, “Recognition for
Band Students”, “Band Trips” and so forth.
The idea is to instill excitement
about joining the band by hearing it from
the students themselves. Displaying
trophies and showing videos of recent
performances will also help.
A more ambitious idea is to plan
a combined performance with high
school and middle school students.
This allows students to feel successful
in accomplishing something together,
in addition to the opportunity for
socializing. This win-win situation allows
high school students to act as mentors
to their younger cohorts while middle
school students cherish the feeling of
being accepted by older band members.
Activities such as this can help retain
current students while making the
programme more attractive to future
students.
Retaining, Rewarding & Motivating
Hosting an end-of-year picnic/awards
ceremony can prove extremely valuable
to the success of your programme. This
event should include the many groups
and individuals who help sustain the
programme throughout the year, such as
your principal, band or orchestra parents,
prominent community members and, of
course, students and their families
Plan an opening speech that
recaptures the highlights of the previous
year and builds anticipation for the year
to come.
Rewarding your students during this
event is key to retaining their interest.
It is important to recognize all students
and their achievements. Announcing next
year’s drum major and band officers is
another way to build anticipation toward
the next season.
This is a perfect time for a
PowerPoint presentation or slide show
of the year’s major events. Inevitably,
this will bring back fond memories, make
your audience smile and ultimately
remind everyone of the rich rewards that
participation in the band programme can
provide.
If you choose to go above and
beyond, assign a small group of students
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