Marching to the Competition

After two years of not competing, the Fair Grove High School Marching Band has started their competitive season. Throughout the fall they will be learning and perfecting their show to later present in competitions.

This year the band’s show is “Grand Slam: A Baseball Tribute.” Preparations for the season began in August with band camp; now, early morning rehearsals starting at 6:45 am and continue through the first hour of the school day. Band members will continue to rehearse about two hours a day throughout October. They will also have some Monday music rehearsals where they clean up their sound indoors.

Individually, they’re responsible for learning their music and drill. Band director Natalie Palomo informed, “We do memory tests, so they have to memorize their show music, and then they have to learn their own drill sets on the field so that they can help create the forms we make. There’s no hiding it in band, you either know your own music and drill, or you don’t. Every individual does their part, then we combine it to make our show.”

There is a lot of preparation that goes into marching band. “Preparing for a band individually is mainly mental preparation. You can’t walk into a rehearsal thinking you’re better than everyone or thinking it’s always gonna be easy. You have to work together, or everything simply falls apart,” stated Mackenzie Cavin (10), one of the Trumpet section leaders. Calvin Zuch (12), the alto sax section leader, explained, “I usually get to practice early to prepare for our rehearsal and think about what me and my section need to work on that day.” Band members undertake many responsibilities in preparation for their competitions.

In competitions, the band will perform their show for a panel of judges. Each judge will focus on a different element of the performance – elements ranging from their musicality to their individual marching technique. Along with the band judges, there are also color guard and drum line judges who focus on those parts specifically. After the band performs they have to wait on the preliminary awards, then if they place well enough they will be able to compete again in a larger class in finals.

The band must travel to four different competitions. This year they will compete with Carl Junction, Ozarko (which will take place at Missouri State University), University of Central Missouri, and Reeds Spring. All of the competitions are spread throughout the months of September and October.

Location-wise, their closest competition is at MSU on October 9th. “We’d love to have a big local support group at our show!” shared Palomo.