How to Practice Marching Band Music

If you have been assigned a part in the marching band of your school, you will want to practice your part as much as possible before the day that you will actually be performing it. You will have plenty of opportunities to practice at school with the rest of the band, but what can you do when you are at home? This is a tough question that has plagued marching band members for years, and there are several good solutions to the problem. Read on to find out some tricks you can use to practice at home exactly how you would practice with the rest of the band.

Many companies sell pre-recorded marching band tunes with one instrument missing. You can buy the CD that corresponds to the instrument that you play, and it’s just like having the rest of your marching band there with you. Just pretend like you’re at a regular practice, and you’ll be able to play the song. If you will be playing a popular song, then you may be able to find a CD with the same song on it. Otherwise, you will have to learn other songs and practice your overall compatibility with other instruments. It may not sound helpful to practice on other songs, but it will affect all areas of your ability.

You can also record a practice session to tape, perhaps even sitting out so that you have an audio track without your own instrument playing. This is a very primitive solution and generally of fairly low quality, but it works. It will give you a way to practice with the people from your actual band, as well as with the songs that you will have to play at the performance. This is very helpful if you feel the songs offered by CDs are not adequate.

When you are in a marching band, you are a part of a team. The overall quality of the performance depends heavily on each individual member, so you should always realize that your own skills will affect the sound. The more you practice, the more you will be able to improve yourself. So even if you have to improvise some techniques to increase your ability to practice, you shouldn’t settle for just practicing on the scheduled times.