Being a band director has its advantages! Long summer breaks (2 or 3 weeks?), salary stipends for the extended hours (comes out to about minimum wage!), seven digit salaries (if you count the decimals!), and that deep dark "farmer" tan you have at the end of the season!

Seriously, it is a truly rewarding job and the benefits far outweigh the "headaches!" However, one of the most challenging parts of the job is S. S. (show selection). Now, when you're in college as a Music Ed. Major, you take many classes that focus on how to develop lesson plans, reach children with learning problems, and understand the learning stages of children. It just seems they leave out many vital skills that every band director needs to learn. One of the toughest and most important of these is S. S.

As a high school student, parent or staff member you may not understand the stress involved in picking the right show. There are literally thousands of variables that influence this process. Here are a few that float to the top for our program. The quality of the music and the challenges it will present our group. Instrumentation, not just how many of each instrument but the strength of each section or even soloists. Choosing a "Theme" or concept to represent the music. This tends to be difficult for a program that runs on a limited budget and doesn't have the ability to build or buy elaborate staging and props. We try to do things that can be more subtle, but still relative. Last and most unpredictable will the audience and adjudicators appreciate and understand the "package."

Obviously this process is a continual evolution and I have no "crystal ball" to make our selection perfect. Yes we do shows and then look back and say, "what were we thinking?" but this is our process for what it's worth! There are basically four stages we use; listening, researching, theme development and arranging.

During the listening stage we pull out all the stops. We listen to any genre, instrumentation or type of music. Pieces we've always thought of doing, music others have done, music never used in the idiom and music we have used in a concert setting. While this seems like a very random way to approach selection, we have found that during this process 3 or 4 pieces or works will sort of jump out at us. We then focus our listening to those works for a few weeks. After thinking about instrumentation and ability levels we narrow it down to 2 of these works. Then we begin researching the pieces and their composers. We try to find a common thread to tie these works together. Sometimes we have to go back and find other works at this point because we can't find a logical connection. Obviously we don't try to tie Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Woodchopper's Ball into the same show, so we try to pick works that make sense together. Our research frequently uncovers the reason the composer wrote the piece and gives us a theme without much of a problem. At other times we really have to listen and let our creative staff brainstorm to come up with a theme that suits the music.

While developing the theme we start to make decisions on what and how many "props" or "sets" to use. In spite of common beliefs, bands are not judged on the amount of props or size of the props they use in the show. There is no caption for props or set design on the judging sheets. At least that's how I justify not spending $60K on props every year! However, obviously the use of sets can have an impact on the visual and general effect created when a band takes the field. If a band goes over the top with staging or does it poorly it can have a very negative affect on the visual impression the band makes. We tend to lean to the conservative side for this reason. Another aspect of theme development is that of costuming. Until recently there were only rare groups that put the color guard or percussion section in a non-uniform costume to fit the show concept. Now it seems the sky is the limit! The military days of pre-show inspection have given way to face paint, period costumes and "wild" hair styling. Some of us would argue that this goes against principals of uniformity and cohesion in the design of the show, but we seem to be far out-numbered by the theatrical flare of W.G.I. and B.O.A. Enough of that soap box though!

One of the last steps prior to rehearsals is the arranging of the music. This is really a make or break time in the process for a few reasons. First, there has to be a flow and connection to each section of the design. Of course in the previous stages we will have picked things that offer variety, but unless the arranger makes these flow together, it sounds like a mid-1980's- Opener, ballad, closer show design. (I can say that, I marched in the '80s!) Many times, now, pieces will change tempo and style within a section or movement if you will. The arranger must develop transitions to achieve a good flow to the music. Second, decisions on what sections to feature and what sections need "doubling" help (adding instruments in the same range to help mask weaknesses) have to be made. While a band may have an awesome jazz saxophonist the selected show may not call for a jazz solo at all. This is one area where the arranger must rely on the band director's knowledge of his students and their abilities, to appropriately write a quality arrangement. Lastly, finding a percussion writer that can tailor make percussion parts to fit the music arrangement and still bring out the strengths of the drumline. Because most groups use specially written arrangements and not "canned" marching or pep band arrangements most directors hire an outside professional to write both the horn and percussion books.

Then, tagged onto the arranging, is the drill writer. Due to the complexity and ever-changing world of drill writing, most directors now use an outside professional to write and integrate the visual show. Selecting this person or group is also very difficult and can often be a stressful step in the process. We have often found ourselves at the mercy of a drill writer who has picked up too many projects and can't complete them all or has moved into a higher arena (often DCI) and has become too involved to complete the task. For this reason, we try to find someone with personal ties to the area or to the program to write for us. While it might seem like a better solution to write for your own groups, very few directors have the time, patience or creativity to take on this overwhelming task. Gone are the days of 4x4 blocks and spelling out the school initials on the field. While working with the drill writer it is again important that the director give input on the typical ability levels within the band. We try to look at our personnel and decide if we want fast moving, difficult drill or if we may need to keep things a bit more basic. Since the guard and percussion are no longer written across the backfield, but integrated into the drill development, it is important that the writer knows how and when these units should be the visual focus. This makes it vital to communicate between the drill writer, percussion instructor/arranger and guard instructors.

Keeping all of these balls in the air while doing concerts, organizational contest, jazz dinners, award banquets, fundraisers, booster meetings, graduation, planning summer and camp schedules, collecting fees, getting uniform and instrument needs attended to and trying to keep good public relations going makes for a difficult and always challenging job! As you can see it's not just saying "I think we'll do a Holsinger show this year." The process is long and difficult and most of us dread it every year! Remember it's about music and friends not trophies!