How to Organize Formations With a Marching Band

To organize formations with a marching band, you need a strong visual eye, a great sense of timing and the ability to communicate your vision to your marching band members. The goal here is to create geometrical formations that are eye-catching and dynamic, but still stay with the rhythm and feel of the music being performed. Depending on your budget and time restrictions, you can either create your own formations, work with a custom drill designer or buy pre-arranged shows with the music and arrangements already prepared. Whatever way you decide to go, you'll want to organize formations that are crisp, clear and unique.

Things You'll Need

  • Colored pencils or markers
  • Marching band
  • Drill graph paper
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Instructions

  1. Organize Formations With a Marching Band

    • 1

      Draw up all the formations you want for each song, using drill graph paper, which is usually marked with the yard lines of a football field. Use different colored ink for different sections.

    • 2

      Arrange them in order, indicating the movements in getting from one formation to the next.

    • 3

      Transfer your drill designs to transparencies or slides, and demonstrate them for your band members, indicating movements.

    • 4

      Rehearse the formation transitions on the field, making sure each musician knows his line of movement and target point for each formation.

    • 5

      Divide each song into segments, so that you can rehearse transitions to perfection in smaller pieces, and then put all the pieces together to create the entire show.