Competitions - General Information

If you will be attending your first marching band competition, or if you are new to the world of marching bands, you may be wondering how the judges come to their conclusions in ranking and rating the bands. Perhaps the following will help you to understand the complex process of judging a band competition.

There are several judges involved in the evaluation of the bands. Typically there will be judges who judge the music performance, visual performance, general effect, and percussion. Another judge keeps track of timing requirements and notes rule infractions that occur. There may be other judges that adjudicate special units, i.e. auxiliary, field commander, soloists.

Music: The judges evaluate the technical accuracy of the performance, recording their comments on cassette tape. They concern themselves with how well the wind and percussion performers play together and the difficulty level of the music being performed.

General Effect: The GE judges evaluate how well the music and the marching drill coordinate to present a unified production.

Visual Performance: This judge watches the marching performance and gives a score based on consistent accuracy, i.e. how well the individuals in the group carry themselves, difficulty level, accessibility, and frequency of difficult (yet easy-to-see) moves.

Visual Effect: This judge, positioned in or near the press box, has the difficult task of determining how well the drill (marching formation) program interprets the music as well as the coordination of all the visual aspects of the show. This judge also scores the group based on how well they "sell" their show to you, the audience.

Percussion: This judge evaluates the technical, individual and ensemble aspects of the performance.

Tips for Parent Participation on Competition Day

1. Arrive early so that the band parents can find seats together.
2. Show your support by wearing the competition T-Shirt or Cabell Midland Colors
3. Purchase a Band-o-grams for your child.  Often these are sold by the host school for $1-2 and allow you to have a brief message announced over the speaker system to your child prior to the start of competition.
4. Participate in the Band Booster Spirit buckets if they are available.  This is the way that votes are cast for the Boosters with the most spirit.  The winning school receives 1/2 of the proceeds, the rest remains with the host of the band competition.  The buckets are often located near the gate or concession stand.
5. Be prepared for ALL weather conditions!  Unless there is lightening, your child may perform in rain, snow or other weather conditions.
6. The cost of entrance to the competition does vary between $7 - $15 per person.
7. The length of the competition depends completely upon the number of bands entered into the competition.  While schedules are predetermined, it is not uncommon for last minute changes due to band availability or other conditions that may cause a schedule disruption.  They can start early in the day or not until the afternoon.
8. After the event, please place your used food containers in or near a trash/recycling can rather than leaving them in the stands since volunteers from each school clean up after the competition.