Now the real work begins...(Preparing to march your first year in a drum corps and some reminders for those returning)

Congratulations! You will be marching this season in a drum corps. Earning a spot in a drum corps is a major accomplishment and an achievement many performers will never get to experience. You should be proud and excited for everything the future holds for you. Most likely, you practiced the audition material diligently, prepared yourself physically, reviewed some movement basics, and performed at a high level in your audition. Possibly, you auditioned once or twice prior to this year, only to be sent home. All of those tasks take dedication, commitment, focus, and hard work. You need to celebrate this achievement...briefly...because to not celebrate this achievement diminishes the value of the accomplishment.

However,  you must be prepared to avoid Post-Achievement Let-Down.

https://hbr.org/2015/02/staying-motivated-after-a-major-achievement

https://theprofessionaldevelopmentteam.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/the-accomplishment-let-down/

The key to staying motivated is to now redirect your work and goals. Earning a contract with a corps requires one set of skills. Enjoying your season and being a successful and productive member require some very different skills. I have seen many individuals audition in November and look great and get to the summer and struggle. Why? They failed to see the difference between earning a spot and being a member. Additionally, I have seen returning members become complacent and suffer from the same mistakes--usually in the third-year members.

So...what do I need to do to get ready?

First of all, nothing in life up to this point has prepared you for the adventure you are about to travel. If you have WGI or BOA experience, the level of performance is similar and will serve you well, but the similarities pretty much end there. DCI shows are longer, harder, performed outdoors, you rehearse for 90 days straight for 8-12 hours a day and travel 10,000 plus miles. All of these things take a toll on your mind, body and your perseverance. If you are a music or a dance major, your daily preparations will help you to be a better performer, but I doubt your studio teacher has you doing box drills while playing your Clarke Studies in 95-degree heat. Again, the similarities are few. Possibly, you played a high school or collegiate sport. Again, the physicality of your sport probably will help you if you are still in good physical condition. I doubt you spun a flag or played Barber's Medea while playing tennis or running track while doing complex dance moves. Again, a limited number of similarities.

The current state of drum corps has evolved into a multi-tasking artistic endurance sport. Wow! That is a lot of adjectives. Yep! And you need to be ready do all of those at a high level.

Multi-tasking: Everything you are asked to do you, you must be able to do simultaneously. You must be able to move and play at extreme tempos while elevating your performance to an emotional level your audiences will love and stand-up for. So start working on all of those skills together, now! Move and play...Play and move. When practicing at home, do your warm-ups in different dance poses, yoga poses or marking time or in a slide. Overtrain! Push the envelope with tempos and practice shifting from double-time and half-time. You cannot be overprepared. Practice with an audible metronome, but change it up. Put the metronome on the half-note and then the whole note. Practice with and without the subdivision. Look for ways in your practicing to constantly challenge yourself. If it is easy, then you are practicing the wrong things. 

Elevate your art by elevating your skills. There is a long-standing adage in drum corps: "You cannot clean in the summer what you did not learn in the winter." If you have a feature in your show marked mm=180, you must be able to play the feature at mm=196. Why? Because tempos always increase and the overtraining helps to make the actual tempo easier. However, start slowly! Deep slow practice and no detail will be too small. Devour your pedagogy packet and be able to play all of it at a high level. Faster and cleaner than you think it needs to be. You must build gradually, but brass players need to work up to being able to play 3-4 hours a day, at a minimum. If you are not playing that much on a daily basis, start now! Make a plan. Find the time. If not, the price will be steep. Record yourself playing and listen to the recordings. UGH! Recorders do not lie. Video yourself and share those videos. Find a long-distance practice buddy and exchange recordings and videos. Self-evaluate and be tough on yourself. The standards are high and unforgiving. There is a great app called Coach's Eye. It is free and you can instantly put everything in slow motion. You can quickly see your flaws and where you are making improvements. Your corps may have you on a practice and performance regime. Think of those things as the minimum. Never let the expectations set by others become your maximum.

Endurance Sport A common mistake many people make is to only prepare their body to perform. While being able to perform the show is essential, you need to be in far better physical condition than a 12-minute performance. You must prepare your body to perform at a high level for an 8-12 hour rehearsal day for multiple days on end. Being able to run a mile or two a few times a week will help you, but your body will be woefully unprepared if that is all you do to prepare for the summer. An out-of-shape body is more injury prone and will sap your mental focus, which reduces your performance ability. You need to make some goals--this may vary based on your current physical condition--but you need to be able to do a sustained workout for 30-45 minutes daily for the next month. You need to then increase that workout load to 45-60 minutes daily and then increase to two or more workouts a day as you get closer to the season. You must do cardio everyday. You should vary your workouts, run some, go rock climbing, bike some, row some, use an elliptical, swim some, play soccer, play tennis, etc...Then add in a full body workout like kickboxing, Crossfit, P90X, 3-5 times a week and eventually some type of daily workout, but vary it up so you are not overworking one set of muscles. Practice yoga to increase balance, flexibility, core strength, and mental calmness. Find a workout buddy and share your progress. There are a lot of great apps, MapMyRun, Coach to 5K,  Daily Cardio, and Running to name a few. Make a goal to complete a 5K or 10K before the season or one of those obstacle course events. The event will serve as a reminder and hold you accountable.

Lastly, prepare with a sense of urgency, because summer will be here before you know it. All of these things require planning. Schedule your practicing. Schedule your workouts. Plan and track your progress of your practice and workout sessions. As the old saying goes, "Pain of sacrifice or the pain of regret." OR "Pay now or pay later, but, either way, you will pay."

Most likely, this all sounds intimidating. Well, it is a big task and one that the average person will not attempt. It is possible and I am sure you have it within you to complete this dream. Work now and the dream will exceed anything you can imagine.

Best of luck with your season. This season will be a lifetime of memories in a short period of time and the more prepared you are the better those memories will be.

Good luck and see you in Indy! See you down the road.

"The will to prepare must precede the will to win." Joe Paterno

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t." – Jerry Rice