I am trying to be objective here and not criticizing. I have noticed that several high school bands try to copy Ohio U 110. The observation I see is this. They seem so much more focused on their dancing than their music. I have listened to a couple of these bands that copy the 110, and their music skills are lacking. Unlike the competition bands that I have been around most of my life, their music skills are much better and the marching tends to be more together than the bands trying to dance and play. Has anyone else seen this?

i don't think copying is all bad, but it can be and it's not limited to the 110. a lot of band directors copy, a lot of them well, a lot of them not so well, the shows of drum corps.

attempts are made to tackle the music, the drill, or whatever. they don't seem to care that the rest of the show is crap or that everyone is out of step, "but hey! did you see that box drill! yeah, that was totally from Madison 19xx! Can your kids do this?"

it seems as if things are a lot about "let's only do what gets seen." meaning, if a band parent is watching they aren't necessarily going to see or hear the little breaks in time between the guard, battery, pit, and brass. the little things that people who have done it well or taught it well can see.

i think marching bands have been on a downward spiral. it doesn't really seem to be limited to one particular area of the country. not to open up another can of worms, but this "lowering the standards" thing so that everyone can get recognized or participate is responsible for a lot of crap.

if there is no motivation to succeed, if you're in band because your parents tell you that you have no choice, if the band director is lazy...who really cares? band just becomes this big social event rather than moving forward as a young musician.

i see more shows that are watered down instead of beefed up because there are a few kids who just don't care if they look like crap because they can't pull something off.

-sorry...

no people shouldn't copy the 110

I'm really glad to see your response. We have a high school locally that the director came from the 110, and the music is terrible. They teach the middle schoolers the music and then in high school they play it again for 4 years. Knowing what I do about music and marching, I would pull my kid out of a program like that. Plus the director to me is just to lazy to do anything different. As I see it, its not fair to the kids.

Try almost every school in Licking County, Oh. There are so many "110's" here! As said before, these types of programs teach showmanship, but not any musciality or technical skills. Oh well, it does make for an interesting half time: a 110 copy and then a corps style group. Talk about contrast!

Sort of like southern-style "show bands", it's gotta be a regional thing. I've never seen a band outside of Ohio using a similar style to Ohio U.

WE have a bunch of high school bands in the area of Columbus, Ohio that have directors that went to OU that seem to think that they need to do what OU does. They need to be teaching music and marching instead of jumping around and trying to play. Most of these schools lack in the musician department because they are too concerned about the dance stuff. Plus I know a few of them get stuff sent to them from OU, so they don't have to do anything. And, they play the same stuff season to season to season. Its not fair to the kids. I see it this way, if your gonna dance then try out for guard. Marching band is just that, Marching not dancing.

RDKuhn, have you noticed how many of these have crept up around CBus the last few years? Johnstown, Lakewood, Millersport, and I think Mt. Vernon is even heading that route. Ah!

All I can say is this, they certainly can't compete in MEPA or BOA with that. Like I said before, the music is suffering because they are too busy dancing or jumping around or what ever they call it.