Congratulations! You are the lucky band director or guard instructor who is able to hold auditions for the selection of your color guard. You have many kids to choose from and you'll be able to select a qualified group with lots of potential. In these times of decreasing music program spending and participation, you are in the enviable position of being able to make decisions on the composition of your group. This article will talk mainly about color guard although much of this information will be applicable to other groups such as musicians, majorettes, dance squads etc. In order to ensure a fair shake for the students and avoid as many conflicts as possible for you, let's take a look at the details of a typical audition.

PREPARING FOR AUDITIONS

Your first job is to make some decisions regarding the judging panel and the audition details including where it will be held, when auditions practices will be held and what will be required of the auditioners. You may want to consider interviews with the students and also mandating a dress code. Let's look at each of these items individually:

Judging Panel
Choosing the judging panel can be a very tricky part of the audition process. Depending on the number of students trying out, the competitiveness of the squad and the relationship of the band and/or indoor activity to the support group (i.e. the band parents), your choice of members on the judging panel could be subject to serious criticism. To avoid as much difficulty at possible, consider the following choices for your judging panel:

The Band Director - as the head of the entire marching band/color guard program, the Band Director has every right to sit on the panel. However, if you would like to take yourself out of the equation so that you can say, "I had nothing to do with the outcome; our group of impartial judges had complete autonomy", you may want to bow out.

Color Guard Instructors - Ditto above. They know best the technique, style and type of performance required.

Outside Music Instructors - Consider asking the Choral Director, your sister school's Band Director or the junior high Color Guard Instructor to sit on the panel. These choices are also more likely to be, and to be viewed as, more objective by the auditioners and parents.

Other Ideas - Consider tapping the Cheerleading Coach, the Drama Coach or the Dance Instructor to serve on the panel. These people will have a very good idea of basic body control, unison work and proper performance technique even if they do lack specific color guard experience. And, as in the case of the outside music instructors, they are more likely to be viewed as objective judges by both students and parents.

Never under any circumstances ask a band parent to sit on the judging panel. I don't care if he marched guard in Cadets, Blue Devils and Sac and has instructed championship guards for 99 years; he can't be, nor can be viewed as, objective when it comes to making decisions about his daughter and those against whom she is competing.

I would also strongly caution against asking recently graduated students to sit on the judging panel even if they are currently serving as color guard techs or instructors. They are probably still too close to many of the marching members and cannot be asked to be impartial.

Choose your judging panel carefully and then be prepared with each member's qualifications so if questions arise, you are ready to defend your decisions. This may sound paranoid but auditions are a very heated situation and our society can be very litigious; cover your bases.

AUDITION DETAILS

How Long?
Now let's decide upon some details of the audition process. Some schools have one-day auditions in which all basics, technique, marching and routines are taught and judged in the same day. If you do not have many students from which to choose or you know that what you will be demanding of the students is not complicated or lengthy, choose a one-day format. Perhaps you could run the entire auditions in an evening but, more likely, a 4-7 hour chunk on a Saturday would serve better. Teach in the morning, give a full hour lunch break for rest and relaxation, review everything in the early afternoon, and then run the actual auditions.

If the turnout for auditions (determined by the sign up sheet posted on the band room door and advertised through announcements at both the senior and junior high schools) is high and the requirements complicated and exacting, you may opt for a multiple-day audition. In this scenario, schedule 2 or 3 pre-audition practice sessions to introduce the basics, marching, and a routine to the students. This will allow for shorter practices and also give new members a few days to assimilate this new discipline and everyone a chance to practice the moves on their own. Scheduling Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday practice sessions and then a Friday audition works well. The free Thursday allows motivated students to get together to work on their moves. The Friday audition allows those who did not make cuts to have a few days to compose themselves before returning to school and it allows everyone, in general, to go home for a few days after the stressful event. And yes, this is a very stressful event for those kids. In this scenario, review everything but never teach new work on the day of auditions.

What do We Ask For?
A few items to consider teaching during the practice sessions are drop spins, angle exercises, carving exercises or whatever your group uses to learn basics. Additionally, you may want to introduce marching and the 8 to 5 step to the guard hopefuls especially if you are auditioning for the outdoor season. Many guards will want to work on dance basics and all groups should be taught a short routine to perform for the auditions. Additional requirements could include personalized routines exhibiting the performer's choreographic abilities if that is important, for example, for the captain positions. You may also want the captain applicants to learn how to call orders and run rehearsals. Give them all a chance at working on those skills during your 2 or 3 pre-audition practices. This hands-on experience will help your officer-hopefuls learn their potential roles and give you a chance to watch them in action.

It is also not uncommon to ask the students to adhere to a certain dress code. For example, white sneakers, black sweats or leggings and a white t-shirt. Or perhaps you would prefer leotards, leggings and dance shoes if your group is to work on dance. This uniformity allows you, the judge, to concentrate on what the students are doing and how they are performing rather than what they are wearing. The tighter clothing in the second instance allows for a better view of the body and inspection of technique. A uniform dress code at auditions will also help you to pave the way for a uniform dress code during regular rehearsals.

Perhaps your group will be considered ambassadors for the school and you would like to evaluate personalities. It is perfectly acceptable to require an interview. In any case, when selecting guard officers, I consider an interview mandatory. You might provide a list of possible questions at the first pre-audition practice to allow the students a chance to think about their answers. This, however, might result in your receiving a "canned", parent-instructed answer. Alternately, you could simply inform the students that there will be an interview as part of the auditions but not provide the specific questions ahead of time. I think a combination of the two results in both well thought out responses and candid, fresh responses. Later we'll discuss specific interview questions.

This article will be continued next month.