Trust The Music
In the modern age of design in the marching arts, much attention is being given to the visual side of the program. We have costumes, special show shirts for winds, set pieces, props, guard equipment, body movement for every moment, and a fear of standing still. Much of this is good and exciting and fun for shows, but sometimes it feels like a LOT!
First and foremost, we are a musical activity. Band directors study music education to teach music and build musicians. I want to remind everyone to trust their music and put it first.
If you can’t play your show and love it for the musical quality alone, you are in for a long season. Our musical choices must be more than background music for our visual programs.
Of course, great shows have both, and I’m not advocating to back off from creating great visual design and filling your show with visual wonder. But the music must be the foundation on which you build your show.
I recently had the privilege to see the touring company of the Broadway musical “Beautiful.” It’s a show I love, telling the amazing story of Carole King, from her earliest days as a song-writer to her development as a solo artist singing her own songs. The show is fun and happy as we first see the song writers create the song, then we see the group that made the song famous present their rendition. It’s incredibly satisfying and fun to watch this process and marvel at the volume of great songs that were written by two different song-writing teams of that era.
Though the staging and sets of the musical are top notch, the show designers seemed to understand that the music was the star of the show. Many times during the production they chose to simply let the song carry the moment. Rather than create splashy visual numbers, they just let the wonderful singer present the song simply, often sitting at the piano where it was written.
In particular was a moment right toward the end of the show where Carole stands in a recording studio surrounded by musicians and backup singers and belts out “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” It’s really the climax of the show, the “11:00 number,” and it’s all about the song and her performance. No dance number, no flashing lights, no theatrics. They trusted the music to carry the moment, along with the amazing performance of the singer bringing us the song. As I sat in the theater with tears in my eyes, I was struck that the simplicity of the moment, and the trust in the music, made the moment special.
Music Arrangers, trust the music. There is already genius there. Don’t be overly clever, trying to show off. Make sure your choices serve the music and not your ego. Don’t put selections together just to prove a point. Make sure it serves the original music and the beauty there.
Color guard instructors, trust the music. Allow the musical phrases and lines to lead your choreography more than the concept you may be forcing upon it.
Visual designers, trust the music to guide the visual program. Don’t distort the musical intent just to fit some mold you’ve created. Great visual design works in harmony with the music for greatest effect.
Band Directors, trust your music. Don’t over-design your show. Allow there to be moments where the music carries the day, without too much fuss. Make sure your students play really well, make great sounds, and have strong arrangements that highlight your band’s strengths. Then you have a show we want to see.
Trust the music!
Tim Hinton
May 22, 2022
