Hi, I'm new here. It's been over 20 years since I was in high school marching band. I played snare during that time. I recently joined a local community marching band and I'm playing cymbals not by choice. But it's cool, I like the Star Spangled Banner.

I find it challenging because it's been a long time since I've read music and I only played cymbals a couple of times in orchestra.

I fear that my biggest challenge will be remembering the music during the march. I don't know how I memorized it back in high school.

This is going to sound like a dumb question but is there a technique to help following the music?

Thanks.

I'm confused. Do you want help reading the music or memorizing it?

Sorry. Preferably a way to read it while your marching. If not a technique to memorize it.

Well, I don't how you would read the music while marching holding a pair of cymbals. You'll need to memorize it. Take it in chunks. See if you can get a recording of the song and then see how the parts fit into the music.

Another way is to memorize it backwards. Literally, start at the end of the song and memorize a few bars. Then go back a few bars memorize those then then put them with the last couple of bars. This is how we did it in drum corps. It's a quick way of learning music. Good luck!

see drums have it some what easy because they can look at there music by just taping it to the head of their drums ....but duing summer sessions i have my cymbal line minimize the music and tape it to their cymabls you cant look at it while you're playing so thats where mimorizing fast comes from but it is a good refrence when you're on the move and lose your spot

I think to know the music u have to like it first!!!

Thanks Rain. Yeah I remember in high school taping some music to the snare drum. Fogot all about that. I'm not to concerned since it's a local community marching band. We just have to march to "National Emblem" and "The Saints of New Orleans" not too bad.

ou rband director says that we should to play and try to remember 5 measures of the song. then turn around the stand and play it from memory. continue doing this until you have th whole song. and try to remember what other members of the band are playing at certtain times so that if you get lost you can use that to get back on.

Agreeing with all of you here-- but I guess our line has never had that problem... We are all pretty good at memorizing.