Two marching ensembles, one vision:

Create the best high school marching program in the world.

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Attitude

Each member of our organization will strive to exhibit these characteristics in rehearsal, in public and private, and in performance.

  1. Physical approach: Strong, Fierce, Finely Tuned, Honed In, Sharp, Poised to Strike

  2. Mental approach: Focused, Determined, Unrelenting, Persistent

  3. Emotional affect on others: Awe Inspiring, Intimidating, Unstoppable, Fearsome

And we must recognize that through it all, we are united and must support one another’s efforts. Encourage, build up, motivate and praise.

Dragon Band Legacy

All that we have been, all that we now are, and all that we build for the future.

Highlights:

  • Class Times

    • Legacy woodwind and brass students will meet during periods 1/5 and 2/6

    • Legacy percussion students will meet during periods 1/5

    • Legacy color guard students will meet during periods 4/8

  • Before and After School Rehearsal Times

    • 8-10 hours per week outside of school

    • Mix of before and after school rehearsals

    • Schedule to be determined soon

  • Membership to be determined based on full band enrollment

    • By audition only

    • Approximately 70 woodwinds and 70 brass

    • Approximately 35 percussionists

    • Approximately 35 color guard

  • Leadership to be determined based on full band enrollment

    • Drum Majors, 3

    • Section Leaders, 1-2 per section

    • Squad Leaders, 1-3 per section

  • Performances

    • 1 Parent Preview

    • 6 Halftime

    • 1 Community Pep Rally

    • Bands of America Regionals - 3

    • UIL Region, Area and State (if qualifying)

  • Show Design

    • Vince Oliver: wind arrangements

    • Colin McNutt: percussion arrangements

    • Joe Huls: marching drill

    • Lindsey Vento: visual coordinator

    • Dedicated show choreographer

    • 8-9 minutes in length

    • Custom show uniforms - head to toe

  • Class Time Instruction

    • Directors will alternate working with sections on marching and movement skills, musical skills and working through the show on the practice field during class

    • So that we can work on drill during class, we are asking our drill writer to design the drill in the following way:

      • Group 1 Woodwinds (1/5 periods)

      • Group 2 Woodwinds (2/6 periods)

      • Group 1 Brass (1/5 periods)

      • Group 2 Brass (2/6 periods)

      • All groups will certainly interact but as much of the drill as is feasible would be written in these groups

  • Training and Rehearsal Methods

    1. Methods used by both groups

      1. Metronome with 8 count count off, 4 count test note, 4 count prep, then start

        1. Tonal Energy click track for both full shows

      2. Breathing Exercises

      3. Warm Ups

      4. Chord building exercises 

      5. Breathing count training, apply to show music

      6. Physical training, exercise

        1. Jogging, legs, arms, planks

        2. High mark time

      7. Combos - the Musician Athlete

        1. Breathing

        2. Warm Up Exercise

        3. Physical Exercise

        4. Repeat

      8. Tracking block

        1. Starts and stops

        2. Distance

        3. Exercise

        4. Tempo

        5. Performance management

      9. Marching Basics

        1. Continual work on fundamentals of marching

        2. Detailed work on problem areas

        3. Emphasis on step size training and change of direction

      10.  Coordinate Sheets for each portion of the show, work towards memorization of full show

      11. Drill learning with chalk

        1. For every set of the show, every student can define:

          1. Coordinate

          2. Step Size

          3. Direction

          4. Foot placement

          5. Facing

          6. Dress and Cover

          7. Other (horns up/down, choreo)

    2. Extended Legacy methods

      1. Extensive physical training

      2. Extensive choreography training

      3. Singing and vocals during warm up and sustained chords

      4. Extensive tracking block work

      5. Extensive use of extra marching techniques (toe first, jazz run, etc.)

  • Region Listening System

    • Students select a track

      • All State Track

        • Weekly listening

      • Region Track

        • Bi Weekly listening

Dragon Band Horizon

Our eyes looking ahead, our direction moving forward, the future belongs to us.

Highlights:

  • Class Times

    • Horizon woodwind and brass students will meet during periods 3/7 and 4/8

    • Horizon percussion students will meet during periods 4/8

    • Horizon will not have a color guard…yet.

  • Before and After School Rehearsal Times

    • 2-4 hours per week outside of school

    • Mix of before and after school rehearsals

    • Schedule to be determined soon

  • Membership to be determined based on full band enrollment

    • By audition only

    • Approximately 60 woodwinds and 50 brass

    • Approximately 15 percussionists

  • Leadership to be determined based on full band enrollment

    • Drum Majors, 3

    • Section Leaders, 1-2 per section

    • Squad Leaders, 1-3 per section

  • Performances

    • 1 Parent Preview

    • 4 Halftime

    • 1 Community Pep Rally

    • Bands of America Regionals - 2

    • UIL Region and Area (if qualifying)

  • Show Design

    • Vince Oliver: wind and percussion arrangements

    • Kyle Hammack: percussion arrangements

    • Joe Huls: marching drill

    • 6-7 minutes in length

    • Custom show tops

  • Class Time Instruction

    • Directors will alternate working with sections on marching and movement skills, musical skills and working through the show on the practice field during class

    • So that we can work on drill during class, we are asking our drill writer to design the drill in the following way:

      • Group 1 Woodwinds (3/7 periods)

      • Group 2 Woodwinds (4/8 periods)

      • Group 1 Brass (3/7 periods)

      • Group 2 Brass (4/8 periods)

      • All groups will certainly interact but as much of the drill as is feasible would be written in these groups

  • Training and Rehearsal Methods

    1. Methods used by both groups

      1. Metronome with 8 count count off, 4 count test note, 4 count prep, then start

        1. Tonal Energy click track for both full shows

      2. Breathing Exercises

      3. Warm Ups

      4. Chord building exercises 

      5. Breathing count training, apply to show music

      6. Physical training, exercise

        1. Jogging, legs, arms, planks

        2. High mark time

      7. Combos - the Musician Athlete

        1. Breathing

        2. Warm Up Exercise

        3. Physical Exercise

        4. Repeat

      8. Tracking block

        1. Starts and stops

        2. Distance

        3. Exercise

        4. Tempo

        5. Performance management

      9. Marching Basics

        1. Continual work on fundamentals of marching

        2. Detailed work on problem areas

        3. Emphasis on step size training and change of direction

      10.  Coordinate Sheets for each portion of the show, work towards memorization of full show

      11. Drill learning with chalk

        1. For every set of the show, every student can define:

          1. Coordinate

          2. Step Size

          3. Direction

          4. Foot placement

          5. Facing

          6. Dress and Cover

          7. Other (horns up/down, choreo)

  • Region Listening System

    • Students select a track

      • Region Track

        • Bi Weekly listening

      • No track

        • Students in periods 3/7 and 4/8 not yet ready to learn region etudes may opt out of selecting a track

        • No listening

Summer Band Adjustments for our full band

  1. Greater amount of time spent in small groups (approximately 10-12 players) with directors

    1. Chairs and stands for many but not all music sessions

    2. Detailed instruction on these specific areas:

      1. Breathing and sustain

      2. Tone matching

      3. Note starts and releases

      4. Volume matching

      5. Tuning

      6. Breathing counts

    3. Leadership uses Music and Visual Rubric to score pass offs

      1. Scores above or below a set point will count as passed or not passed off

      2. Pass offs continue until the skill is completed above the set point

  2. First 2 days are freshman (new members) and leadership only, tentatively Monday and Tuesday

    1. 7am-11am only

    2. 2 hours of marching and movement

    3. 2 hours of music

  3. Far greater amount of time spent sitting and playing our instruments and learning to sound like a concert ensemble.

    1. Build from the first note onward, high quality fronts, sustains, releases

    2. From day one, very intentional time spent matching tone, tuning and volume

  1. Revise stand music

    1. Carefully select 20-25 potential songs

    2. Order by January, write in counts on originals

    3. Distribute in May

    4. Learn during Summer Band

    5. Drum Major conducts at games from big podium on the track

You may have questions and that’s good because it means you care!

  • Auditions will take place the week of April 27th. Students will let us know which ensemble they want to be considered for and will perform an extra etude to be considered for membership in Legacy. We will fill the positions in Legacy first and then Horizon, taking into account the student’s ensemble preference. Students who are still developing will be placed in an alternate position after the spot in Horizon are filled.

  • After auditions, but before RESULTS are posted, we will hold leadership interviews for all of our returning high school students. Incoming students will not be considered for leadership positions. Based on the interviews we will offer successful candidates who earned a marching spot in Legacy a leadership position in that ensemble. Students who interviewed for a leadership position and also placed in Legacy but who were NOT selected for a leadership role in that ensemble MAY be offered a leadership role in Horizon, OR they may keep their marching position in Legacy. Students who had a successful leadership interview but who earned a marching position in Horizon will be offered a position as Horizon leadership. Drum Major candidates will be selected for Legacy first, then students who finished next highest will be offered a position as Horizon Drum Major OR they may elect to keep their marching position in Legacy if they had previously earned one. The goal in selecting leadership is placing the students in the position in which they will best function and where they most wish to be.

  • Yes, we will take Legacy and Horizon to two “local” shows - Austin and either Waco or San Marcos Regionals. Legacy will participate in the San Antonio Super Regional as well. The groups will compete on the same level as one another.

  • We have plans to alter the format of Summer Band to give closer attention to individual players in every section of both bands. The scheduling will differ slightly from previous years but the large blocks of time (7am-11am, 12pm-3pm and 6:30pm-8:30pm) will largely remain.

  • Yes. There will be a set number of positions for both Legacy and Horizon. For Horizon, that number of positions will be slightly less than the number of students in each section. Our alternate group will be part of Horizon and is for students who are still developing either marching skills or musical skills, or both. These students will have their own drill to learn and perform and will play the same music as Horizon.

  • Yes, this is possible. Most movement between ensembles would take place during Summer Band, if at all. After the first 2-3 weeks of school, changing groups is not possible due to school schedules. Reasons for movement: a student moving away or moving in, long term injury or illness, ongoing behavior or attendance issues, ongoing eligibility issues.

  • Our fees for next year are not yet set. The goal is to have those numbers ready by January 2026. There will be 10 categories of student fees:

    1. Returning Legacy brass or woodwind students

    2. New (9th grade) Legacy brass or woodwind students

    3. Returning Legacy percussion students

    4. New (9th grade) Legacy students

    5. Returning Color Guard students

    6. New (9th grade) Color Guard students

    7. Returning Horizon brass or woodwind students

    8. New (9th grade) Horizon brass or woodwind students

    9. Returning Horizon percussion students

    10. New (9th grade) Horizon percussion students

    Last year’s fees for the top marching band ranged between $650-$850 and will be similar next year.

    Last year’s fees for the second marching band ranged between $200-$275 and will be MORE next year due to the increased show design elements, travel and staff. These fees will be approximately $500-$600

  • Generally yes. We will travel as a full band to all varsity football games. We will travel together to most competitions although the schedule of each group’s departure will vary based on the contest scheduling.

  • We will wear Summer Uniforms for the first few weeks of the season and then transition to show uniforms. For Legacy, this is a fully designed uniform for every member of the ensemble. For Horizon, we will use the white band pants and a custom show themed top. Both groups will occasionally wear the white dragon uniforms either separately or as a full group.

  • Yes. There will be more students in Wind Ensemble, our top band that meets during periods 1/5 and more students in our Wind Symphony that meets during periods 2/6 each day. These two periods make up Legacy. Period 3/7 is our Symphonic Band and this group will have slightly fewer students and period 4/8 is our Concert Band and this group will also have slightly fewer students. These groups make up Horizon. We will likely discontinue our current 5th band, Concert Band 2 and go back to have four large ensembles.

  • Yes, there are some of less consequence than those already covered. We’ll revise our stand music, create a single show shirt for both bands and wear that as our Summer Uniform instead of the polo shirt. We’ll discontinue our DB caps as well. Those are both cost saving measures and one less thing to need to purchase. I suspect we will encounter some other needed adjustments as we go through the fall.