| Dynamic Marching - "Posture Checklist - Marine style" |
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| Written by Jeff Young | |
| Monday, 09 February 2009 | |
 Earlier this year I was asked by a friend of mine at The Band Hall to help set up a marching style guide for the brand new Music City Drum & Bugle Corps in Nashville, TN. We started discussing what the goal of their visual identity was going to be and he told me that the overall look and feel of the group (including the uniform) will be based on the look of the United States Marine Corps. Soon thereafter, I started doing some research on how the Marines stand at “attention”.
For years now, I have been calling the attention position the “checklist” because, mentally, that is what the performer should be doing when learning the posture. (Checking things off of a list one at a time- each time he or she comes to attention.) The following is from a style manual on the internet describing the Marine Corps checklist.
One of the things that I have been working with my groups on lately is getting the hips, shoulders, and ankle bones in alignment, so as I read about the Marine Corps attention position I thought that the definition of the hips was an issue that needed to be changed to work with drum corps or marching band. When the hips are drawn back slightly, as the Marine Corp posture checklist states, it creates a larger curve (arch) to the back and the rear end sticks out. When we revised this we made sure to talk about rolling the hips slightly under and “squeezing the grape”. I remember when I first heard of squeeze the grape. My high school band director in the mid 80’s told us to tighten the Gluteus Maximus muscle slightly so that you could—theoretically, of course—hold a grape there without making grape juice. This phrase still makes kids giggle today, but has just as much validity. Squeeze too tightly and you create tension (and thus grape juice)… too loose and you have an arched back. You can check this arch of the back by lying on the ground and sliding a hand under the small of your back. Decrease how much room there is for your hand by tilting the hips under. Another issue not addressed by this particular Marine Corps posture checklist was detail with regards to the head and neck. I used to teach kids to roll the shoulders back and down, but recently I have found that I like a different look (and this new look just so happens to also cause less tension in the shoulders—which is of upmost importance while playing). We have revised our old thinking, now telling the students to find the spot where their shoulders naturally rest furthest down away from their ears without tension. Try this! See how long you can make your neck without creating tension and that is the spot. To really make the upper body look great, next we address the neck and head. “Forward Head Posture” is a bad look, and eventually will lead you to the chiropractor, so make sure the ears are pulled back to be in line with the shoulders and also make sure the cervical vertebrae (neck bones) are lengthened toward that top of the head. All of the other changes that we have made lately to update the “checklist” have come from the way we hold our hands, elbows, and instruments. Remember… consistency and detail of teaching is the key, not necessarily the style choices that you make. Good luck! The Nashville Drum Corps Attention Position
Publisher's Note: Dynamic Marching is the latest in our series of columns written by leading educators - providing expert information on the marching band activity. Jeff Young is a respected educator, clinician, adjudicator, and consultant - specializing in the art of marching and movement. We're excited that he's agreed to be one of our regular contributors on Marching Band Planet. You may send your questions to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Jeff Young is President & CEO of Dynamic Marching, LLC. They provide innovative ideas for today’s most successful marching band programs through consulting, clinics, and educational DVDs. Jeff teaches science at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana, has a degree in Biology from the University of Notre Dame, and a Masters degree in Curriculum & Instruction from Indiana University. Jeff is the visual caption head for the 2005 BOA Grand National Champion Carmel Marching Band. He is also honored to work with the Colorado State Champion-Pomona High School from Arvada, Colorado. Jeff is a visual caption judge for Drum Corps International and enjoys being a judge, designer, and instructor for marching band programs across the country. Dynamic Marching is proud to be coordinating the marching band staff for the Bands of America Summer Band Symposium Marching Band this summer. You can learn more about Dynamic Marching at their website Dynamic Marching and Movement. |
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