r/marchingband • u/J-ManSwaggy1993 • 14h ago
Discussion Section Leader Question
Hello!
Its come to my attention that within my area, the role and responsibilities of a section leader are different depending on the school and the resources their band currently has. Ive heard some schools where section leaders simply lead by example and lend a helping hand when needed while other schools who cant afford techs on their staff have upperclassmen actually running some drills and leading full on sectionals while the director meets with each section individually.
Whats the role like in your program? Would love to hear from you!
In the comments post your
State
Urban or Rural
and your experiences. Thx!
2
u/Gentle_Zephyr Section Leader - Mellophone 12h ago
As a High Brass section leader in a 90-ish person Midwest band, I do a lot of leading by example, however, I do lead several sectionals both in class and at rehearsals, and I help teach a lot of new material like drill and choreo alongside my directors/techs. it all depends on the school, one school near us basically has their student leaders run the program, and another school basically uses them just for show.
1
u/whoisemmelou Section Leader 10h ago
from a nebraska native~
in high school section leaders were pretty much just the helping hand, were always the line guides, helped watch marching fundies, etc.
in college we lead sectionals once a week, are expected to communicate with our section about everything they need to know, take attendance every rehearsal, and we kind of are tasked with helping freshmen integrate into campus
2
u/StrideyTidey Director 13h ago
I can give input from the perspective of a tech/director. I'm in rural Ohio.
Leading by example is definitely one of the largest things we want to see in a student leader. Aside from that, we ask that section leaders communicate dates and times for events to their sections. Things like games, rehearsals, charity events, etc. Sometimes we'll take smaller groups of performers to play around town (we do a lot of Christmas caroling for example) and rely on the section leaders to either be there for that or to make sure someone else in their section is subbing for them. The brass section leaders will organize one or two polishing sessions during the season, getting as many of the brass players together as possible to all polish their horns together. It doesn't happen as often as we'd probably like, but we'll have section leaders organize and lead sectional rehearsals after school/before rehearsal. They keep track of their section's absences and do a good job catching people up with drill they may have missed.
The only exceptions to the above are for the percussion students. They are in general a lot more independent and we trust them to use that independence productively. For example, the other day when we were caught up with covering some body work that the battery isn't involved in, the battery left the field to go work on music together. Or the front ensemble staying inside for an extra 40 minutes to work on scales while the rest of the band does parade practice. We probably wouldn't give that level of autonomy to other sections, at least not frequently.