Looking for Always
Competing in adjudicated events is fun and challenging but sometimes may seem like a never-ending struggle to please the adjudicators. We asked GPG Music’s Director of Customer Relations Aaron Hines for some tips, since he has been an active adjudicator for more than ten years. In addition to adjudicating for Western Bands Assn., Northern California Band Assn. and others, he has completed the WGI Certify training courses and participated in the 2021 DCI World Judging Symposium.
We asked him for some tips.
- Do read the adjudication sheets from past competitions. If you still have the same ensemble, keep practicing whatever the last adjudicators said needed work.
- Obtain the sheets. Go to a local circuit website where sheets are usually available. Review with an eye to meeting the standards on the sheets.
- Do remember each sheet is two-sided. What you're doing and how well you're doing it go hand-in-hand. Make sure everything is achievable so your performers get rewarded for their excellence and the design gets rewarded as it is understood.
- Know what the judges are looking for, which is usually three categories:
- Visual: Is the visual enhancing the music? Do they work together? Watch your run-through with the sound off. Note if the movement works.
- Musical: what are the impacts — is the piece building to a resolution, how does it resolve?
- Effect: Judges look at production value and variety of effects: how imaginative is the design, original vs emulating a higher level team, and both the artistic and technical details. Impacts (building up to a resolution), resolutions (like the end of a phrase), and how they resolve or climax.
- Moving to the “always” standard requires repetition. Make sure the show fits the talent level of the group. A level-three group can compete and win against a level-five group because of excellence not demand.
- Plan for error recovery. The repetition mentioned above helps prevent errors, but sometimes hands are sweaty in sweltering heat; training the team to recover and continue can add to your success and the audiences’ enjoyment.
- Don’t sacrifice art for competitive success. Sometimes judges don’t like it; remember to entertain your audience. It’s not just about the folks in the press box.
- Pet peeve-don’t spend money on special effects until the core program is being performed with excellence. Make sure the students excel first, otherwise you may waste resources on flashy gimmicks.
- Make sure the show matches the personality of the group. At the end of the day adjudicators are glorified fans; it’s more fun to see the kids rocking out performing which is the most rewarding part of being an adjudicator.
