Help! I’m in Charge of the Guard Now!

Building Blocks of a Thriving Color Guard Program

Many new directors have faced the problem of realizing that they are in charge of the color guard. In this post I’ll be outlining some of the basic needs of a color guard program and what’s needed to make it happen. This blog is geared towards directors that are newer to the marching arts, directors without a color guard caption-head, and programs looking to start or revive a color guard program at their school.

These elements below are not all-inclusive, but they hit the big points of what goes into having a successful color guard. I will try to generalize, knowing that no two people reading this will ever have the exact same situation at their school. 

Choreography/Visual Design

• Visual Design
  • When designing your fall program it is vital to consider the color guard as a separate but included element when developing your show. This includes decisions about what equipment they should be spinning during certain movements, when equipment changes should happen, and more. 
• Visual Design (The Look Book) 
  • There are many decisions to be made when it comes to uniforming and choosing silks for the show. There’s a wide variety of ways to design your lookbook, and there are even ways to design a look on a budget. For some of you, the thought of choosing all of these little details might be very out of your wheelhouse, and that is okay. Many uniforming companies provided consultation services that can help connect you with the right designs for your show, and even help you custom design uniforms and silks.
• Choreography
  • Just like you put thought and effort into what your instrumentalists will perform on the field, thought needs to be put into what your students are spinning. This is where the path can diverge into a million new pathways, all based on your specific situation..
  • Option 1- hire a choreographer- there are tons of people more than qualified to create customized choreography for your program. Just as the range suggests, this can also mean a wide variety in the product you receive and the amount you spend. If you aren’t sure where to look for a choreographer, reach out to the color guard liaison of your local winter guard circuit OR reach out to your local collegiate marching program. Choreographers can do a little at a time, teach the whole show in a week, or somewhere in between. 
    
  • Option 2- Develop choreography on your own and with the help of the students- This option might seem daunting (and it is!) but it can be done. There’s a wide array of training videos online and for purchase through WGI.org. These training videos included skills in creating choreography and there’s a lot of tips available. 
    
  • Option 3- Find a guard instructor- this might not be someone formally trained in color guard, but it might be a dance teacher, another teacher in your district, or a former student (several years removed if at all possible). These people might not be as experienced as you might hope, but if you put effort into helping them develop their choreography skills (through WGI videos, or other means) then they can take that daunting task off your hands. 

Your color guard needs attention paid towards them if they are going to get the same amount of enjoyment and improvement through the season as your wind and percussion members. YOU are not going to be the person to juggle the training of the winds AND percussion AND the color guard, and it would be lunacy to suggest otherwise. That is just TOO MANY tasks for you to give each facet the attention deserved. You need someone to help. This might be the guard instructor you found from option 3 above for choreography, or it might be someone you inherited. That dedicated person (with your guidance) can be the person to help provide your students with the following needs through the season. 

Band Camp and Season Needs

• Rehearsal/Sectional Facilitation
  • Whoever is running the color guard is responsible for the facilitation of their separate rehearsal times and hopefully additional help for the guard during full ensemble rehearsal. This person is constantly thinking ahead to which parts the color guard is needing to practice on most and is providing individual actionable feedback to the students. It’s also important that this person finds time for growing the fundamental skills of the members of the guard just as you would work to build the fundamental skills of your instrumental students. 
    
• Flag/Rifle/Sabre Technique and Skill Development
  • Equipment technique is the foundation that the choreography builds upon. It’s the rhythm practice and scales equivalent in color guard. To further the analogy, you could play a piece of music learning it note-by-note by rote, but knowing the scales and keys and rhythms behind it makes a world of a difference. Each program has its own versions of fundamentals, but they need to be practiced and trained.
    • There are many instructional videos available on YouTube and WGI.org as well as clinics that help you with building your fundamentals. 
    • Ask us! Check out our fundamentals of color guard program available in our store!
• Movement Technique and Skill Development
  • Just like there’s a fundamental to equipment spinning, your guard students should be learning some of the fundamentals of dance.. This might be a great time to connect your guard to the school’s dance teacher or ensure that your guard instructor is including some movement fundamentals into the guard’s training. This concept relates very closely to that of proper posture, breathing, and marching techniques for your winds. 
• Cleaning
  • Last but not least, you’ll want someone helping your color guard to look clean (and no, I don’t mean making sure that they aren’t covered in dirt before a show). The process of cleaning a guard is making sure they are all spinning and moving together at the exact same time. This comes down to rehearsing the color guard in a specific (and time-consuming) way, and is another reason for having a dedicated staff member for the guard. 

After reading this, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by what it takes to have a successful color guard program. It might be more than what you originally thought and you should know it’s going to be okay! At the core of it, there’s not one right way to do all of this. Some of the responsibilities might fall on you (like picking silks and uniforms) and some might fall on your guard coach. Maybe after reading this you might put up a “help wanted” ad on your local circuit Facebook page for a guard instructor to help you through your season. 

As the director, you are responsible for making sure each of the members of your band have an experience where they learn and grow, and that includes your color guard. Knowing what they need is the first step, and the next step is making that happen. It might not all work out the first time, but continuing to make improvements will grow your program like many have done before you. 

Good luck! If this only brought more questions to your mind, ask away in the comments and check out the other blog posts we have available.