Judging Marching Band Competitions

Many marching bands go to competitions to perform their show and be judged and ranked against other bands. The rules and scoring guidelines vary from competition to competition, but they are similar across the country. Similarly, the judges are all different, so all the rules are interpreted differently. Despite these variations, there are some basic guidelines that all judges generally follow when judging marching band shows.

The number of judges depends on the individual competition, but there are usually at least five. These include judges for colorguard, percussion, marching and maneuvering (M&M), music execution, and general effect (GE). Each category has an individual score that contributes to the total, which is added up to rank and place the bands. Each score is important and contributes to the total score, so it is not a good idea to neglect a certain category and focus too much on another. 

The first two categories are pretty self explanatory. There is a judge who watches and analyzes the colorguard only. This judge is typically on the field with the guard. He or she watches many things such as the complexity of the work, the quality at which it is performed, the basics of colorguard technique, and much more. This judge can comment on other aspects of the performance, but they are supposed to mainly focus on the colorguard. There is also an individual judge who judges the percussion sections, which include the drumline and front ensemble, or pit. This judge is also on the field and has to run back and forth between the front sideline to listen to the pit and the back of the field, which is typically where the drumline is written into the drill. The judge analyzes things such as how well the pit and drumline are lining up, how well they are lining up with the band, how the percussion music complements the music the winds are playing, the complexity of the music, and more. These two categories are specialized, but they still contribute to the overall score and are important.

The next two categories being judged are labeled marching and maneuvering and music execution. These judges are also on the field with the band. The M&M judge focuses on the marching of the band. He or she watches both the group as a whole and specific individuals. This judge comments on marching style, whether individuals are marching in time, upper body orientation, intervals and spacing, and more. Like the colorguard and percussion judges, this judge is free to comment on other aspects of the performance but they usually stick to their assigned area, which would be marching. The music execution judge can also focus on individuals or the sound the group is producing as a whole. This judge walks around and listens to everyone, so they can point out people who are not playing and dock points because of that. He or she also listens to the sound the group is putting out from the field. This does not sound as good as it does in the stands, but the judge can still determine whether it is quality music or not.

The final judge that most competitions have is the general effect judge. This judge sits up in the press box so he or she can observe the performance from above. He or she is free to comment on every aspect of the show. This judge analyzes how the show comes across to the audience, how effective the music and drill are, and how everything works together. All of these judges are very important and play a crucial role in the placement of the bands.