2026 Drum Major Application

Applicant Information

First Name

Last Name

Honor Band in the Rose Parade section:

Application Questions

Years of marching band experience.

ex. 3 years

Years of drum major experience.

ex. 2 years

How do you react when a staff member demands higher levels of performance for YOU as a leader, conductor, or marcher?

Before an outdoor rehearsal, what is your role as drum major to prepare?

Describe a high pressure situation you have faced as a leader and how you reacted.

Describe a way that you would recruit 4-5 additional students to join the Honor Band in the Rose Parade either from your school, or other schools in your area.

Please list any musical achievements you would like to share.

Video Audition Requirements

Please record four separate videos that include all elements listed under each section. You may only edit the videos to combine clips together, if desired.

#1 - Self Introduction

First and Last Name
Age
Years of marching band experience
Previous drum major experience

As you complete the rest of the videos, announce each element and then execute it.

#2 - Conducting with a metronome

Conduct at least 8 measures of each time pattern at each tempo.

4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and 6/8 time at 80, 120, 140 bpm

Demonstration of switching from a slow pattern to a fast pattern with the inclusion of a fermata and cutoff.

#3 - Marching Style Technique at an 8 to 5 step

Forward March
Backward March

Conducting while moving backwards

Transition front to back and transition back to front

#4 - Vocal Commands

Any THREE commands that you already know. Focus on projection, clarity, and presence.

Video Audition Submission

Please upload your video files to YouTube as “unlisted”; this allows us to view them when provided the link, but does not make them public.

An unlisted video is different than a private video. “Unlisted” means that only people who know the link to the video can view it. An unlisted video will not appear in any of YouTube’s public spaces (such as search results, your channel, or the browser page). We will not be able to review a video that has been set to private.

Here’s how:

Sign into or create your YouTube Account
Go to your My Channel page
If you need to upload a video, click on the upload arrow in the upper right banner and skip to step 5.
If you want to edit a video you’ve already uploaded, go to the Video Manager
Select the video which you’d like to make an unlisted video. Click the Edit button to access the video’s settings.
Go to the Privacy section of the page. There you’ll see the option to mark your video as “unlisted,” “public,” or “private.” Select unlisted.
Click the Save Changes button. Once you’ve done this, your video will be an unlisted video.
Copy the “Video URL” found to the right of the video in Video Manager (under “video information”), and paste the link below.

Link to video #1 - Self-Introduction

Link to video #2 - Conducting

Link to video #3 - Marching Techniques

Link to video #4 - Vocal Commands

Contact Information