Plan a show that fits the band you'll actually have in October.

Most show problems get decided in February.

You hear them in October, but by then they're already in the music.

• The opener sits right where your second trumpets run out of air.
• The ballad solo was written for a senior who just graduated.
• The show runs 40 seconds long, and nobody planned where to cut.
• Licensing started in May, and nothing can be written until it clears.
• Your arranger guessed at your instrumentation because nobody sent real numbers.
• None of these are talent problems. They're planning problems, and every one of them can be caught on paper before a student learns a note.

What you'll have when you finish

Work through it over a few weeks this winter, ideally with your staff. You'll come out with a plan, not just a pile of ideas.

Nine chapters, in the order you'll make the decisions

1. StartIntroductionWhy the winter decision matters most, and how to use the workbook.
2. Ch. 1Look back before you look aheadDebrief last season with your staff, your judges' sheets and your students.
3. Ch. 2Start with your bandCount conservatively, aim at the middle of the band, and look at the whole program.
4. Ch. 3The idea and the musicConcept first, music first, or both at once. How to settle on one direction and keep it clear.
5. Ch. 4Your time limitKnow your circuit's window, add it up, and cut cleanly only if you have to.
6. Ch. 5Judging music for fitWhat to check in every piece so it stretches your band without breaking it.
7. Ch. 6Custom or catalogThe questions that decide it, what to ask any writer, and how to price the whole show.
8. Ch. 7Copyright without the panicThe permissions every show needs, who handles them, and the rights questions sound design raises.
9. Ch. 8Working with your arrangerReal numbers, requests by measure number, and keeping the whole design team in step.
10. Ch. 9The planning calendarFrom the November debrief to summer band, and what usually slips.
11. ExampleOne band, start to finishA made-up band's worksheets, filled in page by page, so you can see what useful answers look like.
12. ExtrasOne-page checklist and further readingA desk checklist for the whole process, and the books I'd hand a director who wants to go deeper.

See a few pages

The worksheets print on standard letter paper, or fill them in on screen. Tap a page to see it full size.

Before you buy