A Drill to Improve Your Marching

There is a very important aspect of any drum major's appearance.... that is the smoothness of their stride.

A good drum major appears to be gliding down the street or across the field. They may be moving forwards...backwards..to the side..but they have no up and down bouncing motion to their body.

There is a drill that helps develop a good marching stride. It's called "marching eight and eights".

The drum major fills a cup of water almost to the brim. He/she holds it straight out in front of them in one hand. They then begin to mark time for eight counts and then forward march for eight counts repetitively. The object is to not spill any of the water while marching.

This is done until the drum major can do ten sets of eight and eights in a row without spilling any of the water.

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