Leadership Team Application Requirements & Responsibilities

2021 Season

This page details the student leadership structure of the Cowboy Marching Band for the 2021 season. Each section will have several Section Leaders, with one or two of them being designated as Music Section Leaders depending on the size of the section and number of qualified applicants.

Please note that all candidates selected to serve in a leadership role will be required to attend the CMB Leadership Retreat unless excused by a director IN ADVANCE. We will send more details regarding the date and location soon. Failure to attend leadership camp will result in removal from the leadership team (unless the absence was excused in advance). If you are applying for more than one position, you only need to complete each stage of the application process one time.

The table below highlights some of the responsibilities and expectations for each leadership position. While this is not an exhaustive list, it is intended to give some insight into what is expected of the individuals filling each position.

Job Responsibilities & Expectations	Drum Major	Music Section Leader	Section Leader
Possess strong leadership characteristics	X	X	X
Exhibit a positive attitude	X	X	X
Possess ability to teach band members of all marching and playing abilities	X	X	X
Exhibit strong work ethic	X	X	X
Communicate appropriately with director at weekly leadership meetings	X	X	X
Encourage high morale from band throughout season	X	X	X
Motivate members to march and play at a high level throughout season	X	X	X
Have the respect of your peers	X	X	X
Exhibit excellent musicianship	X	X
Teach marching fundamentals and drill to section members	X	X	X
Run efficient and productive music sectionals		X
Lead stretching routine with full band and teach fundamentals to band at director’s discretion	X
Possess excellent conducting technique	X
Study game management with director (when to play or not play in stands during games)	X

Section Leader Application Process

• Submit the CMB Leadership Application no later than Friday, November 20th, at 11:59 pm. Applications must be completed online using the link above.
• Complete an interview November 30 – December 4. Sign-up sheets will be posted online after the application deadline has passed.
• After the application deadline, your section members will have an opportunity to evaluate those applying for leadership positions within their sections. They will be asked to rate candidates in the areas of responsibility, leadership ability, marching ability, and musicianship, and others. They will also have the opportunity to write a few general comments about the candidates in their section. These responses from section members will be sent to the directors and remain confidential.

Drum Major Application Process

• Complete all requirements of the Section Leader process, PLUS:
• Complete the conducting audition on December 4th.
  • The first part of the conducting audition will consist of conducting 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 patterns in normal, legato, and marcato styles. Candidates may be asked to conduct at tempos of 68, 92, 108, 120, 144, 152, or 160 (without consulting a metronome).
  • The second part of the conducting audition will consist of the candidate conducting to a recording of an excerpt from a recent CMB show. Those candidates auditioning for Drum Major will receive the score and recording to the audition music from the directors on April 11th.

Return to the main Leadership Team Application Page