How would one go in proposing to your OC the creation of a squadron band

Everyone Uniform and Drill
1

Sea Cadets play the music at our remembrance, not even from our town.
Nobody really appreciates just marching anymore, when there is sea cadets here playing their little melodies.
Lets face it, we want the spotlight shone on us.

How would one create a band and get their OC on-board?
How many people would you need to start a band?

2

To set expectations…Its a struggle and really painful. 99% of them become a vanity project that fails.

Influence the OC with a clear thought out plans of how and why.

You would need several already musical trained cadets, the scenario you describe sounds like traditional style band, so Bb Brass or Bell lyres and Drums at a min or a musically talented/coach member of staff who can train then theres the complexity of instruments and storage of them. Also, instruments are crazy expensive, so need to budget that

My best advice is start small, maybe a corps of drums and go from there. Reach out to Wing/Region bandmasters for support.

Final thought…no band is better than a really bad cadet band

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thanks, ill ask other cadets to see if they’d be interested in that,

but a corps of drums to start out does sound good, i’ll get a list of cadets who want to start one, and see if we can assemble one.

our squadron is quite heavily funded. we are getting a radio tower and a new minibus soon, so i dont think money will be the problem.

my main concern here is seeing if any member of staff are musically talented, if not, then i’m not sure what i’d do from there.

Cheers.

4

Join a wing band and learn there.

That may have been well thought out and planned, raised for. Sqn finances are very carefully planned out.

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Had this at my Sqn - what I would want to know as OC are the practicalities.

  • how many are interested?
  • what is the current skill level?
  • which staff member(s) is going to surpervising
  • what & how many instruments are you wanting to have?
  • how much will this cost?
  • where is the kit going to be stored?
  • how to you keep sustainability for more than 5 years?

One option might be see if you can get the sea cadets to help you train - maybe a corps of drums?

If the local ACF & SCC are up for it, you could go for a tri-service corps of drums to help spread the cost (& the staff burden)

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6

Hi there!

It’s great to see an interest in band development. I would echo the same questions and concerns listed above.

I’ve previously helped to build up my Sqn and Wing band and have been a part of the Regional team for a number of years.

In terms of going to your OC to get one started, I’d recommend thinking of answers to the questions above first and then going and proposing. Once your OC has their relevant discussions and hopefully provides you with the yes you’re looking for, I’d then seek support from your Wing MusO. They may be able to facilitate experienced cadets from your Sector or other areas in the Wing to come down to your Sqn and help you out with getting things up and running.

My advice is to 100% start off small with a Corps of Drums (includes bell lyres) and get the basics going first. For this to happen you’ll need those experienced set of drummers and musicians to help with tuition and an appointed Sqn Bandmaster to eventually issue badges.

If you need any specific advice, feel free to PM me.

7

Apologies for necroposting,

However, I managed to get into the wing band.

I doubt there was much interest of music stuff in my sqn, as only I and another cadet has any music knowledge.

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