Hi there, I was just curious to how you could start a band at squadron level (if there was enough general interest of course).
Many thanks!
If you’re talking about a non marching band, then what my sqn did was just say, bring your instruments up today and play. And then they also brought their own sheet music.
Then you could enter completions if you want.
If you were talking about a marching band then I don’t have sufficient knowledge to answer.
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All you need to start a squadron band is two things: cadets and instruments. How you manage it is up to you - there is no one size fits all when it comes to a cadet bands! It doesn’t have to be a marching band, you can quite easily put together an ensemble from the mix of instruments your cadets has and there is plenty of music available online.
Best bet is to ask your wing band/music officer. They will be able to recommend which kit/instruments would be best for starting up your squadron band within a reasonable budget, help with instruction and possibly help get some music to get you started.
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Contact your wing bandmaster.
They could come down and do an interest evening, where they bring instruments down.
After a few evenings, we bought our own instruments and went from there.
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Decent instruments cost a lot of money. Nottingham drum centre has a lot of good instruments. There are a lot of others, so shop around.
We have Mayfield bell lyres, but they do cost about £450+. But very easy to learn, with or without music.
You could ask the local community for any instruments as well. Our local scout and guide band was closing and we bought some of their instruments.
Also generous benefactors!
Good luck. Although we cant charge. For a decent band you can get some very generous donations!