If You Don't March DCI or WGI, Can You Still Be Successful In The Marching Arts?

When I was in High School, the ultimate measure of someone in the marching band activity is if they marched Drum Corps.

Our Band Director did not march Drum Corps and we didn’t respect him as much because of that.

I’m so sorry about that Mr. B :(

If we met someone marched Blue Knights, oh wow cool.

If we met someone marched Blue Devils….OMG, “we’re not worthy!” (Check that 90’s reference lol)

Anytime you meet someone new in the activity, THE question is always asked:

“Where did you march?”

I guess that’s probably still a question that gets asked to this day in a very similar context.

But do you absolutely need to marching DCI or WGI to be successful in the activity?

I don’t know…I’ve met plenty of bad asses who never marched.

I know people in the activity today who teach amazing groups and have never marched in an independent group in their life.

In today’s online climate, I’ve seen so many crazy good drummers on social media and guess what?

Many of them haven’t marched either.

Am I saying don’t March Drum Dorps or join a WGI group just because you don’t need it to become successful in this activity?

Not at all!

If you march somewhere, trust me, you’ll learn a lot and you’ll get good.

But do you have to march to be successful in this activity…in my opinion, not at all!

What do YOU think?

Is it absolutely necessary to march an independent group to be considered a success in this activity?

For more perspective, make sure to watch the video below: