With over 130 students in Independence’s marching band, building a sense of unity between sections can pose a challenge.
However, one team of students, known as section leaders, have become an integral part of the school’s music community.
Currently, the band has 15 section leaders, who work together to guide and instruct their individual sections, while facilitating connection between players. As the band prepares for competitions and showcases, they are crucial in helping to work on necessary skills and techniques.
“A section leader’s main job is to lead by example and inspire their peers,” Daniel King, the band’s director, said. “They are tasked with always performing at their very best, and encouraging the other members of their section to do the same.”
To focus on developing their section’s skills, leaders hold sectionals, or rehearsals that target specific parts of the performance with just one section.
“My section has done four or five sectionals where we work on spots where marching isn’t the best it can be,” Amrutha Kothakota, a sophomore and the flute section leader, said. “They’ve put so much hard work into these, and try their hardest to fix aspects such as marching style, choreo, and flute angles– even when they’re tired. I think they’ve been doing really well, by taking that feedback and incorporating [it] into rehearsals.”
The leaders also take steps to strengthen their section’s comradery.
“The best section leaders take time on their own to build section culture among their section-mates, and have the initiative to solve problems that they see arise,” King said.
Some band members feel section leaders are essential for providing guidance during practices.
“I switched from regular clarinet to bass this year, so I’m still learning how to do different techniques,” sophomore Sneha Alluri, a bass clarinet player in the band, said. “[My] section leader has helped me [develop] these [skills].”
For many, being a leader is a way to give back to the band.
“After my freshman-year summer band camp ended, I realized that the environment and sense of community that the IHS band program harnesses is extremely valuable,” junior Rajitha Sai Banda, the saxophone section leader, said. “It really fed into my desire to give back to the band by serving it through the leadership team.”
In addition to collaborating with others, section leaders also gain valuable life skills.
“Being a section leader has definitely taught me how to learn from other people and be more receptive to criticism,” Ryan Jones, a senior and the front ensemble section leader, said. “As a student leader, I am obviously not perfect, but I’ve taken many important skills and lessons from my directors and fellow leaders that I use to help me lead my section through the marching season.”
As the season progresses, the band, including its section leaders, is steadily working towards a goal of improvement in all areas. Their next competition, the UIL Marching Contest, will be held on Oct. 14.
“We have a very high standard for ourselves– and the bar is continually rising,” King said. “We will never accept where we are- improvement must be continual or we are going backward.”
