A guide to marching band contests
The marching contests we attend in a typical year vary in judging formats, scoring procedures, classification formats, etc., so it can be kind of confusing for new parents and students to know what’s going on at each contest. Here’s a basic guide to help you follow along with us during Bandtober.
Generally, marching band contests fall into two formats: ratings format and tournament format.
Ratings format: for these contests, bands receive an overall rating (“Division”) between 1 and 5 based on a set standard and how their performance meets that standard. You can consider each rating/division equal to a letter grade: 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D, 5=F. There are three judges at these types of contests, each of whom gives a rating. A band’s rating is an average between these judges, so for example, a band that receives a 1 1 3 will still receive a final rating of a 1.
Tournament format: for these contests, bands are ranked and placed in comparison to each other (1st place, 2nd place, etc.). Usually, these contests have at least five judges, each of whom are looking at a specific aspect of the band’s show: musical performance, visual performance (which can include guard), percussion performance, and general effect (which can also be called “content”).
Some contests also give out caption awards to recognize outstanding performances in a specific area, usually: outstanding colorguard, outstanding percussion, outstanding drum majors, outstanding visual performance, outstanding musical performance.
How are bands judged?
At ALL contests, bands are judged based on the following areas:
Musical performance: are the students playing in tune with good sounds? How well are they matching style/articulations? Are entrances and releases together? Is there effective dynamic (volume) contrast?
Marching/visual performance: are the students in step and matching foot/leg technique? Are they matching carriage and posture? Do visuals match from person to person? How well is colorguard spinning/tossing together?
At some contests, usually in tournament format, bands are also judged in “general effect” or “content”. Simply put, general effect is this: does the band’s musical performance and repertoire selection reinforce the visual aspects of the show and vice versa? In other words, how well do the music and visual aspects of the show contribute to the overall “mood” or “story” of the show.
General effect/content can be controversial among band directors because it tends to favor bands with more numbers and resources (number of props, flag silks, etc.) depending on how bands are classified at a given contest. A 200-person band can give a much bigger musical and visual impact on the field than a 50-person band. Plus, this area also gets into the area of personal taste between judges (based on a show’s musical selections or theme), and some band directors feel that bands should be judged strictly on how well they march and play.
Classifications
There are two ways of classifying bands for contests: by school size and by band size. This is another area that has been subject to much debate and controversy in the music education profession, but in a nutshell, most band directors prefer bands to be classified by band size. Confusingly, each contest has its own way of classifying bands which will be explained below.
Overview of each contest:
EPISD Marchfest – This contest is considered the “Pre-UIL” contest to help get first contest jitters out of the way and constructive feedback in preparation for UIL Contest. It uses ratings format but classifies bands by size and includes caption awards for each classification.
UIL Region Marching Contest – Since UIL oversees the official music, theater, academic, and athletic contests in Texas up to the state championships, this contest is often seen as the most important of the year. Band directors often refer to UIL as the STAAR Test for band. UIL uses Texas school size classifications for all its contests: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A (EPHS is a 5A school). At the region level, UIL utilizes a ratings format (no caption awards though). Bands that receive a division 1 final rating qualify to advance to the UIL Area Marching Contest. Also, bands that receive final division 1 ratings at their UIL marching, concert, and sight-reading contests are considered “Sweepstakes” bands (EPHS has achieved this distinction in 2008, 2024 and 2026, and was one of only three out of the ten band programs in EPISD to achieve this title last school year).
UIL Area Marching Contest and SISD Marchfest – These contests utilize a tournament format with five judges. Two judges focus on visual performance (including guard), and three judges focus on musical performance. UIL Area features all bands that received division 1 ratings from five different regions (FYI: El Paso is in Region 22, which stretches from Anthony to about Marfa, and in Area A which includes all far west Texas, the panhandle, and north of Dallas). On alternating years, the bands that rank the highest at area contest are selected to advance to the UIL State Marching Contest in San Antonio. UIL usually advances one band to state for every five bands at Area Contest.
Although judged using the same format, the SISD Marchfest differs from UIL by classifying bands based on the number of musicians performing (instead of school size; class C for small bands, class B for medium bands, class A for large bands). SISD Marchfest also includes caption awards: outstanding music performance, outstanding visual performance, outstanding percussion, outstanding drum majors.
NMSU Tournament of Bands (TOB)- This contest utilizes a tournament format and classifies bands by school size (based on New Mexico school size classifications). This contest also includes general effect as well as colorguard scoring categories. This contest features a prelims and finals format, where ten bands are selected for finals performance, regardless of classification.