How Brass Band Contests Work
A Beginner’s Guide to Brass Band Contests
If it’s one thing I’ve had to explain more than the fact my instrument is not a trumpet, it’s brass band contesting. To be fair, as a bander I take this concept for granted, but it’s little surprise that competitive music-making, brass band league tables and sections are all a bit of a weird idea to those who aren’t in the community.
So whether you’re somebody who knows a bander, have heard a bit about brass band contesting and want to know more, or want an easier way to explain to a non-banding friend or relative how this contest malarkey works - this is the article for you.
What is a Brass Band Contest?
Brass band contests have been one of the defining traditions within our musical community for over 150 years. Without the brass band contest, we wouldn’t have the uniformed, regulated and organised movement we have today.
To sum it up as succinctly as possible, competitive bands are split up into five sections - similar to the football league table. At most traditional brass band contests, bands will compete by playing a piece against other bands in their relative section. The performance is adjudicated by at least one adjudicator (more commonly, two or three adjudicators). Those who succeed get a trophy, prize money and, depending on the type of contest, promotion to the section above. Those who don’t find favour with the adjudicator(s) end up at the bottom of the results table and, again, depending on the type of contest, risk relegation to the section below.
How British Brass Band Sections Work
As I mentioned before, there are five main competitive sections within British Brass Banding:
Championship Section (the top section)
First Section
Second Section
Third Section
Fourth Section
I won’t get into the ‘ins and outs’ of promotion and relegation at this stage, as it can get a bit tricky, but I’ll address that in a different post in the future.
At most contests, bands will only compete against other bands in the same section - i.e. a third section band wouldn’t compete against a fourth section band. There are some exceptions, such as Whit Friday, where all bands compete together, or contests that combine Championship and First section, but let’s not complicate matters if you’re just learning how it all works!
Exception to the rule
There is one major national competition that doesn’t use the above league table and instead has separate sections. That is the British Open and it’s feeder contest, the Spring Festival. Instead of the sections being split up into Championship, First etc. it has four sections:
British Open
Grand Shield
Senior Cup
Senior Trophy
The way you are promoted through the ‘league table’ is a lot more straightforward than the ‘National Championship’ league table I mentioned above. The process for this competition is as follows:
You secure an invite to the Spring Festival via another contest that has the invite as a prize (there are a few around the country)
If you win the Senior Trophy, you are promoted to the Senior Cup contest in the following year
If you win the Senior Cup, you are promoted to the Grand Shield in the following year
If you win the Grand Shield, you get to battle it out amongst the biggest bands in the UK and beyond at the biggest and oldest contest of the year - the British Open
Is it making sense so far?
Why Do Brass Bands Compete?
Back in the day, (the day being over 150 years ago), lots of towns and villages had bands, but they were scattered around all with different numbers of players and a wide, random variety of instrumentation. They would play in local churches, community events, bandstands and the like, but there was no real uniformity or organisation.
Although there were smaller, informal contesting events, including one at Burton Constable Hall near Hull in 1845, it was the 1853 British Open that has widely been regarded as the landmark event that birthed the brass band movement we know today.
The introduction of formalised contesting brought in rules and regulations surrounding instrumentation, numbers of players, and eventually the music that was played at the event. Without contesting, there’s a chance banding wouldn’t have survived to the present day.
In previous centuries, brass band contesting could be quite lucrative for the bands and individual musicians that competed. Prize pots were more significant than many contests today, so if you were successful on the contest circuit, it was good for your band’s coffers. Many bands were sponsored by businesses and organisations, so it was great advertising for them if they were sponsoring a top band that was winning prizes. Many top banders of the day secured jobs with these businesses, as they wanted top players in their band’s ranks to boost winning potential!
For the public, brass band contests were something of a spectacle that would draw large crowds from around the country. It was quite a popular form of entertainment. People would catch the train into venues like Belle Vue in Manchester and the Crystal Palace in London to watch the bands battle it out on stage.
Nowadays, with the rise in other forms of entertainment and technology, many brass band contests, sadly, don’t draw the crowds they used to, although there are a couple like the British Open, Brass in Concert that still draw a crowd and some smaller contests, like the Red Admiral Entertainment Contest and revival of Fleetwood Contest have proven that there is appetite for competitive banding out there. Prize pots have also dwindled considerably since the older days of banding due to lack of funding, with many cash prizes not even covering the cost to compete for a band.
So, if the audiences and prize money aren’t what they used to be, why do we still do it?
Well, that’s the million-dollar question and there is a lot of debate within the community regarding the answer. However, there are quite a few different potential answers that are understandable.
Progress
The first, most obvious one is that it gives bands something to aim towards, to uphold and progress standards. For many of us, it encourages improvement and pushes both players and musical directors to work at their craft.
Pride
The second is the pride and recognition that being in a competitive band can achieve. Big banding names, such as Foden’s, Flowers, Black Dyke, Cory, Brighouse and Rastrick have forged formidable reputations on the contest stage, which is one of the main reasons they are regarded as top bands today.
Enjoyment
The third is because many banders in the community enjoy it. Whether it’s the bit of pressure that comes along with it, the process of preparing a competitive performance, or the social side of contesting, for some, being part of a contesting band is the main reason they are still in banding altogether.
What Types of Brass Band Contest Are There?
There are a few different types of brass band contest, each with their own set of rules and registration methods. The main types of contest are:
Set test piece contest - bands compete against other bands in their section and they all play the same test piece or a choice of test piece from a selection picked by the contest’s test piece panel
Own-choice contest - bands compete against other bands in their section and each band selects their own piece to perform
March & Hymn contest - bbands compete against each other regardless of section (so, in theory a band in a lower section could beat a band in a section above and as well as overall prizes there are prizes for top bands in each section), they perform their own choice of hymn and contest march
Entertainment contest - bands usually compete against bands in their respective section and prepare a short programme of around 20 mins, which is adjudicated
Whit Friday march contest - bands compete against each other regardless of section- they play a road march followed by a contest march, the latter is adjudicated and then a results table is published - again, there are individual prizes for each section, but bands in lower sections could beat bands in the sections above them.
What are the biggest brass band contests?
The biggest brass band contests in the British calendar are:
National Championships of Great Britain
These comprise of a series of ‘heats’ known as the Regionals, where bands compete in their respective sections within their respective region. For example Scottish Bands compete in the Scottish Regionals, Bands in the North West of England compete in the North West Regionals, Welsh Bands compete in the Welsh Regional. Each band plays the same test piece assigned to their section. The top bands in each section, in each region then battle it out in the National Finals. The Lower Section (Sections 1-4) National Finals are held in York and the Championship Section National Finals are held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
British Open
Another set-work contest where the bands all play the same piece. This is the original brass band contest that started it all, so it is the oldest and most prestigious. Here are where the best bands in the country, plus some invited bands from overseas battle it out in Symphony Hall in Birmingham.
Brass in Concert
The biggest and most prestigious entertainment contest of them all. It’s by invitation only, so bands have to receive an invite to compete. It usually comprises of a mix of around 11 UK and international bands, each performing a 20-minute performance, where they try to outdo each other, not only in musical skill (as they are all top bands), but in other entertainment elements, such as the use of media, choreography, actors, dancers, costumes. It’s one of the most exciting brass banding events and a great introduction to competitive banding for those who have never seen it before. I would highly recommend!
European Brass Band Championships
This is an international competition and a band from each region - England, Wales and Scotland - has to earn their qualification to compete against bands from around Europe on a big international stage. It consists of two days of competing. On the first day, bands will all individually perform a set test piece, chosen by a panel. On the second day, each band will perform a piece of their own choosing, with some commissioning brand new test pieces to perform, which is exciting.
Whit Friday
Whit Friday is part spectacle, part contest. It’s one of the biggest banding events in the calendar and the one that receives the most support from the public, with thousands turning out to watch the bands. It’s a march contest consisting of bands travelling to villages across Tameside and Saddleworth, jumping off the coach to play a road march down to a venue in the village where they play a contest march before back on the coach, heading to another village and repeating the process.
What Happens at a Brass Band Contest?
Each type of contest involves a different process, but for the sake of ease, let’s take a look at the traditional contest where a band plays either a set-work or own-choice.
The Draw
Each band has a designated time slot for their performance during the contest. However it needs to be decided which order the bands will play in and therefore each band must take a draw. So, for example in a section of 13 bands, there will be 13 slots to draw for. Very few contests are pre-drawn, where the band knows in advance which slot they will play in, so before their section starts, each band within a section will send a representative (either a player or someone connected to the band) to the draw. They will usually pick a disc or a ball with a number on it, and the number they draw is the slot they will play, i.e. if you draw number 1, the band will be the first to play.
Typically, nobody wants draw number 1 and very few want to draw the last slot either!
Adjudication
Now the reason for so much secrecy regarding the draw is because most contests have what is known as ‘blind adjudication’. This means that the adjudicator(s) are sat in a box or behind a curtain and don’t know which band is playing. During each band’s performance, the adjudicator will jot down their remarks on a piece of paper and give each band a placing which will determine the results at the end.
Changing/Warm-up Rooms
Most bands will turn up in a less formal ‘walking out’ uniform, which can consist of a polo top and jeans or trousers, a blazer or soft-shell jacket or a hoodie with the bands colours and logos. This is to avoid spilling or ruining our contest uniform, which we’ll change into before taking to the stage.
For most of us, the contest uniform consists of black trousers/skirt, white shirt, bow tie and what is known as a ‘lion tamer’ or concert jacket, which is a cropped blazer in the bands colours and braiding. Some bands have done away with this traditional uniform, opting for dinner jackets for the men and black dresses for the women, or waistcoats or polo tops, but many of us still wear the traditional uniform.
Some contests offer separate rooms away from the stage to allow bands the chance to warm up and play through a few hymns or bars of the test piece before heading out to stage. If this isn’t an option, it’s a case of keeping your mouthpiece warm in your pocket or remembering a practice mute, so you don’t have to go onto stage with a cold instrument!
Registration
Most contests require players to be registered to their respective bands. We all have our own little registration cards (basically like a banding passport with your picture, the band you play for, the date you registered with the band and stamps from each contest you’ve done). Before you take to the stage, you queue at the banding equivalent of ‘customs’ which is one or two volunteers sitting at a desk with a list of names of the band about to take to the stage. One by one, we approach the banding ‘customs officers’ present our card, they check that all is present and correct, stamp the card and tick your name off the list.
The Performance
Each band will nominate a ‘set-up’ team made up of people within the band, who will take to the stage a few moments before the performance to ensure stands, seats and percussion are in the right place for the performance. The whole band then take to the stage to perform the piece they’ve been spending the last few weeks or months working on. The compere introduces the band with their draw number (i.e. The band who’ve drawn number 4) to keep the band’s identity a secret from the adjudicator(s) behind the curtain. The compere will then tell the adjudicator to blow their whistle to signal that they are ready to hear the band’s performance.
The silence waiting for the whistle is sometimes more nerve-wracking than the performance itself!
Once the whistle is blown, it’s eyes down and pray you remember everything you’ve worked on in rehearsal!
Results
After all the bands have played, the adjudicator will take to the stage with the compere. They’ll give an overview of what they heard, what they looked out for, and some pointers on what bands did well/not so well. After this speech (which varies in length and therefore varies in frustration from the banders who just want to hear the results!), the results and prizes are announced.
Socialising
As well as being competitive, contesting is an incredibly sociable events. Over the years we make friends with people in other bands and contests offer the opportunity to meet up and have a chat over a drink. Once bands have played, they very often congregate in nearby pubs and bars to meet up with pals and relax with their bandmates after the performance.
A Long-standing Brass Band Tradition
In short, contesting forms a large part of the brass band DNA. It’s a little known cog in the mechanics of British culture and sadly something that many of the wider public don’t know about. It’s survived two world wars, recessions, dissolution of the industries in which most bands were formed and even a global pandemic where contests moved online (yes, really! A topic for another time, but it happened!). It’s a tragedy that it isn’t more widely publicised, as it should be supported more, but that’s one of the reasons this publication exists - to try and shine a spotlight on the passionate, resilient and dedicated British musical community that is brass banding.
So now, you’re all clued up on how brass band contests works, explore the guides section of It’s Not a Trumpet to find out more about how the brass band world works.
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