Band Of Brothers - Putting Army Music To The Test

The top man in Army Music has been visiting The Band of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment in Liverpool – but it wasn’t a social call. 

To ensure they’re fit to represent the British Army, the reservist band must be inspected by a board of examiners. 

Aged anywhere between 19 and 65, the standard within the band is extremely high, with a minimum of grade 8 required just to be considered.

But that doesn’t make it any less tense.

Once every 3 years, the band is inspected by the Principal Director of Army Music. 

If they fail the test, they’ll be taken off the road.

Every facet of the band will be scrutinised, from their musical ability to their admin and how well kept their store cupboard is.

The first test is sight reading, which involves performing in front of their examiners a piece of music the musicians have never seen before.

Once the sight readings complete, the examiners pick 3 of the band's ensembles. 

In the last cuts, military music remained untouched. According to the principal, this is due to the importance of community engagement.

The band must now wait an agonising 2 weeks to find out if they’ve passed.

However, with such a sleek set of performances under their belts, their unlikely to have anything to worry about.