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15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by Krad Bent on 7/28/2026, 11:50 am

I’ve noticed a handful of schools that started full band camp last week. With the UIL’s restriction on 15 hours of supervised visual fundamentals instruction between the last day of school and August 1st, I have to wonder how these groups could possibly be in compliance with UIL.

If your full band met 3 days last week and 5 days this week (August 1st isn’t until Saturday), you’d have to average less than 2 hours of visual fundamentals a day to not violate the rule.

There are even more groups that did a May/June mini-camp after the last day of school in addition to these late July rehearsals. My understanding is that May/June time also counts towards the 15 hours if it happens after the last day of school.

Looking at publicly available calendars, I’ve seen some bands that are having 60+ hours of full band rehearsal between the last day of school and August 1st. I find it hard to believe these groups are not violating the 15 hour rule.

Am I crazy?

Re: 15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by Rule follower on 8/2/2026, 9:23 pm, in reply to "15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals"

We've had 8 days of summer band. We've done less than 15 hours of marching fundamentals. Day 1 was only an hour, we bumped it up a little bit from there. It's hot and humid, we have to acclimate slowly. We also did music in groups large and small, uniforms, photos, more music, all-region clinics, stand tunes, memory drills, team building, and long lunch breaks every day so the kids have some downtime and have time to go off campus.

Re: 15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by Exercise on 8/1/2026, 2:07 pm, in reply to "15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals"

I bet some schools are rotating sections or grade levels for visual fundamentals at different times.

Re: 15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by HCBD on 7/30/2026, 8:19 pm, in reply to "15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals"

We meet 8 hours X 4 days this week + 8 Hours X 3 days last week. So 56 Hours right?

Nope

We did 2 Hours of Marching Fundamentals a day so it was only 14 Hours.

We can work on Music as much as we want.

If it is that important to you, turn them in - I am sure there are schools breaking the rule but most are not.

Re: 15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by Just maybe on 7/30/2026, 6:48 pm, in reply to "15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals"

They were:
Rehearsing music
Doing leadership camps
Fitting for uniforms
Having music pass offs
Physical training

There’s a lot you can do that doesn’t involve visual content.

Re: 15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by well on 7/30/2026, 12:45 pm, in reply to "15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals"

You could always contact those directors and ask? It is definitely possible that they are not doing 2 hours of visual fundamentals. It's hot outside.

Re: 15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals

Posted by WBB on 7/30/2026, 12:41 pm, in reply to "15 Hours of Visual Fundamentals"

We do not know how other schools schedule their rehearsals. One example I have seen from some schools that start last week is that they did 4 hour blocks each day that were split 90 minutes marching and the rest music. That would still keep them under 15 hours with time to spare. Unless we have proof of rule violations to report to UIL, it is not our job to police or suspect of a violation.

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