Okay…first let’s admit…all parents are biased. We are. That’s human nature. What our little Johnny or Betty does on the field is the BEST! Did you hear that solo? Did you see that rifle toss, triple turn, and catch? What about that tenor drummer playing upside down? We’re the BEST…how can the judges not see that?
I recently interviewed a ( not to be named because of fierce desire to be seen as completely impartial) DCI judge friend of mine to ensure the way I’ve been characeterizing scoring in laymen’s terms was at least somewhat correct. And with a few further characterizations, it has been. Here are some excerpts from our conversation that I hope will help parents, both old and new to the activity, understand what’s going on with the judges as they watch our favorite corps.
Mark: “So …Mr. Judge…the first thing I want to take on is the notion on the music and visual sections of the scorecard. Each judge has two sections to his score. The “Content” score and the “Achievement Score”…isn’t that correct?
Mr. DCI Judge: “That is correct. And they have two distinct purposes…”
Mark: “Okay…I want to keep this as simple to understand as possible. The way I understand the “Content” score is the judge recognizing the content the corps has programmed and is giving “credit” for the level of skill that would be required to perfect it. A degree of difficulty if you will. For instance, if the Cavaliers were to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” in slow tempo, there’s only so much “difficulty” to that as compared to them playing “Flight of the Bumblebee” and the difference in those two challenges is reflected in the “Content Section” of a music score…is that a proper characterization?
Mr. DCI Judge: ” Generally yes… Remember though, content has to do with that level of challenges displayed AND met by the performer(s), through real time, and done through a myriad of factors, ie simultaneous responsibilities, environmental challenges, spatial demands, etc. NOT in isolation. But for a general statement of understanding scoring, yes…you’ve got about 85% of the content section covered with your characterization.
Mark: “Okay, thanks! That last fifteen percent is a little difficult for me to completely understand, but that’s because I’m not trained DCI judge! Thank you. Moving on to the “Achviement” score ( I’ve also heard it called the Execution score)…Is that simply how well the corps actually executes the planned content?
Mr. DCI Judge: “In general, yes…you’ve nailed it. Although, execution deals with individuals or small sections, while content is more holistic (especially when dealing with upstairs sheets).”
Mark: “So is it a fair “gauge” that if a corps brass content score is a full point ahead of their achievement score that there is still “headroom” for the score to improve…and conversely, if the content and achievement score are almost identical, that particular caption is getting “maxed” out for scoring purposes?
Mr. DCI Judge: “At a particular point in time, perhaps. But this is a tricky one. Because the content score incorporates both level of challenges ( you said “degree of difficulty”….DCI judges say “level of challenges” ) being displayed AND met by performers, the content score is fluid and can still go up as the performers MEET the level of the challenge. So…a Content score on a show in late June will certainly not be set in stone by the “level of challenge”…it’s a breathing thing as the corps demonstrates the ability to MEET the level of those challenges. And yes I know that sounds like “achievement”, but its different and nuanced.”
Mark: “Okay…that sounds nuanced beyond my ability to characterize or explain. But safe to say that if on Prelims night in Championship weekend there is still a meaningful gap between Content and Achievement in any caption, there is meaningul headroom for the corps score to go up over that weekend…and more likely to go up than a corps whose content and achievement scores are almost identical?”
Mr. DCI Judge: ” For the sake of discussion, yes. That’s probably the most easy way to characterize the relationship between those two scores…and what they mean to the corps” chances of improving their score in that particular caption.”
Thanks to this judge for taking time out of his day to spend a little time with me. As we watch competitions unfold this season, I hope this will provide a helpful backdrop to the results.
And yes…the guy who told you three posts ago not to get caught up in scoring is ….well…getting caught up in scoring. But this is what helped me stop worry about scores. I know two DCI judges very well. And when I hear THEM talk about the activity, I become more and more convinced that they are just trying to do the very best they can to discern even the smallest differences from WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCES. It’s a tough job…and my hat is off to all of them.
In the next installment, we’ll talk about GE Scores, which are characterized slightly differently.
In the meantime, I hope this helps someone this summer when they are about to scream “The judges are morons! How can they NOT see we’re the best! ” Not that a Cavaliers parent would ever do that.
20 days til step off…can you tell it’s on my mind? 🙂
Rolling With the Cavaliers 