Every band director I know who deals with beginners finds almost each year a disproportional flock of new students determined to play the drums. Being the ideologues we are, we want to give each student their instrument of choice, but being, also, the pragmatists we have been forced to become, we know that some of these young hopefuls have to be culled lest we find ourselves presiding over some monstrous musical montage that only a mother could love.
We don’t want to deprive the world of another Louis Bellson, yet we have to make a series of decisions that will ultimately cause disappointment and perhaps disillusionment to our budding percussionists, all for the greater good and wellbeing of the band. What are we to do?
I suppose that during my career I have made every mistake that could be made in this arena and that dozens of still battle-wearied former students can still strip their sleeves and show the scars they sustained from me and my various policies.
However, after a few years of wreaking death and destruction upon legions of frustrated young percussionists, I found a method that actually started to work for me, for the band, and perhaps most importantly, for the student without resorting to anything too Draconian.
I began telling my coveys of aspiring young cacophonists that they couldn’t start on drums, but could select from one of the woodwind or brass instruments. After the agonized groans began to subside, I would say, “Wait, there’s more! If you really excel on that instrument, next year you can switch to percussion.”
Despite the spontaneous outpouring of outrage, I stuck with it, and so did most of them.
What are the advantages of such a nonsensical policy? I am very glad you asked.
The payoffs just keep on giving. Here is a list of some of the more obvious ones.
a) The initial group of kids you get that want to play drums are there for reasons that have little or nothing to do with you and your precious band. These testosterone-laden, power-stricken young terrors are there to repeatedly hit things that make a lot of noise. This primal impulse creates within their psyches a certain rapturously exhilarating sensation which makes them want to do it again, and again, and yes, again. We know this sensation by its technical name – PAIN! But even these students can be nurtured and reprogrammed and unbelievable as it might sound, even turned into musicians.
b) The first time the band plays “Mary Had a Little Lamb” together, all the woodwind and brass players have a brainful of new skills they are thinking about: are my fingers in the right place?, am I articulating correctly?, am I supporting the sound?, is my tone decent?, am I holding the instrument correctly?, and on and on. What are our friends back there in the percussion section thinking about? Thunking on the beat, period!
c) At the end of the year, you have an entirely different set of students than you had at the beginning. The kids who really want to play percussion are still nagging you about it and still excelling on their second choice of instruments. You move them to the percussion, and voila!, two weeks and a few forfeited lunchtimes later you have a percussion section that is as good or better than the one you would have had if they had played all year. Plus they can all read rhythms and pitches, they understand dynamics, melody, harmony better than they would have, and you have saved yourself some valuable time and unwanted misery. Not only that, they probably won’t complain when you suggest that they keep learning their wind instrument, as well.
Do you remember your college theory and ear training classes? Let me broadly generalize here, but in those classes do you recall how, with the possible exception of rhythmic dictation, the pianists were always the best, the vocalists and other instrumentalists were splayed across the middle ground, and the percussionists could pretty much be relied upon to bring up the rear. Ever wonder why that might be? I can think of a few drummer jokes that attempt to explain the phenomenon. While some of them are quite amusing, except perhaps, to drummers, their message tends to be a bit simplistic.
Consider this one little truism: your students will learn new material at the rate that is set for them. It doesn’t matter what method book you are using for your beginning band, your percussionists will not be learning the amount of new data and skills that will be expected of your other instrumentalists, and if you want to correct that disparity, it is going to cost you a great deal of your time and supplemental materials and extra rehearsals for your percussionists.
There are perhaps thousands of workable variations on this tactic (I can think of two) that could be useful. Who knows? Maybe someday the guy at the high school will be saying, “I don’t know how Joe does it, but every year he sends me percussionists who are just as knowledgeable, just as musical, and almost as civilized as his wind players.”
Carl Hammond Phd. composes music, plays piano, and as you've seen writes a mean, entertaining article. He's the CEO of:
www.musicalcompositions.net
where you can download purchased sheet music for concert bands, choirs,chamber ensembles,jazz groups. See it,hear it,download it, rehearse it. FREE Newsletter and FREE Special Report written by Carl Hammond a 35 year international music veteran.
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