New Beats!

We have just completed uploading the first of the "Essential Skills" series of exercises.  These exercise packets will each focus on a variety of skill sets that should be mastered by every rudimental percussionist.  Essential Skills for Battery Percussion: Volume 1 can be found under the new Beats section of the site.  This is also the new home of the Transcription Library.

Please download and share Volume 1 with your friends and look for more material in the near future!

Feeling the Beat

Feeling the music you're playing is something that's hard to teach but important to the progression of your performing. Feeling the groove, the rhythm, the beat of songs in your body means you are becoming part of the music and that is a sign of your maturity as a musician. There are some basic things we can all do to practice feeling the beat over a groove pattern...

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motivation and encouragement

Perfection is what this activity (drumline) boils down to. Every note, every step, every time. As staff we strive to minimize the opportunity in a show for things to go wrong, and as marching members we strive for consistent playing and marching to eliminate any errors during a performance. During the process of perfecting the show there is at least one point where we want to quit. As staff we need to know how to keep the members moving forward and motivated while making sure they know what needs to be worked on. In my time teaching I have run across a few factors which impact a student or members ability to stay motivated.

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The Line is Set: Now what?

All those hours of your work have paid off. You are now in the drumline! Once the elation of the event has passed you may have some of the following questions: * What do I practice? * How do I keep my spot? * When should I practice? Basically: "What do I do now?" There are a few basic rules that everyone should follow to maximize your potential and help push the line in the quest for excellence.

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The Traditional Grip

I wanted to take a look at the traditional grip for Snare Drummers. This style originates from a time period when all the drums were worn with slings and thus gets the name Traditional because it was traditionally how drummers played...

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Marking Time - The Basics

Marching percussion brings an element to playing music that a lot of people take for granted: moving. I want to take some time to explain some of the more basic principles involved with marching and playing. These include marking time, stepping off, and halting. Here's a run down of the basics of marching...

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