Beyond the Kit: Indoor Winter Drumline

Guest Blogger: John Mapes via Eric Nix. Thanks, gentlemen!


Why should music programs include winter drumline?


We wouldn't ask football players to train for four months playing soccer to then introduce them to the game of football for the remainder of the year... Would you expect your color guard program to be very good every year if they took eight months off in-between marching seasons? The indoor percussion activity was started on this philosophy with these principles in mind.


To run a successful, effective marching percussion program, you need/desire at least 20-30 percussionists in the fall. What do those 20-30 students do from December through June? You only need so many percussionist for wind ensemble, and percussion ensemble is great, but it is still hard to build the excitement that marching percussion inherently has to the masses. 


The two seasons fall hand in hand for the percussion side of things. It is very difficult to have a great fall marching percussion program without some sort of year round training. For wind players, the skill sets from the field to the chair are very similar and work together to give those students what they need  year round. For marching percussion it simply is different. Obviously there still needs to be some wind ensemble percussion training and experience happening in the class room, but what about after school?

Ignore the hard-hat-wearing construction shows and the "Zombies from outer-space" shows you may have seen. There are some incredible displays of musicianship that are possible in this activity, and it is our job as educators to make sure that is the goal. It is our responsibility to produce an experience that is founded in legitimate musical concepts to demonstrate to the rest of the community that this activity is valid. 


Every time I do a percussion circuit clinic someone always asks how they can promote growth in their circuit. The answer is simple - put out better products that entice other groups and band directors to want to participate! Maybe the electronic techno remix show with the volume level of "as loud as possible" or the artsy show where the deep meaning is so deep that even you don't know what the show is about aren't the best choices to promote local growth. (Was the the tribute to Britney Spears really the right choice?)

The argument I often hear is, "What about preparing students for college?" For myself, I never played much concert percussion in high school, but simply took what I learned from the marching activity and applied it when I went through the college percussion process. The importance of consistency, tempo control, simultaneous responsibility, team work, time management and - of course - the love for drumming are enough to prepare our students to achieve whatever they want. 


Most of my students will not continue in music for many reasons and I have no problem with that. Real life is scary and music is not the easiest path to pursue. I just want my students to get the best opportunity and experience they can have while they are involved in music.

The Weight Room: Flams

The Flam is one of the most basic rudiments.

And I'm going to give you one of the most basic pieces of advice you'll ever get about playing it.

The way to good, clean flams is simply to keep the strokes separate (unless you're trying to play flat flams). And what I mean by 'separate' is to keep the main stroke high and the grace note low. There are numerous opinions on how much lower/softer the grace note should be from the main note, but a general rule of thumb is to keep as much separation as the music will allow.

Take two objects of similar weight, size and shape. Imagine two basketballs. If you drop them from a given height, they'll hit the ground at the about the same time and with about the same force. But if you drop one from a lower height, it will hit the ground slightly earlier and with slightly less force. As you increase the difference in height, you increase the difference in the arrival time and force.

So, logically, your sticks are two objects of similar weight, size and shape. If you "drop" them from the same height, they hit at the same time with the same volume (force). This is a flat flam (which we'll talk about another time). If you want to create a normal, concert/rudimental snare drum flam, you start the grace note stick very low, and the main note much higher (depending on the dynamic level, accents, etc.). Then, just let gravity take over and play the notes.

Especially when it comes to concert and rudimental snare drumming, don't underestimate the power of good ol' physics. Gravity pulls down, and sticks/heads bounce up. Your fingers and hands are just there to help and control (and, of course, do cool visual stuff, twirls and stick flips). So don't think that you have to do all the work. As one of my old instructors puts it, "Let the sticks do the work."

I hope this helps your flams. As always, stay relaxed, use your ears, and rely on good technique. Those things will get you everywhere you want to go.

Happy drumming!