Has anyone ever . . .

[Crown_2010]

Has anyone ever come back from a camp so unbelievably psyched to only have a teacher / professor come and tell them that drum corps is a waste of time?

I had a professor actually tell me that drum corps is not part of my education and that it's "just a hobby and nothing more." I mean . . . it's not a career, but how could someone call it "just a hobby."? But, yeah, when I told this person that I thought it was a valid part of my education (as a person and as a musician), they simply said "no, I'm sorry, but it's not." And, that was the end of that discussion.

I even had another professor, completely unprovoked, call me to their office to "question my priorities" because I march corps . . . and this was after missing 2 rehearsals for camp THE ENTIRE YEAR.

Does anyone have any thoughts or ways to talk to people who just don't understand the caliber of what DCI has to offer to students?

[Kyle B]

The opposite in fact. My teacher never heard of it, and didn't really care that I was going. He said that since I came back, I project more, my sense of tempo improved greatly, and I had more confidence, and that if anyone was in my position later on, he'd recommend it for them. So, drum corps won the mind of someone in the NY Phil.

[DanjrusMcRynky]

I have had the same experiences with a few of my previous instructors. In fact the conversation was almost identical to yours. I dont know what to do about it, just keep on top of our own stuff and make sure were present and accounted for for both groups as much as possible.

Side note, but still related:

Basically, anybody who considers themselves a musician and then goes and bashes another kind of music or another way of playing it, isn't as much of a musician as they at first thought they were.

[GGarrett]

I only got grief/aggravation from my high school band director... who felt that drum corps playing style (at the time) was detrimental to technique and finesse. He was also annoyed by it's infringement on his band schedule into the late weeks of spring and the early return to school of the band members. I was never too sure, but I always kind of felt he was irritated (and thought I was showing off) by my ability to memorize the music quickly and watch him... which most of the other percussionists could not do... and stay with his erratic conducting. He couldn't blame ME for losing the beat when I was on snare or bass or tymp... I was on him like a hawk!

He was a moron anyway. Taking a chance musically for him was playing "Fanfare for the Common Man" ... too much percussion.

[HockeyDad]

I had a professor actually tell me that drum corps is not part of my education and that it's "just a hobby and nothing more." I mean . . . it's not a career, but how could someone call it "just a hobby."? But, yeah, when I told this person that I thought it was a valid part of my education (as a person and as a musician), they simply said "no, I'm sorry, but it's not." And, that was the end of that discussion.

Well....is there something wrong with it being a "hobby and nothing more"? Trying to be delicate here - sure, it's part of your life experience. Absolutely. And a darn good one. Just like everything you do growing up is part of your life experience and part of what makes you who you are. In that sense I guess you could call it "part of your education." But, part of your Education, as in, you should actually get college credit for it? I agree drum corps is part of your education as a young adult. But maybe you and your prof were talking past each other? You were talking education in a global sense, whereas he or she was talking about education specifically as it relates to your college degree? Otherwise, not sure why he / she would care. Except maybe in a high-brow snooty way maybe you music major "insiders" know about where certain factions look down their noses at other factions.

[GGarrett]

yeah well it sure turned into a heck of a "hobby" for the likes of Fred Sandford, Jim Campbell, Rob Carson, Ralph Hardimon, Jeff Fiedler, Scott Stewart, Wayne Downey, Dave Gibbs, Dennis DeLucia, George Hopkins... shall I go on?

[raphael18]

Guess I'm lucky - every teacher/instructor I've ever run into loves it. Often times, all I need to do is mention that I did corps (they don't even ask which until after I'm hired often), because they know the kind of hard working people that it produces. Being a vet has opened several performance and instructional opportunities for me where it would have otherwise been more difficult.

Then again, I have always been against the type of close minded/elitist instructors you are talking about - so, I wouldn't have done well under them regardless.

Edited May 19, 2008 by raphael18

[corps-mudgeon]

Something most college students don't understand is that the professor is not really the boss. You definitely have to work towards their standards to be successful in their classes, but the bottom line truth of the situation is that you are a paying customer and they are providing a service to you. Unfortunately, a lot of professors don't understand that either.

As a mindset though, you are not required to go in and lick their shoes. As you have already figured out, they are people too and don't know everything (although like some people in general, some professors like to THINK they know everything).

If you want to attend a particular learning institution, the practicality of the situation dictates that you don't give your professors any grief. But if you understand that there's nothing magical about any particular department, one possible (although probably not likely or even desirable) option is to exercise your freedom of choice and find a school that shares (or at least accepts) your priorities. (When you chose this school, did you go to the music department and ask them what their opinion of drum corps was and if they'd support your participation in the activity?)

I would never counsel someone to do something self-destructive, but knowing that YOU are the one paying THEIR salary puts the student-professor relationship into wonderful perspective, and might help you find the balance in your own mind that you might be looking for.

[FTNK]

This is a very good discussion topic. For me, my marching years were kindof tough because I felt like I had to live a double life: if the corps people knew I was a bassoonist, they would have been looked at me differently than a "real" brass player, and if my music professors knew I was doing corps, they would have thought I wasn't dedicated enough to my instrument. So my bassoon professor never knew I marched, though after every summer he said my sound was improved and my technique had cleaned up. In an audition the one semester I did marching band in high school, the Wind Ensemble director asked me what I could possibly be doing in marching band. When I said tuba, his slightly annoyed, disappointed reply was "Well, at least you don't have to learn a new clef..."

But not all teachers are like that. My new bassoon prof was in the Michigan marching band for 4 years playing tenor sax despite his teachers' objections, and he was a big fan of DCI especially in the early '90s. I wore my trusty Cadets hoodie into a lesson once last semester and he said "Cadets, as in Cadets of Bergen County?" I was very pleasantly surprised and we've talked about corps a few times; he wishes he could have made time for it in his life.

Now, in terms of choosing corps over other things....I'll have to think about that whole thing some more.

[madscout96]

Side note, but still related:

Basically, anybody who considers themselves a musician and then goes and bashes another kind of music or another way of playing it, isn't as much of a musician as they at first thought they were.

I don't think that's a side note... I think that's a big part of the issue... freakin' musical elitests... academia has more than its fair share...