As a band director or corps staff member

[KeithHall]

There are other corps out there looking for people.....Pioneer comes to mind. I think the problem is that everyone wants to be with a "winner" and you can get the same experience from the other World corps.

When you have a student who is not likely to make their "dream" corps, how do handle this? Do you feel it is best to tell them they aren't likely to succeed, and save them alot of audition/camp fees, or do you encourage them to go for it?

As a band director, I always encourage my students to go out for corps. The musical rewards last a lifetime, and the experiences are amazing. However, once in awhile you'll get a student of a little less than average musical talent, and they think they are going to be able to just walk in and make the cut for Cavaliers, or Blue Devils, or Cadets.

I was wondering how other band directors handle these situations.

[notelvis]

As a High School Counselor (former band director), this is a topic that comes up....not frequently....from time to time.

The key is to educate the student that DCI is more than just a half-dozen super corps and that the drum corps experience is so rewarding that you need to go for it somewhere else and not just keep getting cut from Carolina Crown's drumline every fall.

I cite Crown from a recent example.......a student of ours who has now gone on to a nearby college. He is so hot to march and has even done drum corps now at the DCA level. He has a couple of years DCI eligibility left and wants to give Crown one more try......but is willing now to look at a couple of corps in the lower half of the top 12 for the first time.

THIS is progress for this young man. If he had come to this point a couple of years ago, I would have been selling hard a couple of corps I know who are often done Friday night even.

Edited September 8, 2009 by notelvis

[noneofyourbusiness]

When you have a student who is not likely to make their "dream" corps, how do handle this? Do you feel it is best to tell them they aren't likely to succeed, and save them alot of audition/camp fees, or do you encourage them to go for it?

As a band director, I always encourage my students to go out for corps. The musical rewards last a lifetime, and the experiences are amazing. However, once in awhile you'll get a student of a little less than average musical talent, and they think they are going to be able to just walk in and make the cut for Cavaliers, or Blue Devils, or Cadets.

I was wondering how other band directors handle these situations.

Give the less than average student a D .

[BigDale]

Sometimes the best thing that can happen, ironically, is when someone tries out the first time and doesn't make it, or even come close. It may help them to realize where they are really at, and maybe set their immediate sights more realistically. Kids with real drive and ambition will work hard to improve. In this activity, there is a level/room for everybody.

GB

GO FOR IT! And I supply info for different types of groups that could meet the same goals, such as alumni corps and smaller corps in the area, or even pipe bands or similiar groups that cost thousands less to join. If someone had told me that I would never make Santa Clara or ever be a drum major, let alone of a corps like the Kilties, I may have believed them. Believe in every kid, because you never know just how far they WILL achieve.