Beginners

[Pete Freedman]

In another thread Garfield pointed out the problem that many potential corps members may not even try out for a corps because they believe they are not good enough, given the evidence of the top corps. This would be a shame, given that many corps toward the bottom of the list would likely take most potential members willing to work at it.

I wonder how many people discover drum corps in the Fall when a friend announces they are trying out for a corps. After watching some videos the kid realizes how much fun it would be, but believe there's no way they could march - after all, they don't know how to play, toss, spin, etc. They don't know that if they were to really bust their butt all Winter, there's no reason they couldn't make it somewhere in OC.

The idea: Could/should DCI establish a standard slogan or trademark for corps to advertise that would essentially mean that the corps will potentially accept relative beginners. "Greenie-Friendly" or just "Beginner-Friendly" spring to mind. DCI could then list these corps on a page for that purpose to make it easier for new folks to check them out.

By beginners I mean people who during audition season (the Fall) are just beginning an academic program in their school for the instrument in question, or just joined a guard or dance class somewhere. Additionally they would have to commit to specific training goals and be evaluated later as well to ensure they have gained enough skills to make the line. And of course they need the attitude and any other requirements (fees) as any other member. There are no guarantees here.

Advantage to the corps: They get a bigger pool of applicants, including not only those mentioned above but also those who do have a year or two of performing arts education under their belt and still think it's impossible to get in, having seen only the top 12 on video. "If they're taking beginners, they'll take me."

Advantage to the member: They get a goal: to learn an instrument well enough to march in a DCI drum corps!

Thoughts?

[GUARDLING]

In another thread Garfield pointed out the problem that many potential corps members may not even try out for a corps because they believe they are not good enough, given the evidence of the top corps. This would be a shame, given that many corps toward the bottom of the list would likely take most potential members willing to work at it.

I wonder how many people discover drum corps in the Fall when a friend announces they are trying out for a corps. After watching some videos the kid realizes how much fun it would be, but believe there's no way they could march - after all, they don't know how to play, toss, spin, etc. They don't know that if they were to really bust their butt all Winter, there's no reason they couldn't make it somewhere in OC.

The idea: Could/should DCI establish a standard slogan or trademark for corps to advertise that would essentially mean that the corps will potentially accept relative beginners. "Greenie-Friendly" or just "Beginner-Friendly" spring to mind. DCI could then list these corps on a page for that purpose to make it easier for new folks to check them out.

By beginners I mean people who during audition season (the Fall) are just beginning an academic program in their school for the instrument in question, or just joined a guard or dance class somewhere. Additionally they would have to commit to specific training goals and be evaluated later as well to ensure they have gained enough skills to make the line. And of course they need the attitude and any other requirements (fees) as any other member. There are no guarantees here.

Advantage to the corps: They get a bigger pool of applicants, including not only those mentioned above but also those who do have a year or two of performing arts education under their belt and still think it's impossible to get in, having seen only the top 12 on video. "If they're taking beginners, they'll take me."

Advantage to the member: They get a goal: to learn an instrument well enough to march in a DCI drum corps!

Thoughts?

there are some very good ideas. I feel that no matter what or how there is outreach to new members , it's always a good thing , small or big.

Now with that being said , and I'm only speaking from MY experience with young novice band kids or winter programs. I find there might be a misconception of why kids don't march. MY experience has been that many simply like winter programs more than summer ( of course there's the opposite ) if kids are in band programs or winter programs there's even less money to put into drum corps. MONEY for it all is a huge factor. I've tried to get some very talented kids into summer programs and often i hear," I'm not doing that all summer on a hot football field. Of course it's only a few examples and of course there are those who do not feel good enough, but i have found often kids are pretty brave compared to the way we may have been and put themselves out there way more than in the past. Money is also huge as I said and of course many kids today do want to do it all and find out they have to make choices.

I'm just listing examples of some road blocks we all come across winter as well as summer but I do think reaching out is never a bad thing,making it a little more approachable is never a bad thing, making it a friendly atmosphere is never a bad thing. So all efforts are a good thing IMO.

[Trask]

I feel that an attempt to label some corps as beginner friendly may come off only to fix an idea that some corps are lesser places to march. At that point there could be a situation where the person simply doesn't march and practices to get into the top 12 corps.

Seeing as open class corps are already labeled as less valuable by many folks, that added label would just do more harm than good.

[GUARDLING]

I feel that an attempt to label some corps as beginner friendly may come off only to fix an idea that some corps are lesser places to march. At that point there could be a situation where the person simply doesn't march and practices to get into the top 12 corps.

Seeing as open class corps are already labeled as less valuable by many folks, that added label would just do more harm than good.

well that has happened for sure in some cases. Kids today ( not all of course ) want it all and want it now. Some of course can achieve this and many can't, and there's the issue and problem and maybe WHY some of the problems are what they are among many other issues.

I still believe that there can be a way to promote and promoting the activity in a small or big way can only be positive. JMO

[Pete Freedman]

Good points.

To Guardling: Yes, this all depends on how many kids don't try out because they think it's out of their league.

To Trask: Yes, I think DCI's "Beginner Friendly" page should be worded something like "These corps feature a wide range of talent, from beginner to advanced. As a beginner you get to work with people at your level and also more experienced students who can pass along insights gained from years of experience. And, of course, highly qualified instructors."

While we don't want to make it look like these corps are for beginners only, it's also the case that back in the day most corps would take beginners, and people didn't conclude that the corps wasn't good.

[Eleran]

I think one of the major roadblocks is simply distance. When you talk about beginners, I think primarily of high-school aged kids, and how many of them are going to be taking plane trips every month from November through May to attend camps? Even if they live within a 4 hour driving distance from camp, how many of them have their own cars (or parents with no other responsibilities) to get them to camps all winter and spring?

Just look at the DCI map of Open Class corps - the East Coast is the most populated part of the country, yet Raiders, practicing in Burlington, NJ, is the southernmost Open corps along the coast (heading west to Nashville may be an option for some). If you add World Class, you can throw Spirit of Atlanta into the mix, but I don't think Carolina Crown is taking too many beginners. Other than that, there are no DCI options for east coast kids that want to march DCI, other than options requiring major travel. [There may be other options (DCA, etc.), but this is a DCI forum]

And even when a corps is local, you can't guaranty that getting to camps will be local - didn't Boston hold their winter audition camps down in Florida? To me, those sorts of roadblocks are even more intimidating than the mental roadblock of "can I hang with them?"

Edited May 19, 2014 by Eleran

[BRASSO]

Thoughts?

DCA, DCI Open Class, WGI... where there is a will for the beginner, there is a way for that beginner. We need to bear in mind that the original G7 WC Div. group does not support DCI marketing and financial assistance to promoting the non WC Division Corps ( unless thats changed lately )

Edited May 19, 2014 by BRASSO

[Eleran]

DCA.

That may be a good option as far as the lesser commitment, and perhaps the willingness to accept beginners. If there is one nearby, of course, - only 21 DCA corps in only 12 states, if the DCA website is up to date.

And you have the further issue about DCA that (a) some younger players don't feel comfortable marching around old farts, and (b) some of the DCA corps have a reputation (founded or not, I cannot say - but the reputation reached my ears) for alcohol consumption that might scare off some younger players (or at least their parents who are probably providing the funds and transportation and therefore have the ultimate veto power).

Edit: just looked up the DCI/DCA corps distribution, and exactly half the states in the Union do NOT have corps within their state borders. Granted, there may be corps in an adjacent state which are relatively close to their borders, but by the same token, there are plenty of large states where the only corps may still be hundreds of miles away, even though within the same state.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Eleran

[perc2100]

That may be a good option as far as the lesser commitment, and perhaps the willingness to accept beginners. If there is one nearby, of course, - only 21 DCA corps in only 12 states, if the DCA website is up to date.

And you have the further issue about DCA that (a) some younger players don't feel comfortable marching around old farts, and (b) some of the DCA corps have a reputation (founded or not, I cannot say - but the reputation reached my ears) for alcohol consumption that might scare off some younger players (or at least their parents who are probably providing the funds and transportation and therefore have the ultimate veto power).

Not to mention I suspect beginners would likely want to be in a DCI tour if that's their end goal, rather than a corps in a completely different circuit competing against totally different corps than DCI.

[perc2100]

I feel that an attempt to label some corps as beginner friendly may come off only to fix an idea that some corps are lesser places to march. At that point there could be a situation where the person simply doesn't march and practices to get into the top 12 corps.

Seeing as open class corps are already labeled as less valuable by many folks, that added label would just do more harm than good.

I completely agree. Labeling a corps "beginner friendly" might help solve one problem but will create a different one. "Beginner Friendly" would likely be interchangeable with "less competitive" to a lot of people and could create a bad impression.

That being said, there are MANY corps that are seemingly apt at filling spots with newbies who have the desire and dedication to do their assigned job.