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As someone who wants to join drum corp in a few years what should I start preparing for now?


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I want to join drum corps in a few years hopefully starting with an open class corp but I don't know anyone in drum corp so I was hopping people could tell me what to expect when trying to get into it and what I should prepare for now? Like how expensive is it on average and how much could this affect school? Thanks for any help.

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  • 3 weeks later...

@Regular trumpet player I spent a total of 4yrs in DCI, and I marched in two Top-12 corps (Velvet Knights – ’86, ’88, ‘89 & Blue Devils 1990), and I was an instructor for 3 seasons for a start-up corps in mid-90s. I haven't been around the activity since then, but I'll try to help, especially with things that may not be obvious. Fortunately, I keep some tips and info saved in a document for when I see someone ask a question like yours. I can paste that into an email if you are interested. When I marched, we did not have social media, the WWW, smartphones, or any of the other tech toys you do now. Still, some things never change. It would help if I knew more specifically what you are interested in knowing. Also, I’d like to know what level of corps you are trying out for. E-mail me at eric2022@outlook.com, which is a temp email address. I’ll keep it open for a couple of weeks unless I start getting a bunch of junk sent to it.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Save your money, because drum corps is not cheap and it can be hard to come up with 5 thousand or more dollars when you are going to school and working part time.  The more you can save now the easier it will be !  Open class corps are a bit cheaper, since their tours are shorter.  You will need about 3 grand plus money for spending and camps.  Please take the time to visit the website of each corps you are interested in joining.  They all list their fees so you do not have to guess.  Good luck, I wish you all the best.

Edited by jmc5682
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  • 3 months later...

For reference, my son marched two years with Atlanta CV and five years with the Cavaliers. 

1. Start saving money. Hopefully your parents can help with fees, but they'll certainly be more willing to do so if they see your genuine passion to march exhibited through your own hard work and financial contribution. I made a deal with my son for his first DCI year that if he covered half the fees I'd cover the other half. He took a kitchen remodeling construction helper job and worked 70 hours per week on weekdays and marched Atlanta CV on the weekends. After his first DCI season, I covered the fees. But I had to see him show that he would work for it first. 

2. March DCA for experience if it's geographically possible. My son marched with Atlanta CV his junior and senior year of high school. Fits well with working because it is weekends only. His program coordinator and a couple of others were also on the Cavaliers staff. Gave him a chance to work with pros that knows what it takes...

3. Have an audition plan. When the time comes for auditions, plan your targets. With virtual auditioning becoming a bigger thing post-COVID this might not be as critical as it used to, but if auditions ever return to "audition camps must be present"...look closely at the schedules to see what your target corps are doing when and if it makes logistic sense to audition for more than one. I'd recommend having two. Just using my son's experience in 2016, he auditioned for Cavaliers and Bluecoats. Both had camps here in Atlanta where we are...and they fortunately overlapped weekends for initial ATL auditions and then Rosemont and Akron call back weekends. 

4. Practice. A LOT. Find passages in Arban's or other trumpet books that you cannot play at tempo. And start working them at half tempo, then 3/4 tempo, then full tempo. It's the exact process you'll likely have to use when your first "technical" audition piece arrives. 

5. Don't ignore the "visual" part of the audition...or you will fail. Some corps send out a choregraphed video that you will have to perform at an audition ( at least they used to.) and some won't. If you're auditioning with a corps that does this, HIRE A VISUAL COACH! It won't be expensive and will make tons of difference. In my son's case, he hired a guy from his high school ( already well gone) that marched Cadets for 4 years and now a ballroom dance instructor. Made all the difference in the world. For emphasis...if you can play like Doc Severensen (sp?) but you can't "move" flexibly and artistically you won't get a contract. 

6. Network with other marchers at target corps...ask them what the audition environment is like, etc. 

I hope you find this helpful and best of luck! 

Edited by PopcornEater1963
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  • 2 months later...

as everyone else has said.

1. save money.  not just for tuition, but for travel to/from camps.  Depending on where you are, where you audition, and the travel required, you may need upwards of $6000 to $10000 to cover tuition plus travel.  Example, Open Class is often $1800-$3000.  Plus travel back and forth.  Some world class charge near $5000-6000, and you still need to get there and back.  If you are driving distance, that's much cheaper than flying across the nation once a month for camp. 

2. as a musician practice being musical.  (technique is sometimes varied per corps, and each corps will have its own method book, but being musical and expressive on an instrument is really hard to teach)

3. dance and movement.  understand how your body moves through space.  basic ballet or dance class will be helpful.  

4. physical fitness.  be able to run a mile in 8-9 mins.  and strech. alot.  be flexible and limber.  not only does this help for movement, but it prevents injury. 

 

Good luck.

Edited by C.Holland
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