Marching Music Majors

[BoxVSoprano]

so im a sophomore music education major and i encounter nothing but negativity from my professors and many fellow students. i 2 seasons while in high school and was not able to march my freshmen year. all my instructor does is bash how juvenile drum corps is and how i need to go to summer music camps in aspen and whatnot. our head percussion instructor marched snare with phantom back in the mid 90's and he does everything but completely forbid his students from marching. i dont understand, they all think that marching corps will ruin your life as a musician. when my instructor found out another one of our trumpets would be auditioning this weekend he yelled "whats wrong with you cats. cant you guys go somewhere and learn how to play some real music instead of running around like children all summer?!"

i can see how if i wanted to be a performance major that doing summer music camps and study abroad programs may be more beneficial, but for a music educator i see nothing being for productive than marching corps. ahh! im so furious right now that im sure i have so much more to say, but im just going to finish here. does anyone else encounter this problem anywhere else?

[Dave]

There are a few issues to cover here. Firstly, in some ways, your teachers are right. Drum corps can, in the wrong circumstances, hinder your musical development. I want to hit my head against the wall when I hear some of the wrong-headed things I hear from some corps people about brass playing--not all, but a decent number. However, if you take the right lessons from your drum corps experience--the reinforcement of the basics of playing, listening around, teamwork, giving extra effort at all times--it can be a tremendous boon to your work in college.

Let this be an opportunity for you to evolve from a kid into an adult. Don't be a jerk, but definitely stand up for yourself. Develop a reasoned, logical rational for marching corps not simply in context of your immediate degree and future job, but you as a person. Too much in this country, we think that everything we do must lead directly into the job we get once we graduate; education, including music education, is riddled with problems because of this way of thinking. We focus on benefits and results, never thinking about developing understanding of the general principles of the various disciplines. I would argue that you ought to reject this notion and march because of how it benefits you as a whole person, not simply because of how it does or does not impact your pursuit of a degree and/or a job.

[BoxVSoprano]

There are a few issues to cover here. Firstly, in some ways, your teachers are right. Drum corps can, in the wrong circumstances, hinder your musical development. I want to hit my head against the wall when I hear some of the wrong-headed things I hear from some corps people about brass playing--not all, but a decent number. However, if you take the right lessons from your drum corps experience--the reinforcement of the basics of playing, listening around, teamwork, giving extra effort at all times--it can be a tremendous boon to your work in college.

Let this be an opportunity for you to evolve from a kid into an adult. Don't be a jerk, but definitely stand up for yourself. Develop a reasoned, logical rational for marching corps not simply in context of your immediate degree and future job, but you as a person. Too much in this country, we think that everything we do must lead directly into the job we get once we graduate; education, including music education, is riddled with problems because of this way of thinking. We focus on benefits and results, never thinking about developing understanding of the general principles of the various disciplines. I would argue that you ought to reject this notion and march because of how it benefits you as a whole person, not simply because of how it does or does not impact your pursuit of a degree and/or a job.

marching corps is definitely the reason i am currently a music education major. before i marched i want to be a history teacher or something along those lines. its bc i marched that i now teach directly with 3 different high schools and consult with several others, and also am the youngest drill writer in my area. drum corps is all i think about, it is how i define who i am today. before marching corps i was ADD and had been on medication since i was 6 and had terrible grades. through the discipline i learned in corps i was able to drop my medication and by my senior year in HS had a 4.0 GPA. i mean here is something that is just about the most important thing to me, and here is my professor telling me how bad it is. i have made it clear that the brass skills i have learned with my corps support everything he teaches me and how great of an educator it has made me. i love playing trumpet, but thats not what is most important to me. i guess i see it as my professors responsibility to try and guide me in a good direction, but also support my decisions.

[SpookyKid]

so im a sophomore music education major and i encounter nothing but negativity from my professors and many fellow students. i 2 seasons while in high school and was not able to march my freshmen year. all my instructor does is bash how juvenile drum corps is and how i need to go to summer music camps in aspen and whatnot. our head percussion instructor marched snare with phantom back in the mid 90's and he does everything but completely forbid his students from marching. i dont understand, they all think that marching corps will ruin your life as a musician. when my instructor found out another one of our trumpets would be auditioning this weekend he yelled "whats wrong with you cats. cant you guys go somewhere and learn how to play some real music instead of running around like children all summer?!"

i can see how if i wanted to be a performance major that doing summer music camps and study abroad programs may be more beneficial, but for a music educator i see nothing being for productive than marching corps. ahh! im so furious right now that im sure i have so much more to say, but im just going to finish here. does anyone else encounter this problem anywhere else?

I've been there. In fact, drum corps became a huge source of contention with my tuba instructor unfortunately. However, Dr. Humfeld (my trombone teacher) was much different about it. He told me that if it was something I loved and felt that it would help me as a music major I should do it. And he said, besides, if I'm doing all the work I'm supposed to cover at school and the activity was outside of school, why should they bother.

Dr. Humfeld was a great teacher and a even better friend.

[Dave]

i guess i see it as my professors responsibility to try and guide me in a good direction, but also support my decisions.

Absolutely. The whole issue of music instructors, whether it's a band director or a private teacher, restricting what kinds of music their students can participate in has always rubbed me the wrong way. Firstly, because they're the student's teacher, not their owner or parent, and secondly, because a music teacher ought to be encouraging students to take part in as many experiences as possible. One of the best things about my high school band program was that our directors always encouraged us to play wherever and whenever we could, even going so far as instituting scholarships for students to take part in outside music activities, including drum corps.

[Lance]

Two words. Bite me. Use them sparingly, but with conviction. Yes, I'm being serious.

[L1STEN2311]

I go through that all the time... "you'll never make a dime marching down the 50" is the most common from my professors...

tell that to ralph hardimon... jim cassella... michael gaines? hmm... weird right?

but anyways, i'm right there with you, i started marching in high school and i know i wouldn't be in college if it wasn't for corps.

some of the elderly folk we deal with in school are from a very closed minded time where there was one way to do things, and if you weren't doing that one thing with the same exact mindset as everyone else, you were completely wrong... there really is no reasoning with some people and it stinks... but all you can do is silently prove them wrong and laugh to yourself when they compliment you on something you learned in corps.

-christopher

[mrshowfan]

I had somewhat of a similar experience. I know that many of the profs didnt like the activity, but there were some profs that had marched.

So what I did, was not mention my intentions to march to those profs that didnt care for it, and then got encouragement from friends and profs that did march.

Surround yourself with positive people.

[tubacurt]

I go through that all the time... "you'll never make a dime marching down the 50" is the most common from my professors...

tell that to ralph hardimon... jim cassella... michael gaines? hmm... weird right?

or that dude from the espn broadcast whose the friggin principal trumpet of the cso

[PurpleKnights]

I've heard tons of negativity, first and second hand, from college professors on the topic of being in the college marching band (especially as brass players are concerned). As far as Drum Corps, not so much.