Marching Music Majors

[shawn craig]

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.

Yes, instruction at some corps is better than at others.

However the same can be said for college music departments. We had two horn teachers at my university. All the horn players wanted to take from instructor A and hated it when assigned to instructor B.

I also know some vocalist who had poor instruction and almost ruined thier voices. When they changed teachers the voice became free and they sounded wonderful. (I think this is a much bigger problem with vocal instruction than strings, percussion, or wind instruments)

As others are saying; you're a young adult and entitled to make your own decisions and need to do what's right for you, not them.

Edited November 15, 2006 by shawn craig

[Einstein On The Beach]

My trumpet professor has no problem with me doing corps, and I haven't let it affect my playing anyway, so he's really got nothing to complain about. However, I definitely know why professors may be against it if you are a performance major and want to make a career out of playing in orchestras and whatnot. If you have enough desire to do corps and still make it work with your "legit" playing, then good luck to you. As much as people want to bring up Chris Martin, he really is the exception, not the rule, and he only marched one year anyway. Now, if you want to be a performance major and you're doing 6-7 years of drum corps, then yeah, of course it's going to hinder you, probably a lot.

[tubacurt]

i don't really get how marching multiple years can hurt your playing more than one year.

I don't really understand how it can hurt your playing at all really.

I mean, yea if the staff sucks and teach you bad technique than if can be hindering, but why are you paying thousands of dollars to learn from bad teachers?

I hear all the time, especially at music camps, how drum corps/marching band gives you all sorts of bad habits; while I have yet to march a corps, the only "bad habit" i've gotten from marching band is a tendency to be a bit heavy-handed with my articulations, which I can fix in about two minutes of concentration when I play my concert horn.

[shawn craig]

the only "bad habit" i've gotten from marching band is a tendency to be a bit heavy-handed with my articulations, which I can fix in about two minutes of concentration when I play my concert horn.

Which brings up a good point.

I've played and sung in a variety of groups and situations over the years. A really good musician should be able to change articulations and other performance aspects to fit the specific group and situation you are playing/singing with. I've performed the same piece of music with the same group in two or more very different halls. You always have to adjust.

[Kamarag]

As much as people want to bring up Chris Martin, he really is the exception, not the rule, and he only marched one year anyway. Now, if you want to be a performance major and you're doing 6-7 years of drum corps, then yeah, of course it's going to hinder you, probably a lot.

Ok, I'll see your Chris Martin and raise you one Mike Roylance (Principle tuba, Boston Symphony/Boston Pops). Mike marched several years at Suncoast Sound, and a bazillion in Future Corps.

Not enough for you? I can list many corps veterans in smaller-tier symphonies all across the country...

[SpookyKid]

Ok, I'll see your Chris Martin and raise you one Mike Roylance (Principle tuba, Boston Symphony/Boston Pops). Mike marched several years at Suncoast Sound, and a bazillion in Future Corps.

Not enough for you? I can list many corps veterans in smaller-tier symphonies all across the country...

I played eight years as principal tubist in a smaller-tier orchestra and I thank drum corps for that.

http://www.valleyorchestra.org/ <----- I'm on the 2001 & 2002 albums.

[Dave]

I believe Pat Sheridan marched Blue Devils at some point as well; not 100% sure about that, though.

But this isn't an argument of seeing who can balance more people on their side of the scale. This is a matter of students taking charge of their own lives and getting new musical experiences. No teacher should be attacking or forbidding such experiences.

[jeffro21]

My corps experience involved marching two years in college. While marching, I played the mellophone, but majored in saxophone performance. My professor did think that it was a waste of time (“anti-productive” as he called it), but the rest of the studio didn’t really mind. Of course, my fellow students were constantly ranking on me for playing a “useless” instrument, but it was all in good fun.

This is what I eventually came to realize for myself…back when your professor was in your shoes and getting educated, drum corps was a different experience than what it is now. He just assumes that the activity is the same as it was decades ago because he hasn’t bothered to bring himself up to date and you telling him differently probably won’t change his mind. So, my advice is to march and be happy and take solace in the fact that when you get to be in his shoes, you will know differently.

[ApocalypseTissue]

It never did affect my playing. Honestly it never did. I just developed a much better endurance for playing.

If its any where it helped me grow was in brass choir.

Do not listen to the opinions of someone who has not done the activity. Experience is the greatest reliablity when asked for an opinion. Of Bands, Orchestras, Wind Ensembles, Choirs, Drum Corps, etc..

Edited November 15, 2006 by ApocalypseTissue

[Piper]

To the above poster,

What is the taboo with wearing drum corps stuff? As long as you don't wear a Phantom shirt to a Vanguard camp...I'm not seeing whats wrong?

This can be true. Wearing another corps' apparell at camp might not always be in your best interests :) I never wore any corps attire to school either, but that was for addmitedly selfish reasons. I didn't feel like explaining to every other person that I met who the corps was, where the corps was from, what a corps was, why it wasn't a band, bla bla bla. Needless to say, I wasn't a very good public relations guy.