I'm getting a gig at my old BD's HS next year if things work out correctly. The problem I noticed with my school this year was our attitude towards warm up sucked. There's was no show music vocabulary in any of the warm ups and we never talked about the purpose of the warm ups or played them often enough to reinforce technique at every rehearsal. I fixed that towards the very end of the the season but I know it was very detrimental to our season. So I plan on fixing that at this school I'm headed to. By the way, I getting the feeling this will be a big challenge, I'm going to fresh out of HS.

So my question is what can I expect from a typical HS drumline (in Tampa, FL) playing-wise. Sixteenth splits (like 1234 1234 1234 3432) and one handed diddles with basses? Scrapes with tenors and real rolls with snares. What kind of rudiments are no-no's with HS lines. I'm working on the warm ups right now and I want to be practicing the good stuff from the start so we're set for success when the season starts actually starts. I also may be arranging percussion too.

Any advice is great because I'll certainly need it but I'm mainly looking for advice on what's a good idea to put in the warm ups (and show music possibly) and what's not.

It's really not rocket science as far as warmups go. Basics, basics and more basics.

You really only need 4 warmups to be effective. A legato stroke exercise, a two height exercise, a double beat exercise and a roll exercise.

So my question is what can I expect from a typical HS drumline (in Tampa, FL) playing-wise.

That's a very general question. There are levels of talent at every school and you have to base your warm-ups on the level yo have, the level you want to achieve and the show dictated demands.

If your plan is to go in and change tings on year 1, then best wishes and good luck. It takes time to change a program around. I am on year 3 of a new school that had horrible feeders and no expectations. It is through inspiration that I have seen the biggest changes come from techs.


Taylor your warmups to the show and set achievable goals for both you and the line to get to. If you over write then its dirt, under and you let the kids get bored. I am a strong believer in BASICS. 8-hand, accent tap, double/triple, and a basic roll piece. Allow time and warm-ups to be specific, but if your not teaching those 4 things then the rest is all just TURD-polish

Teach and reinforce the basics like the above posters said. One thing to keep in mind that will help is that kids have to have fun and enjoy skill building exercises or they quickly get bored and quit. So, make it fun. Do the basics such as accent tap but then split parts and make it really groove. Write your pieces and then introduce them to the line by playing the mp3 or a video of a DCI line playing it. Get the players inspired and wanting to get better by making the results real and enjoyable to them.

I can't speak to how a high school line in Tampa works or what you expectations should be, just that the typical high school student needs serious motivation to practice anything other than video games, texting, and hanging out.

Everybody here has given you decent advice so I won't regurgitate all that has been said. Just keep it easy and simple. Until you get there you won't have any idea what to expect so don't spend your time writing out a bunch of exercises only to find out the kids can't even hold the stick right.

Drawing from my own experiences, you're biggest problem will probably be getting the kids to buy into YOU. You're fresh out of high school so prepare yourself for the challenges you may face from the students. How do you respond when the one kid says "hey, your the same age as me so why should I listen to you?" Believe me, this will be a good gig for you but keep in mind that, while you're there to teach them, you're the one who is going to learn more lessons than anybody in the line.

Do you have any advice on how to deal with that specific issue? I'm in the same situation - going to be teaching a line starting in January, and I want to make sure they'll be understand my role as instructor - not peer.

Very simple, never, EVER teach at the school that you just graduated from.

I have a 4 year rule for my seniors. You had to have been out of the program for 4 years before I'll even consider hiring you on staff. That way, all the people you know have graduated so as to eliminate the buddy, buddy possibility.

Luckily, I'm teaching at a school nowhere near where I lived - unless you count Ohio and Texas as close. So is there anything else to be wary of?

I was going to write some kind of triplet based vocabulary warm up to. I think getting a good 2 minutes of real vocabulary practice would be really wise. That a good idea?



Good question, ideas?

If you ask any of the people on here who have been teaching for a number of years I think you'll find they all have a story or two about the "problem child" that they've had to deal with.

My first real teaching gig was the summer after my freshman year of college. I had no real experience other than marching one year in college. Came in to assist with a large line with lots of talent and even more attitude. Here's a couple of nice questions I received:

"What makes you think you're qualified to fix my hands?" My response was simple..."I was asked to teach here because your instructor knows me, trusts me, drums with me and apparently thinks I have the capabilities to do a good job in his absence."

During another rehearsal I got this question from the same kid: "If you're such a good player then why don't you hang on the drums and we'll see who has chops." My response: "I'm not here to prove anything to you. My only job is to make you better as a line so if you want to continue disrupting rehearsals then please take your drum and go play somewhere else." There were actually a few colorful adjectives thrown in there but that's close to what I said.

99% of the lines I've worked with haven't had any issues. If you're going to get attitude from a kid then you'll know early on. The key is to fix the issue early.

"The greatest teacher I know is the job itself." J.C. Penney.