Ok, so I am pretty involved with my old high school's marching percussion section. This year, our feeder junior high school has a few kids that are fired up and ready to start playing marching percussion. This is great, and not the reason for posting.

I'm planning a little (for lack of a better word) "clinic" for them for a couple of days out of my spring break to start planting some of the really small basics into their heads. My main concern is that I will overwhelm them with so much information that they will get fed up with it and go to football or something else.

My question: How do you go about teaching beginning students basic principles of marching percussion with out overwhelming them? I have a few ideas, which I will post later... but what are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance

You could overwhelm them, but don't.

• Keep it simple. Don't frustrate beginners by handing out the whole high school exercise book. That's like giving a calculus book to a kindergartner. They won't understand it.
• Keep it fun. Don't bore them by spending the whole time fixing their grip and running Eight on a Hand. Spend some time on basics, but then apply those basics while playing fun stuff. Give them a groove thing and let 'em have fun making some noise.

Seriously! Most middle schoolers haven't played anything similar to what you do in a drumline. I would prepare a mini-book. Make sure it contains one solo or easy cadence and a few warm-ups. Something that they can go back and play with their other middle school friends that would be much cooler then the basic stuff they have been playing up until now.

Tan

PLEASE, for the sake of the activity we all love so much, ensure whatever you decide to do is achievable.

They should be able to learn and confidently play anything you teach within the time frame of that rehearsal and retain it when they go home. You can't expect Shake Hands with Beef the first night.

Demonstrating a passage is fine, but resist showing off and playing something so advanced they can't grasp what you're doing- you'll intimidate them out of thinking they can do it.

Also, remember that when people talk about "double beat" at the middle school level, they're referring to 1e a2 +a e+ 4 +, once on the right and once on the left. Not the two page, minute long, SCV version.

Last thing- consider that for those kids, a 3-4 hour rehearsal block is way too much to start. An hour or two is more than enough to teach basics, rep them and keep the interest. If they're watching the clock, they're not having fun.

"Chicks dig drummers" is what got me to join my HS line. (seriously)

Anyway...kids at the middleschool age are highly influenced by what is "Cool". Like they said, you obviously won't spark interest with 8 on a hand, so a fun groove thing is key. Bring a video of a "cool" line doing cool things....not Blue Devils playing ditty or whatever...but maybe even a college line, so they can see drumlines having fun.

If THAT doesn't work..tell them about the chicks. haha

If I understand right by camp you are talking about a few days of camp? I might suggest that after some simple warm-ups and a short discussion on the importance of the right way to stretch. 

Show them videos of some drumlines that have done some crazy or cool solo or show. Let them see a WGI line, they are closer to there age. Swap them around once and let them all play different drums. 

Then set them down on the second day and help guide them in writing their own little ditty. Then they will have something that's theirs not the high schools. They can show off at some school function and when they announce to every one that they wrote and are performing the ditty, they will be cool!

You have killed a few birds doing this, 
1. You have taught them team work, by letting them write for each other.

2.Your teaching them better reading skills by them writing their own thing. They will understand it much better than something that's already on the page, they already get enough of someones book stuff. Also they will have a better understanding of the structure of a drumline chart.

3. Your instilling pride in their abilities, plus they will go home and drive their parents nuts on how cool the drumline is and how cool you are. The kids are not the only ones you have to make happy. 

Show them some easy flashes, some drum to drum, simple stick tricks that will take up time in their little ditty, and they will look cool and feel cool in front of their friends!

This dose not have to be a complicated hybrid grid, some short groove that is funky. Try and start a small pep line for there basketball games, this and every thing that has been said by everyone will charge them up for high school. Plus they will be up and running so you don't have to struggle getting them up to speed. 

Your camp is a great idea, what ever you decide to do will do great!

Good luck!

Wow... I have never even thought of doing that, and am now re planning what I am going to do with them. I think that having this idea will definitely lessen my chances of losing them to football or basketball, which has been a problem for me in the past.

If I knew how to do karma, I would so give you some

Loosing kids has always been a problem, not just for you but for every one. How about starting a big brother big sister dumline program, find a couple of willing members in the line and have them help start a jr pep line for the middle school. These younger kids are scared to death to come up to the drumline and let's face it most lines are not so friendly to newbes. 

Go and talk with the BD and the jr high BD explaine what you want to do.Have a guy and a girl start a program to help recruit and mentor these jr high kids. Find the people who you can help become instructors and get them in over at the jr high once a month and during basketball season. The jr high kids will be more willing to stay in the band if they know they are needed. Have the 8th grade drummers become drumline managers, your Helpers, teach them about cleaning equipment, maitenance of the drums. Have the next year freashman come to drumcamp, fill them in on what to expect. Have them help get every thing ready for a show, teach them how to load and unload ect. Turn them into the jr high leaders, section leaders for their drummers. A good feeder program produces sucsess.

Think back too when you were a jr high drummer, you looked up to the high school drummers, but were they nice to you? Did you harbor thoughts of leaving the band? Change things and you watch and see you will end up with a world class drumline.