Hello fellow percussionists! I apologize in advance for using pit instead of front ensemble (since I know some people don't like it), but it's much easier to type.

I have been put in charge of running the summer pit sectionals at my school. My school has a novice pit program that started last year (this will be our second year having a pit). These kids have a pretty good hold on making sense of music, but have never had proper instruction on technique-related manners and thus have fallen into a few bad habits (nothing that can't be fixed) after their first year of being a pit.

Now for background on me, I'm the battery section leader and have never been on pit, but I do know how to play the instruments included in pit pretty well! That includes accessory percussion, timpani, and mallet percussion (minus 4-mallet grip haha).

So far on keyboard percussion I have covered: proper stance, proper grip, the right mallet positioning, correct playing zones, and the importance/application of "grooving" to help keep time. I gave them a copy of GH Green's Lesson One (from the xylo book) to work on. I've also covered pretty much all of the accessory percussion they'll likely see, so I'm not worrying too much about that.

What I'm going to ask is if there's anything that anyone here could suggest that I go over with them! Since I haven't been in pit, I don't know much of the intricacies that go along with being in one. I'm open to anyone's input/advice!

Also, one specific question I have is about listening back to the band vs. watching the drum major?? Which is considered "right"? Thank you very much.

If you want to keep doing this in the future, get Methods of Movement by Leigh Howard Stevens (Yes, the Stevens that created the Stevens grip) and make it your bible. MOM
Another book I would suggest taking a look at is Up Front by Jim Casella and Jim Ancona. This book really shines in all the accessory percussion information and ensemble exercises it has. There's also a lot of good stuff about how to rehearse the pit and set the ensemble up too.

From what I gather, your pit doesn't do any four mallet stuff so I won't say anything about that. I think the exercise you gave your pit is referred to commonly as Greenscales, correct me if I'm wrong. It's the one that goes up to scale degree 5 than back down to tonic then all the way up the scale plus one and so on, right? In addition to that I would add in some kind of intervals exercise like Summertime (google it, or get it out of up front) and I think that's about it.

Edit: About the listening thing. The easy answer is that it depends. The primary listening point should be from the back (usually the batterie) but at times the pit should also cue off the drum major. Times for that are either pit solos or time changes etc. Up Front goes a bit more in depth to listening that that.

Thank you for the advice! I really appreciate it.

I am not sure whether or not I'll be teaching them in the future (I'm going to be a senior haha), but either way having either book sounds like a good idea. (If I plan to major in Music Ed, why not?)

Thanks for answering that for me! The good thing is that my school's pit and battery always rehearse together (aside from sectionals), so the pit is familiar with battery's parts. So the listening thing should work out.

So you're majoring in music ed as a percussionist? In that case, get MOM for sure as there's about a 90% chance your professor will have you get it anyways. Learn 4 mallets too.

To me, scales are probably the number one most important thing to learn for a front ensemble, as it makes playing most runs a lot easier. I strive to teach my front ensembles all 12 major scales if time allows, and then during future warmups just call out scales and have them play or take requests from the students, work through the circle of 4ths/5ths, etc. I also try to have everybody warm up on mallets if you have enough instruments because I believe that every percussionist should know at least some 2-mallet playing.

Depending on the music, you might also want to throw in a triplet-based exercise (these are usually chromatic, if you're interested I can PM you a couple ideas of things I use) if there are a lot of triplets required in the show music. If not, then you can do it if time allows.

With regards to the listening vs. watching debate, I think warboy summed it up pretty well. Listening should be the default, generally listening to the battery though if the mallets are doubling wind parts they can listen to those as well. The only time they should be watching the DM is during any exposed mallet parts, especially exposed tempo changes. Also keep in mind that just because they are listening back, doesn't mean that they are staring at their boards. Once they get more comfortable with the music, encourage them to look up and make connections with the audience. They're close enough that the audience can even see their facial expressions so make sure they look like they're "grooving" and dig the music.

I teach my pit all the same exercises as the drumline, just with splits across the bars, usually along the major scale. We do the Green exercises in all 12 major keys. Arpeggios are another great thing to work on. It also helps to have a good understanding of intervals. Perfect 4ths and 5ths come up a lot in pit music, especially when you get to 4-mallets. Chromatic double stops in octaves, 5ths, and 4ths will get the comfortable with those intervals. "6-3-2-1" is my favorite chromatic exercise like this.

Listen back to the drumline as much as possible. It has been my experience in almost every single band I have played with (concert, marching, etc.) that the winds tend to drag. Winds and drum majors are also prone to follow the pit at times (even though they absolutely should not ever!). If the pit stays with the battery, that's less likely to be a problem. Have the pit and battery rehearse together as much as possible to help them hear what to listen for.

I appreciate all the advice here! Everyone here is very helpful. It's great to hear information from others. Thanks again!