So our school's band program and drumline got massive budget cuts, and along with that, we've had a really rough schedule for the past two years. That being said, our band director barely skims the basics and marching isn't really taken seriously at our school. A couple of people from the drumline are interested in joining drum corps in the future, but that'll be much more of a pain without any prior marching experience.

Our new drumline instructor's planning on letting us march in our upcoming spring concert for two percussion ensembles, but that's about it, and even with that, we're very rushed time-wise.

Any tips on what to work on individually? As a group?

Well first off, practice basics till they become perfect. With that, you'll always have something to practice! Prep, timing, diddles, flams, rudiments, and the vast combinations of all of those. Always work with a met, and play with each other till its the cleanest its ever been!

And with that I actually would like to mention picking up good material to practice. What I mean by that is not running to Tapspace and buying the beefiest thing you can get your hands on. I mean "Stick Control" by George Stone, and books of that nature. I had the extreme privilege to see the Hellcats at TMEA this year in person, and got to chat with them which was just incredible. SGM Eric Sheffler was kind enough to share helpful tips with me, and one of them that really stood out to me was "Go over the basics and roots of rudimental drumming". It's the basis of almost all marching percussion, so check out some old school rudimental beats! Nick Werth throws down some classic literature off the left, and it's just as helpful as any drum corps licks you can download.

So have fun, drum happy, and enjoy yourselves! Music is as good as you want to make it, so take any and all opportunities to make yourselves better percussionists! And here's a thread that'll be of some help for you as drum corps audition time rolls around.

http://www.drumlines.org/threads/ubbthre...html#Post192095

Since EndinEnviosionary did a good cover on actual playing, I'll go into marching.
I'll try to keep it simple because I can't really explain to well over text.

Halting, is the most basic thing. Standing in place with a heavy drum is really tiresome. A key thing to remember is keep your legs STRAIGHT, but not LOCKED. It's weird, but if you don't have your legs correct you could collapse from the weight.

Forward marching in most DCI's uses the same technique. Keep your leg straight and lead with the toe. Keep the toe high and roll through the foot. Keep your balance and always fill out the carrier to stop the drum from bouncing.

Backwards marching is relatively the same as forward with a few differences. First off, you stay on your toes until you halt. If you attempt to rollback onto your heel odds are you'll fall and get a rather nasty injury. When you backwards march, try to raise up a few inches rather then sinking down. To do this, just stay on your toes with straight legs.

Crabbing, is what I consider the most difficult. A HUGE emphasis on filling out the carrier, or else wobbling and bouncy drums will be the center of attention. Basically, you "prep" one foot back (right if you're going right, left to left) and cross the other foot over, and keep going with one foot a little behind the other. Again, never bend the leg, you'll shrink.

I hope this is helpful, I tried. Oh and again, heavy emphasis on filling out the carrier and balancing the drum. This especially important on tenors, because if the drums aren't straight you'll be hitting rims where you thought there was a drum.