This one time in drum corps... a reflection on teaching the Spirit of Atlanta in 2017 (part 2)

This is Part 2 of a blog reflecting on my experiences from this past summer teaching the Spirit of Atlanta brass. 

7. Approaching show warm-ups like it is an extension of rehearsal

We began to approach show preparation like it was an extension of the rehearsal day, i.e., essentially another rehearsal block. The idea came from a blog by Daniel Coyle, author of a great book entitled, The Talent Code. The blog, http://thetalentcode.com/2016/10/06/stop-warming-up-start-learning-up/, 

The blog talks about myths about preparing to perform and uses NBA great, Steph Curr,y as the subject. We took the ideas from this thought-provoking concept and applied it to our show preparation. Our show prep was tightly scripted and was consistent in structure but varied in application. The variables are what engages the brain, and challenging the mind and are what prepares us to perform. The structure helped with efficiency and the variables were essential to improving mental acuity from the members. At one show, a friend said to me, "Man, you all were hitting it hard before the show with the hornline!" My response was, "Just doing what we do!" At first, I was not sure what to make of the comment, but then I realized we were having rehearsal and they were warming up for a show. Food for thought! 

8. The metronome, their eyes, and pulse control

This topic could be a blog, our a college course, in and of itself. We went through several permutations on the topic of how much metronome to use and when to use it over the summer, and there are definitely strong opinions on this topic within the outdoor pageantry activity. For me, a metronome is a useful tool. It helps to create consistent muscle-memory (which is a topic for another blog) and helps to develop a keen awareness of our own innate poor pulse control. However, it is also a tool you can become dependent upon (some dare say addicted to) and can be detrimental to things like musicality, ensemble balance, and tone production. Not to mention timing issues which are created by the removal of the metronome. For me, I equate some of the issues with timing, which occurs when the met is removed, to a GPS. We all use a GPS app to get to new places. We follow the directions diligently, but when we get there, at least myself, I often have no idea how I got there. I think students use a met the same way. They just do it! They do not evaluate and adjust and improve. So, when the met is gone, there is no muscle-memory or awareness, just survival. The issue is teaching students how to use the met--see/listen/evaluate/improve--and to remove it frequently enough to give them chances to see how well they are doing. We tend to do 100% met and then slowly remove the met for them. This is usually disastrous! 

The performers have to be watching the hands and evaluating it relative to the pulse they hear. Sometimes, listening back to the pulse pocket, but still relative to what they see. In a dome setting, their eyes, not their ears will be reliable measures of tempo. For transfer of the skill to occur, the performers have to evaluate their own rhythmic and pulse tendencies in their feet and playing. Do we tell them they rushed or do we let them tell us? We also then must give them the chance to struggle early on, because that struggle creates the urgency to improve and evaluate. The struggle gives the met relevance to the performers. There are some other issues relative to the met that I will discuss at a later date.  

In my opinion, 

• use the met to establish rhythmic and pulse standards, 
• remove it to allow them to struggle and see/hear the discrepancy, 
• move to 1/2 time and one per measure met to allow for accountability but still have some structure, 
• then the occasional met as reminders of the standard. 

In summary, variety is the key and it needs to be sooner rather than later to allow them to struggle and then guide their own improvement.

9. We are all smarter than anyone of us. The Power of Collective Effort-Blended Blocks

Some out of necessity, due to staffing, and some out of a need for rehearsal efficiency, but we started doing more and more blended blocks, where it was music and visual at the same time. Now, many in the drum corps community would disagree with this approach, and I was in that camp probably a few years ago, but this is not a new concept to bands. What we found, when teaching separately, was that we would improve in our respective blocks but then regress when we combined together for ensemble rehearsals. Retention was a big issue. The key to the success was how we structured the focus and how we managed the reps on the instruments. In our planning, we would decide if something was a visual or musical focus. When working on that portion of the rehearsal plan, the appropriate instructor would lead the rehearsal, the other staff would focus on individuals. Musical reps were varied with singing, tube work, bopping, on-air, flat dynamic, small ensembles, low/high brass only, etc...This allowed us to have longer moving and playing blocks without wearing out the members. As we used more blended blocks, the members were forced to multi-task at a higher level while rehearsing. The increase in mental energy and greater relevance to the performance experience helped the members increase retention and improvement was significant. 

10. Building upper dynamics from the resonance of softer playing

We all know drum corps is known for powerful brass lines. It is something that attracts a lot of people to the activity. How to create that sound is also a topic of great debate. At Spirit, we use a detailed airspeed system that was developed by our Senior Brass Advisor and Director Emeritus, Freddy Martin. When to introduce the top end of the dynamic range is something we struggle with every year. It was Freddy who advocated for a careful and deliberate approach to increasing the volume of the hornline. He told us when there is deep resonance at the softest dynamic, the members are ready for an increase in the top dynamic. We would then expand the dynamic downward and used that dynamic as the barometer to add another dynamic upward. Why does this work? It goes back to deep resonant breathing, embouchure and airspeed efficiency, and the absence of tension, which is our greatest enemy. There is also a therapeutic quality to playing softly that aids in the aperture control of playing loudly. We also incorporated a lot of pitch-bending into our warm-up which helped with aperture control and allowed us to get to resonance more consistently. In summary, learn to play soft really well if you want your group to learn how to play with resonance at the fullest dynamic. 

11. Alternative Settings for Rehearsing

A lot of drum corps/bands warm-up/rehearse in circles, arcs, mini-drill etc...The key to ensemble sound (once fundamental tone production is in place) is good listening skills and awareness. To create good listening skills, you need to challenge the members to listen more intently and differently. To achieve this goal, we worked to place the members in a variety of listening environments and worked to change those environments regularly. Why? In the show, they never play in the exact same listening environment for long. Their listening environment is always changing. We need to teach the performers to listen and adjust and blend and balance in an ever-changing listening environment. Yes, they need some normalcy as a standard for comparison--the staff needs that as well. Beyond those first few notes, however, think about how you can change the environment and teach those adaptive listening skills. We did several things: scatter forms, really close circles, really open arcs, we did double circles moving in opposing directions, we did mini-hornline groupings, we did mini-drill, we did actual drill, we did like part and instrument, we considered but did not use, like part but different instruments (3rd euphoniums and 3rd trumpets etc...) The possibilities are almost limitless. The key is to constantly challenge the performers to learn to listen and adapt to whatever environment they might be in. 

12.  Importance of Grit, more than talent, in the Contract Process

There is a great book, Grit by Angela Ducksworth, which explores a whole body of research in the psychology field which deals with success. In her research, she found that grit, which she defines as when persistence and passion are combined, more than talent, determines, the success of an individual. If you think about drum corps, the activity will push you to your limits. Your grit will reveal itself. Members who lack grit often miss reps, quit completely, pace themselves through rehearsals, perform at varying levels depending on the circumstances, etc...If you have a talented performer, but they lack grit. Do you really have a performer? Do you have somebody who will consistently improve with the group? Can you rely on them to be there when the group needs them? While not a perfect system, this past year, we worked to implement a rigorous system that challenged the members in the winter, so by the time we got to the summer we were more determined. Now, we still have a lot of room to grow and we are working to expand our fitness program and push the members harder at camps to test their grit, even more, this coming year. Check out the book. Highly recommended! 

Thanks for reading. I hope you found some of this helpful or useful. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. If you are interested in the Spirit of Atlanta, check out www.spiritdrumcorps.org, or you can email us at brass@spiritdrumcorps.org.