Among drum corps enthusiasts, Tom Aungst needs no introduction. His work as the Percussion Arranger and Caption-head for the eight-time D.C.I. World Champion Cadets of Bergen County Drum and Bugle Corps is widely known & respected in the marching community.

In life outside drum corps, Tom is the Percussion Director for the Dartmouth Public School System in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. His job includes teaching percussion students at all levels of the program, from the beginning students in 4th grade, to the middle and high school percussionists. His success in the W.G.I. Indoor Percussion arena is unparalleled. Under Tom's direction, Dartmouth High School has captured two championships (1998 & 1999) and was recently runner-up in at the 2000 competition.

Tom's work with the concert percussion program is equally as successful as his marching ensembles. Dartmouth's "Night of Percussion and Dance" showcases the entire program to sold out concerts of enthusiastic spectators

For highlights of Tom's interview, pictures, audio & video clips, read on!
You can read Tom's article, "Expectations for Your Program" here!

A Look inside the Dartmouth Program: Elementary School

"The one thing that is important to me is reading and playing mallets. I want my students to be well-rounded. I require all the percussion students to play bells in their first year. In the second year, we introduce snare, while at the same time reinforcing mallet reading.

I'm very methodical in my approach to music reading. I really try to get the concept of the students being able to READ music and NOT just memorizing and looking at their bells while they play.

We have a team teaching concept in the system band program. At Dartmouth, we have a woodwind specialist and a brass specialist in addition to myself as the percussion specialist. We travel to the different schools to help the band directors in the elementary & middle school programs. I also teach elementary band and flute classes. With this team teaching structure, if I have trouble with an elementary student who is playing flute, I can ask the woodwind specialist for help. We're always working together as a team.

Accountability is very important in teaching. If you tell the students that you want them to practice the first 3 lines and you never check, most kids are not going to do it. We use testing for that, but it's also a good time to coach them individually. If a student can't play something, we don't just send them back out. We use that individual time to help them on their specific problems."

Next, Tom gives us a look inside Dartmouth's Middle School program: