Inside the Lassiter Percussion
Program:
How many percussionists are involved in
the Lassiter percussion program?
Presently
I have 38 percussion students at the middle
school and 43 at the high school.
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| Scott Brown, Mike Lynch
and Vic Firth Education Director Neil
Larrivee |
What is your daily teaching schedule like?
This changes some from year to year. Normally
during the Fall, I start the day with a
percussion class at Lassiter, which
is basically a drumline class until the marching
season is over. After marching season, we
work on basic percussion techniques and try
to get the students ready for their concert
auditions. This audition is used for their
band and percussion ensemble placement. The
class is only offered during the fall. In
the spring, the students are divided
up into different concert band classes during
the school day and the percussion ensembles
meet after school.
The rest of my day is
spent at Simpson Middle School. This school
feeds Lassiter and one other high school
in the area. At Simpson, where I'm the assistant
band director, I teach all of the percussion
students along with a concert band and team
teach a couple of woodwind classes and bands.
We have approximately 300 students in the
band program at Simpson. Other than the percussion
class during the fall, the only time I'm at
Lassiter is after school, my full time job
is at the middle school.
Are there any
other percussion instructors (privately or
district employed)?
Yes,
Scott Brown helps out with the different facets
of the percussion program, marching and concert.
Scott is also a middle school band director
that feeds one of our neighboring high schools.
During the summer and fall we hire additional
instructors to teach camps or
work with specific sections. Eric Norris
has been our marching cymbal tech for several
years now. We also have a couple of folks
that play professionally in the Atlanta area
that come in and teach private lessons.
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How is the beginner
program structured?
I
start approximately 14 beginning percussion
students per year. I'm fortunate that I get
to teach them in a separate class and they
do meet everyday. All the students are responsible
for getting a percussion kit with bells and
a tunable practice pad. We start on the pad
to try and develop their hands and then move
to the bells. We don't spend a specific amount
of time on each instrument, I switch it
around during the course of the year between
the pad and bells to try and keep it interesting
for the students and to keep them from becoming
bored with the same thing everyday. I also
spend a couple of weeks on the accessory
instruments (cymbal, triangle, tambourine,
etc) and a couple of weeks on drumset.
How is the middle school percussion program
structured?
This changes from year
to year and from class to class. In sixth
grade, they are in a separate class all year
long, meeting together for a few rehearsals
for a couple of concerts. In seventh and
eight grade, we switch it up according to
the many students we have enrolled in band
and the needs of all the band students. Sometimes
I'm the principal conductor for a band and
therefore the instruction those percussion
students receives comes from the podium in
a full band setting. With the eighth grade
students, I do try to work up a selection
or two of percussion ensemble literature
to play on the end of the year concert.
Drumline prep work starts in April or May
with the Simpson M. S. Eighth Graders. Only
about half of my students go to Lassiter
the other half go to a neighboring high school.
The main feeder school for Lassiter does
not have a percussion specialist and I don't
usually get a chance to work with those students until
the end of their eighth grade year.
How do you audition students for HS drumline
in the fall?
In May, we start technique rehearsals
for the drumline. The veterans players come
in on one day for 2 hours and all the freshmen
come on a different day for the same amount
of time. Lassiter has one and a half middle
schools that feed into it, half of Simpson
and all of Mabry Middle School. At these
after school rehearsals, we teach the fundamentals
we would like for them to know and the exercises.
I also give them a short etude they have
to play for me each week or I may make them
sight-read something. I try to get to know
the ability level of all the students since
I don't teach all of them in middle school.
At the end of the school year, all of the
incoming freshman regardless of instrument
attend a 3 day rookie camp where they are
taught marching basics. Then the vets join
the freshman for a 2-day pre-drum camp. At
this camp, we have someone to work with each
section and I go around and listen to all
of the individuals play, freshman and vets.
I set the percussion section by the end of
this pre-camp. I try to avoid just having
one audition, some students will work up
the exercises but are not very good readers
or some students get nervous. I'm trying
to look at their all around musicianship.
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The
Lassiter Percussion Ensemble poses
with Vic at the 2005 Midwest Clinic
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What
is your marching band rehearsal schedule
like?
After the pre-camp we
usually take 5/6 weeks off for summer. We
feel that the students and the staff need
a break since we are so busy during the school
year. In July, we come back together for
a weeklong drum camp, a weeklong pre-band camp
then a week of band camp. At these camps
we try to bring in instructors for each of
the different sections.
During the fall,
we rehearse 3 hrs. On Tues. 2 hrs. on Wed.
and 3 hrs on Thurs. We have a football game
every Friday night and will occasionally
have a rehearsal on Saturday.
What do you do when marching season ends?
We have a few weeks
that I work on concert percussion fundamentals
and help the students get ready for their
Lassiter and all-state auditions. In January,
the percussion students are in one of 4 concert
band classes and one of 3 percussion ensembles
that meet after school. We do have a percussion
ensemble camp that we do one weekend in January
or February. This camp is for the top percussion
ensemble and we bring in a special guest
conductor/clinician to work with the students.
The students are involved in going to concert
band festival with their concert band, solo & ensemble
festival, all-state band, district honor
band, a percussion ensemble festival we attend
in the area and some of the students are
involved in community bands such as The Atlanta
Symphony Youth Orchestra. This takes us up
to our annual Evening of Percussion Concert
and then we start our spring drumline training.
This is what we normally do if we are not
doing some major event with the symphonic
band or the percussion ensemble.
Why do you like to work on percussion
ensemble literature vs fielding an indoor
drumline?
I believe that when students leave
high school they should have the tools necessary
to make an educated choice about what they
want to do with their life. I think by them
playing marching percussion instruments year
around Ill be limiting their choices and
their future. I want the percussion students
to leave and be able to march in their college
marching band, play in the percussion ensemble,
concert band, march drum corps, march in
an indoor drumline, play in a rock band,
or have the tools necessary to major or minor
in music. If we give the student a choice
when they enter high school, most of them
would probably want to play one instrument
all the time, that is the easiest thing
to do, but it is not what is best for the
students. What if the other academic teachers
allowed the students to take only the subjects
they wanted to take? Shouldn't they leave
high school well rounded? I know some programs
are set up so they can do indoor drumline
and percussion ensemble as well. We're not
able to do that because of my schedule at
the middle school. I not at all against indoor
drumline, I just not sure a high school student
should be playing marching percussion year
around.
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Lassiter percussion
students getting autographs from Vic
Firth |
Tell us about the Evening of Percussion
concert. What type of literature do you program?
This
is something we started when I got to Lassiter
10 years ago. Its an opportunity for the
3 percussion ensembles to come together and
showcase what they have been working on for
the their parents and other students. We
play a wide variety of literature from serous
grade 6 literature to pop, classical, and
novelty selections. We try to educate the
audience about good literature while at the
same time being entertaining. This year were
playing a piece that one of the students
in the ensemble wrote. Each year, we try
to include a guest artist to come in and
play with group.
Do the percussionists audition for district
and all-state band?
At the end
of marching season, the students have to
audition for one of the concert bands and
percussion ensembles. I use the GA all-state
audition material plus I add some to it for
their Lassiter Band placement. This way I
tell the students their Lassiter audition
is tougher than the all-state audition, so
why not go ahead and audition for all-state?
Fortunately a lot of them do and Lassiter
has had at least one percussion student in
the Georgia All-State Band for the past 10
years. We had 3 this year.
The high school percussion ensemble has
performed at the Midwest Clinic and BOA National
Percussion Ensemble Festivals. How were the
experiences?
Both events are great but different.
There is no place you can go and play in
front of such a distinguished panel of evaluators
like you can at the BOA National Percussion
Ensemble Festival. This event will definitely
help to raise the bar of your ensemble because
of the preparation you and the students put
forth for the event. There is no other place
you can go to receive this caliber of evaluation.
The Midwest Clinic is also a unique experience
partially because of the size of the audience
and knowledgeable people in the audience.
Having six to seven hundred people setting
listening to your group perform and realizing
most of these people either have a music
degree or working on one is quite an experience.
Also meeting the composers of the selections
your performing and having them at your concert
is quite unique. I believe one of the highlights
for the students was getting the autographs
of the composers on their music they had
used for the concert. Meeting Vic at the
Vic Firth Booth and having him autograph
sticks for the students is something I will
never forget.
Why do you choose Vic Firth?
Regardless of the type of music or
instruments we are playing Vic Firth
always has an assortment of sticks and mallets
to choose from. And as a
teacher that works with middle and high school
students I really appreciate
the educational resources that are available
on the website.
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