Drumline next year and motivation

[Jrook5]

Hey, I'm not really an instructor but I'm my high school drumlines section leader and need some advice. I know there are other posts on this topic but all of the responses say the same thing and I was hoping I could get some more creative advice on motivating people to practice. Where I live a lot of people don't really practice their instruments in high school band programs so a lot of the people in our drumline don't really spend a lot of time practicing. We had a small year last year that had a lot more potential to not only be good but also be bigger but people just don't have to motivation to practice so as a result we couldn't have as many people in battery. I'm looking to have a good year next year as it is my senior year and I want to have a great year in my last year of this activity. We will have anywhere from 8 in battery to 12 or 13, which for our school is a large drumline, the last two years we had 6 and battery and the year before 9. A lot of new people were joining and I need to find a way to really motivate and get to them to not just do a bunch of mindless practicing, but enjoy this activity as well. If you have good ways of getting people's chops built fast post that as well.

The ideas I already have to motivate people doing drumline are things that got me into drumline
- I love playing music in a team
- I love performing
- I enjoy all types of music
- I was inspired by watching other high school groups and drum corps
- when I first started practicing I practiced to music to make things more exciting
since I have the attention span of a fly
- the sound of a drumline is an addicting sound

I am also a motivating and enthusiastic person when i'm positive, I sometimes and negative though and it hurts the line , so I'm trying to be really positive and motivate everyone knowing the marching season is right around the corner.

We have limited time before marching season and a lot of new people so it'd be awesome if anyone can post creative fun ideas to not only motivate new people to practice, but enjoy drumline in general. I want their first impression of being in drumline to be great so that it sticks with them and they develope their skills and end up being a happy person because they found something they love. This drumline has a lot of potential to be better than a lot of drumlines in our area and I myself was struggling to find motivation but I'm enjoying drumline again and I'm willing to do my part.

[Jape]

My old section leader promised to give me a McDonalds ice cream cone if I memorized the first movement in our show before the first rehearsal. Of course he never did but you can bet I memorized that sheet music like there was no tomorrow. You might be able to do something similar?

[MattyIce52]

Usually as section leader, I make the individual run laps around the parking lot (which isn't too big but is a pain to run around) if the sheet music wasn't memorized by a certain date. And you bet your bottom dollar they got their music down.

[Jrook5]

See that's the thing though, I want them to memorize their music and work there chops not because there's a consequence if they don't, but because the truly enjoy it and want to compete. I want it to be more than just about the show music. Last year I gave push-ups for that kind of stuff, and though they got it memorized, they wouldn't clean it and they wouldn't work there chops so they barely improved and we would get decent scores. As far as the first idea goes about McDonald's, I like it and might do something like that but at the same time I want to motivate to do it with something directly relating to drumline rather than food. I'm glad you guys responded though, it means a lot.

[billc36]

So the thing that I've noticed is that you need to give students a clear goal and date to achieve that goal in advance.

At the school I work with, they get a calendar at the beginning of the summer listing which exercises they need to have down at what tempos by a date, what chunk of show music needs to be memorized, what chunk of show music needs to be trackable. By the time band camp stars, they entire show is memorized and up to tempo. It's not perfect, but that's what band camp and the season is for. There are no pushups or running laps or any of that crap if they don't meet the goals. Not a single lick of music has ever been cleaned by running a lap or doing pushups. If they aren't where they should be, rehearsal went on as if they were. We as a staff knew who was struggling and who wasn't. It was rare that they weren't caught up by the next rehearsal.

You're a student, not an adult, you're set up for failure by being asked to be the section leader and the instructor.

Don't give them a bunch of crazy warmups that you heard BD or Cadets or whoever playing, they aren't for the average HS line and will lead to more frustration. High school lines need four exercises tops...legato's, bucks, triplet roll and a timing exercise. Maybe a paradiddle exercise if there's a lot in your show. You can add variations to those. We don't get a lot of people watching us warmup in the lot because our exercises aren't "cool" or "groovy". What we do is focus on us, get better as a group and then take the field and win hardware. The groups playing the "cool" exercises are congratulating us on the hardware.

[Jrook5]

Thanks, that was great advice and I'll definitely use that. Also, it's not that I'm being asked to be the instructor it's just that we usually only have the first drumline meeting for fall season in mid July, which in my opinion is way too late, so that's why I want to try pushing everything, plus I enjoy helping out the new people in the line, it not only helps them but makes me be sure to stay on top of things and continuously build my chops and learn new things to be the best roll model I can be. I'll definitely use the calendar idea though, thanks so much for the advice!

[schorsquatch]

I think that the hard part is looking past motivating individuals and building a culture of excellence. In that way, you have been put in a really tough spot, because growing that will take years.

Do you have motivated vets? They can really help you out. That way, you have a core group of students motivating and setting a standard for what's acceptable.

Lastly, be prepared to manage your own expectations. You may get stuck in a situation where you are spending a lot of time on someone who is just not going to do what they need to do. Don't lose sleep over it. That person doesn't need to be good, just good enough. Stay positive, send your energy where it is being reciprocated, and you will get more bang for the buck.

[bigdaddyflamtap]

Something to think about for motivation is getting the members of the line to socialize outside of rehearsal time. The shared "inside jokes", shenanigans, etc. between line members goes a long way to build personal cohesiveness which creates a stronger desire to not "let the others down" on the playing side.

Also, while hanging out outside of rehearsal - break out the pads! Don't try to turn it into a rehearsal, just chop. People learn best when they don't realize they're learning.

Like ScoJo says "If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong"

[schorsquatch]

Something to think about for motivation is getting the members of the line to socialize outside of rehearsal time. The shared "inside jokes", shenanigans, etc. between line members goes a long way to build personal cohesiveness which creates a stronger desire to not "let the others down" on the playing side.

Also, while hanging out outside of rehearsal - break out the pads! Don't try to turn it into a rehearsal, just chop. People learn best when they don't realize they're learning.

Like ScoJo says "If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong"

THIS.

The best motivation comes from within the line.