The Secret to Heights and Dynamics in Marching Percussion

I would like to take a minute to demystify a common thing I have seen non percussionist band directors struggle with implementing. I think all band directors, at some point in their career, have witnessed a percussionist reference drum line dynamics through the use of a height system. Some have heard of different “levels” of playing: level one being very low and quiet and level five being obscene (and borderline offensive when not done correctly). Others I’m sure have heard of the height system that uses “inches” as a reference. My goal is to introduce what I use and give you tools on how to effectively implement these ideas in your ensemble. This may be a long post, because I plan on walking you through how to establish each dynamic level, starting with the lowest or most quiet.

Before we begin this journey, we need to get something straight. I clearly said “Marching Percussion” in the title. I did not say “drum line.” This is because any height system can be used with ANY part of the marching ensemble. The goal here is a unified approach in velocity from player to player within the ensemble, and to also have a unified verbiage for ease of instruction.

As I said, I would like to take us through my height system that I use, starting with the lowest. The lowest dynamic I usually define from the beginning is “three inches.” This is going to make up the majority of the notes in the piece of music we are playing. It also serves the height for music marked “piano.” In order to find this height, our “set” position (also called a resting or tacet position”) must be set up correctly. On all drum line (battery) instruments, I define this as a downward angle with beats in the appropriate playing zones for the instrument. This downward angle is further defined as a gap around the size of two fingers between the rim of the drum and the part of the stick closest to it. From there, our wrist must have NO BREAK in it. The height of the drum should be adjusted to find this height. From there, the downward angle should stop at the tip of the stick. The beads or ends of the sticks should be hovering as close to the head without touching it. Special care should be taken in the bass line to ensure they also have this downward angle. From here, we lift the stick to parallel to the drum head. This is the height we call 3 inches. It should never be above parallel to the head. The mallet percussion is a bit trickier. It involves perception by you as the instructor to make sure the mallet height that is parallel to the instrument is comparable to the battery.

The next level I like to talk about is the 6 inch height. I like to use a very stretched “thumbs up” to demonstrate the approximate height for 6 inches. This involves very little opening of the hand even at moderate tempos. It should usually be achieved by the turn of the wrist. This dynamic level correlates to “mezzopiano” in the music. While I let the front ensemble explore this range a little more in their literature, I very rarely call for anything but the accents to change dynamic levels in the battery. Unless your musical ear desires more volume from the battery, EVERY note should be played at 3 inches regardless of dynamic marking EXCEPT the accents. The dynamic marking only dictates the height at which the accent is to be played. Therefore, at a marked mezzopiano, only the accents will be played at the 6 inch height defined here.

The rules of dynamics applying only to accents carries on through the next two dynamic levels. The next of the two is a “mezzoforte” volume, and I define it as nine inches. This is achieved by mostly wrist, still with minimal opening of the hand. The stick should not be approaching perpendicular to the head. Remember, this is only three inches higher than mezzopiano. This is contrast to the “forte” height I define as twelve inches. At this point, the line in my instruction between twelve inches and higher becomes more dependent on the demand of the music. The louder the marking, the more arm is used. The slower the rhythm, the more arm we can begin to engage to achieve the desired height. At these larger heights it is important to never allow the stick to go past perpendicular to the head. If more height is desired, it is achieve through the use of the elbow hinge, incorporating more forearm. I always tell my students we will not go past perpendicular and become “back scratchers.”

There are four short points that must now be made to connect the dots and make application practical. First, there is often an agogic accent noted with a tenudo articulation on percussion parts. I define this as a half accent. As an example, an agogic accent at a forte dynamic level (nine inches) should be achieved with 4.5 inch (I like to relate it to my kids as a “sad” or “lazy” six inch height) accents. Second, an accent at the piano dynamic (three inch) level is equal to an agogic accent at the mezzopiano level. I relate this to the kids as just a “little bump” in the sound achieved by slightly higher sticks. Third, the only exceptions to the “all unaccented notes are always at 3 inches” rule are decrescendos and crescendos. These are begun at the notated level, then gradually increased or decreased in height into the next notated dynamic level. These are never done mechanically and even throughout the course of the (de)crescendo. I always shape these dynamic changes as I would a band: with a “bellcurve” shape, saving the biggest changes for the end of the (de)crescendo. Finally, all of these rules go out the window when the velocity of the stick changes drastically from height to height. The integrity of the placement of the note with velocity of a three inch height should be just as high as the twelve inch height. The only change is the height. We should always strive to avoid the extreme at both ends of the spectrum: a feather tapped or extremely heavy three inches, or an overly excited nine inch accent. To avoid these extremes, always practice all heights in a “basics strokes” exercise similar to the one I have on this website. This exercise is intended to be played at all heights to ingrain in the performers what it feels like to achieve them correctly. Only then do we truly have a unified language for ease of instruction.

This is, in the quickest and most stripped down way I can manage, is the height system I use in a nutshell. It is my hope that this can serve as a guide for percussionists and non percussionists alike. Of course there are areas I did not speak of, but it’s impossible to include every scenario in a post such as this. Please, as always, never hesitate to reach out about questions, comments or concerns that you have over any material here!

Becoming a Jedi (Timing in the Bass Drum Line)

The tonal marching bass drum line is unique to the drum line in its challenges to the performer. After looking at the bass drum music, most band directors come to realize the biggest challenge this section faces is playing a moving line where each pitch has been split between several performers. In my last post, I talked briefly of the importance of playing with the feet and how the feet need to be the primary motivating factors in rhythmic integrity. This can become even more difficult if the melody has been split between performers. This post will aim to give instructors more tools in teaching the bass line to play with rhythmic integrity in relationship to their feet and the rest of the ensemble.

If you look in the “Free Materials” section of this website, you will find a Basic Strokes exercise. The bass drum music to this is one note per measure for a good reason. The first goal in successful splits is to create a unison pattern that promotes subdivision with the feet while promoting confidence through the use of unisons. This exercise, known by some as “Jedi”, can teach the performer to quickly learn to use eighth note subdivision with the quarter note mark time in the feet. Not only can they learn this as an individual but they can learn each other’s rhythmic tendencies and begin to unify them. It adds a deeper layer of accountability to each performer. This is the reason a well tuned and muffled bass line is very important. The instructor and performers should both monitor the clarity of the unisons in order to promote rhythmic precision. If the performer cannot perform this exercise with consistent mark time, splits exercises should be avoided until this is accomplished. This exercise should be learned with the written sticking, then while only using one hand to achieve the entire exercise. 

Once familiarity of this exercise has been established, making the connection to splits exercises is an easy process. The first thing that should happen is to have each individual player play one measure of the exercise at the same time other players play other measures. More specifically, in a five man bass line, the top bass player should play measure one, the second player should play measure two, the third should play measure three, and so on. If they all play this immediately after the count off, you should have two counts ending with a down beat on count three. The rhythm heard should be straight eighth notes where each player only plays one note. This is the simplest single note split, and the basis of learning to split while relating rhythms to the performer’s foot timing. If you take the second half of the exercise and execute it in the same way, you will have a split that goes from the largest drum to the smallest. After putting these together, you have a full measure of splits down and then up the bass line. This full measure of splits is sometimes known as a “laser”. 

From here, you can take many avenues in developing more complicated splits. Typically, the next layer is to add sixteenth notes to the laser split. This can be done by adding a sixteenth note to the original unison exercise. From here, they can take the same process in adding the sixteenth note to the laser split. Another variation that can be very valuable is to add an eighth note to the original unison exercise. This promotes foot alignment to each individual beat. After these two, the imagination is the only limiting factor in creating more opportunities for split exercises. As with any exercise, dynamic variations should always be included to assure transfer into the musical materials of the show.

If the instructor can learn to start with unison rhythms that add comfort to the performer and gradually add layers that take the performer away from this comfort, the bass line can quickly learn how to be individually accountable for their notes in the line, while also listening to the line and knowing how to adapt to subtle rhythmic nuances that occur when playing with other imperfect performers. All instruction should always start from security and known information and develop into things that are less known. Foot timing, musical timing in the ensemble, and rhythmic accuracy are of the utmost importance in this exercise and should be closely monitored by the instructor.

So we can't play one note together... Why not?

As an educator, I have had the opportunity to travel to many groups in many different areas and help out. These groups can range in resources for their percussionists. The range of resources I have seen is a one band director band where the director doesn’t feel comfortable saying anything to percussionists, to a large band with techs for almost every sub section of the battery and one or two front ensemble techs. No matter what the resources, there are some key foundations that often goes overlooked: feet timing (and vocal duts), sticks up, and a properly executed motion from the tacet position. These three elements are so often not talk about for various reasons. I have heard people express their idea that these things are not important and more time should be focused on music. I whole heartedly disagree with this assertion, as you will see. I have heard people address them briefly for a day and then never mention them again. Then, they see problems with entrances in the music and wonder why they are having these problems. The students in your drum line will be much more successful with the proper implementation of these three fundamentals.

Let’s begin our journey of these foundations from the ground and work our way up. The feet of a percussionist are the bread and butter of their ability to keep time. They should also be the educators first thing to watch when odd rhythms are not lining up correctly, or when initial attacks are being missed. When marking time, the percussionist needs to be able to feel the time coming from their feet. Some people do this by simply using their heels to mark time. I do believe that this is effective, but can be made more effective be utilizing a whole foot mark time technique. The foot only has to come off the ground enough to slip a piece of paper underneath, but it must come off and return to the ground in a heavy but relaxed manner. From here, all rhythms should be learned based on their interaction with the feet. This ensures a firm understanding of the rhythms. This is especially difficult for some players in open rhythms with lots of space (like dotted eighth notes) and in 4:3 type rhythms. Once firm tempo has been established internally by using an external source, an audible dut (or similar sound) must be used in order to check the individual timing with the ensemble’s time. This should be audible enough for the performer to the individual’s left and right to hear it and should be short and precise to eliminate as much room for error as possible.

Moving up from the feet, the next motion that needs to happen is the sticks up. The sticks up is usually looked at as another time keeper. While I agree with this, that is not what I want to stress. Yes the sticks must be brought up in time, but they also must be brought up (or out) in a relaxed manner. This doesn’t mean it has to be slow. However, one of the worst things that can happen in a sticks out before you play is for you to tense up before you have to play. Many young players do this in order to keep their sticks up fast and in time. You would never ask a brass or woodwind player to squeeze their lips together on a horns up, so why should percussionists do this to their fingers/hands on a sticks up? Tension breeds error in music.

Finally, The stick must move effectively from the tacet position. If there are two notes to be played, both sticks must be effectively moved from the tacet position. If all other things mentioned previously are being executed correctly, the prep stroke may be to blame. Often, students do not think about the fact that they must lift their sticks before they move toward the head. I honestly try not to define this motion to an extreme amount. Instead, I use exercises that help the performer utilize peripheral vision to move together (Check back in a few weeks for these exercises and a post explaining them!). I monitor the motion of the stick when I hear consistently bad attacks. Usually you can pin point the player who is moving unlike other players and give them the proper feed back.

If you are having problems with attacks in your drum line, these tools are a great starting place to ensure effective first notes. Without a together first note, there is no guarantee subsequent notes will be together. An ensemble must usually start together to end together. At the very least, it gives the performers their best shot to have an excellent musical experience.

Immortal Words

“The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.” – John Quincy Adams

I am currently in the DFW metroplex with the Razorback Marching Band. On dinner break tonight, we stopped by a Barnes & Nobles where I was able to pick up a new book. This was a book of quotes entitled, The Essential Wisdom of the World’s Greatest Leaders. After dinner we went to a high school and performed after a high school football game. Following the performance, I was sitting on the bus reading through the quotes just to see if any popped out to me. The one above immediately caught my eye. It started to make me think about everyone’s influence on one another. One simple action, or one performance, has the potential to change millions of lives. On the other hand, one simple action or performance has the potential to do irreparable damage. The more powerful of a position you are in, the more drastic every decision you make can be. I am constantly thinking about the role of the educator. This is a position of almost absolute trust. The educator who has successfully won over the trust of their students with a combination of love and knowledge can do an immense amount of good and bad. The example we set outside of the classroom is easily the most overlooked area of our profession. I’m not talking about what we do in our free time. That is scrutinized in todays culture almost to a fault. I am more concerned with the conversations educators have with their students.

Four years ago (I think) the governing body of band directors in the state of Arkansas (ASBOA) decided to have their first state marching competition. This came after years of arguing about the validity of contests in music. One band director summed this up in a short talk in front of almost every band director in the state. The gist was as follows:

Competition is bad when competition is taught incorrectly. He then said that if competition made the members of his ensemble rude towards other organizations, or if there was bad sportsmanship between schools, it was HIS fault as the educator. In his opinion it was his job to teach his students how to treat others at a competition. It was his job to teach his students how to react to both good and bad scores at competitions. It was his job to lead the students into a healthy understanding of both competition and the influence competition has on the advancement of our craft.

This is one example of the many things that I believe can be said outside of rehearsal or class time. We as educators have to be constantly aware of the language we use off of the podium and outside of the classroom when talking to our students. We can easily turn our programs into whatever we want with a simple positive or negative word. This change can have lasting effects not only on the program, but on the future of a student and their peers for years to come.

This is just a narrow scope to which the above quote can be applied. This narrowness is a testament to the heavy burden that is placed on educators. We must be the reflection of the shining light within our students. We must cultivate this light and lead them to believe they are capable of being a positive influence in the world. This is a full time job that must show through in every conversation we have.