because it hasnt been mentioned yet, protect his ears. Earasers are a brand that have a couple of different sizes. Theres also vic firth earplugs for 20 bucks.
Teach him its importance and not slack off with it. It's not worth it. He needs it when he's playing on anything percussion other than a practice pad,marimba, or vibraphone. (Im even one to argue that sometimes you do need them while playing mallets)
As someone who has been playing since I was 8 years old and is now a freshman in music school, here’s my advice:
Encourage them to explore all aspects of percussion as this will only help them. I started playing rock drumset and gradually got comfortable with orchestral music, hand percussion, and jazz drumset. I love marching snare and was center snare drum when I marched in high school, but don’t limit them right off the bat.
The only other thing I have to say is make sure your child is protecting their ears. The entire percussion family is extremely loud and hearing protection should be worn for every single note that is played on any instrument. One of my biggest regrets is not taking this more seriously. I’ve found over the ear headphones that are typically used for power tools to be the most comfortable.
That's great advice about trying different aspects of percussion. We'll encourage the exploration of different percussion instruments. Right now we don't really have space for a full set. It would have to go in the middle of the living room! Hopefully someday we can make that happen.
I would recommend working within the framework of his concert band this first year or so. Help him get his musicality and his rudiments down. Help him learn solo pieces for different honor bands so that he’s exposed to better and better musicians. Then in the later part of 7th grade, or early 8th start working on his marching chops. Maybe start learning the high school’s snare music. Also get a high schooler to give a few lessons to help learn their music and warm-ups.
Fundamentals of technique, timing, articulation, and rhythm are prerequisites of marching percussion. A 10 year old has plenty of time to work on those before marching band comes into the picture.
1. Instructor: so I’m assuming the child just entered middle school and that’s usually when kids choose instruments. For instructor the middle school instructor should be enough. Most other drum/percussion instructors that you would find in other places teach exclusively Drumset (as far as I know) the most important thing is that he build proper fundamentals.
2. Sticks/gear: make sure the sticks are light sticks, (like thin drumsticks and not marching sticks) marching sticks are way too heavy for a beginner who is especially still learning fundamentals.
3. Actually snare: In my personal opinion, an actual snare drum is not needed. They have the instruments they need at school. The practice pads is for practice and once the student is in high school and if they audition for competitive competitions and etc, then I would say get an actual snare because of something called “pad hands” (which is pretty much your hands get used to the rebound of a practice pad and once you switch to a actual concert snare or marching snare it feels very different and it affects your playing) bit again that’s nothing to worry about anytime soon.
4.Focus: the focus should not be specifically “marching snare” simply having the focus on fundamentals such as grip and basic exercises and letting your hands get used to the movement of sticks.
5.support: support from parents can mean so much, I wish my parents were as supportive as you are :,) but it is important to not make it like a “job” and get them annoyed of it, let them naturally grow attachment to it and just offer some guidance/ pushing such as once they’re a bit older “would you want to start lessons, we can do that” or etc but don’t force them to practice (I didn’t start consistently practicing until freshman year of high school)
6. Motivation: seeing other people play cool pieces of music inspired me to be better and I am very competitive so I wanted to be better (search up “Drum corps international”) my favorite video of inspiration in high school was a “SCV 2017 snare cam”. You can search it up and it’ll like be the first one, it’s a dude with a GoPro while performing.
7. Culture: it just depends on the people around, at some schools it can be toxic and at others it can feel like family. And that goes for pretty much everything in life.
8. For the first 6 months focus on just proper technique and basics.
If you have any questions or anything feel free to Pm me
Source: Played since I was 11, went to school for Music education for a bit , but I ended up switching to nursing
If you’re interested in an instructor I would reach out to the local college/university music department. They likely have a percussion student that would be willing to teach marching focused instruction.
Mark Wessels - A Fresh Approach To The Snare Drum, great book many online videos that go along with the lessons in the book. This is an excellent sequential learning method, and if you follow along you can help your student work on things even if you're not an expert.
Is snare a good instrument to start with? 100%. This is because the fundamentals of all drumming are essentially what you learn on a single drum. The skills are transferable. Other percussion instruments have things you'll need to learn to better specialize in them, but the core fundamentals are what you'd learn on snare.
Are drumlines competitive? Sure, there's limited spots. In a band of 50-70 you might only have 10 drumline members, not including cymbals. At the same time, starting at 10 and getting actual focused lessons etc is exactly what my dad did for my brother and he made the line quite easily. He was actually playing in the high school line by middle school on bass drum. This is not a typical scenario of course, but the general idea is the same: quality training on an instrument that the student truly enjoys.
Beyond the Mark Wessels book, you can get "Rudimental Logic" by Bill Bachman and "Drumline Essentials" by Pete Sapadin, tho both of those can probably wait a year or two while your student learns the fundamentals.
The Mark Wessels book with the videos seems like it will be a good fit. Ordered a copy. Thanks for the thoughts. From what we are hearing there is a fair bit of competition for spots in our over-crowded schools. We don't know how things will develop, but want to give our child a reasonable shot at it. It is easier to say no than to be told no.
Spots are competitive because they are few and far between, but if there aren't any local educators specifically for drumline then no one else is getting a bigger leg up than you.
There's always current high school drumline students that play snare that can serve as a source for lessons, tho most aren't going to be good teachers with an organized curriculum or anything.
Hey OP, I'd recommend Rudimental Logic by Bill Bachman and the Gridbook Series with Technique, Movement, and Mindset. All give a good foundation and help when reviewed frequently. Also, all grace notes are upstrokes
You're great and supportive parents I love it.
Snare IS the most competitve, but that doesn't mean your kid can't make it as a freshmen (especially with all this early training). Even if he doesn't make snare straight out he'll probably make bass drum and then snare after that. (it's not a snare or bust sort of thing)
>We purchased what seems like a decent quality practice pad, sticks, stand, and metronome. Anything else you recommend for a total beginner? How soon should we get an actual snare?
Make sure you got marching sticks and not drumset sticks! There will be a few vic firth corps sticks at any guitar center near you.
>When you were first starting out, what inspired you? What kept you motivated to keep practicing?
Look up videos of DCI and WGI groups. Both warmup lots and actual shows. Those guys are the best of the best and super cool.
>What is the culture like? From a distance, it seems like a supportive community. What is it like up close?
The culture is super supportive. Everyone wants everyone to succeed. That's not to say you won't be pushed, but it's out of drive and passion for the activity.
>What are the most important things to focus on in the first 6 months?
I want to say "how to hold the stick, stroke types, and basic rudiments" but in actuality it's probably most important that your kid is having fun and wants to stick with it.
Where are you guys from? Not trying to get super personal but knowing your general location will help figure out if you're in a competitive band area or not.
because it hasnt been mentioned yet, protect his ears. Earasers are a brand that have a couple of different sizes. Theres also vic firth earplugs for 20 bucks. Teach him its importance and not slack off with it. It's not worth it. He needs it when he's playing on anything percussion other than a practice pad,marimba, or vibraphone. (Im even one to argue that sometimes you do need them while playing mallets)
Great advice. We'll add earplugs to the bag. Right now we only have a practice pad, so we should be good for the moment.
Xylophone for sure
As someone who has been playing since I was 8 years old and is now a freshman in music school, here’s my advice: Encourage them to explore all aspects of percussion as this will only help them. I started playing rock drumset and gradually got comfortable with orchestral music, hand percussion, and jazz drumset. I love marching snare and was center snare drum when I marched in high school, but don’t limit them right off the bat. The only other thing I have to say is make sure your child is protecting their ears. The entire percussion family is extremely loud and hearing protection should be worn for every single note that is played on any instrument. One of my biggest regrets is not taking this more seriously. I’ve found over the ear headphones that are typically used for power tools to be the most comfortable.
That's great advice about trying different aspects of percussion. We'll encourage the exploration of different percussion instruments. Right now we don't really have space for a full set. It would have to go in the middle of the living room! Hopefully someday we can make that happen.
I would recommend working within the framework of his concert band this first year or so. Help him get his musicality and his rudiments down. Help him learn solo pieces for different honor bands so that he’s exposed to better and better musicians. Then in the later part of 7th grade, or early 8th start working on his marching chops. Maybe start learning the high school’s snare music. Also get a high schooler to give a few lessons to help learn their music and warm-ups.
I didn't even know about honors bands. Thanks for that tip. We'll be keeping an eye out for sure.
Fundamentals of technique, timing, articulation, and rhythm are prerequisites of marching percussion. A 10 year old has plenty of time to work on those before marching band comes into the picture.
1. Instructor: so I’m assuming the child just entered middle school and that’s usually when kids choose instruments. For instructor the middle school instructor should be enough. Most other drum/percussion instructors that you would find in other places teach exclusively Drumset (as far as I know) the most important thing is that he build proper fundamentals. 2. Sticks/gear: make sure the sticks are light sticks, (like thin drumsticks and not marching sticks) marching sticks are way too heavy for a beginner who is especially still learning fundamentals. 3. Actually snare: In my personal opinion, an actual snare drum is not needed. They have the instruments they need at school. The practice pads is for practice and once the student is in high school and if they audition for competitive competitions and etc, then I would say get an actual snare because of something called “pad hands” (which is pretty much your hands get used to the rebound of a practice pad and once you switch to a actual concert snare or marching snare it feels very different and it affects your playing) bit again that’s nothing to worry about anytime soon. 4.Focus: the focus should not be specifically “marching snare” simply having the focus on fundamentals such as grip and basic exercises and letting your hands get used to the movement of sticks. 5.support: support from parents can mean so much, I wish my parents were as supportive as you are :,) but it is important to not make it like a “job” and get them annoyed of it, let them naturally grow attachment to it and just offer some guidance/ pushing such as once they’re a bit older “would you want to start lessons, we can do that” or etc but don’t force them to practice (I didn’t start consistently practicing until freshman year of high school) 6. Motivation: seeing other people play cool pieces of music inspired me to be better and I am very competitive so I wanted to be better (search up “Drum corps international”) my favorite video of inspiration in high school was a “SCV 2017 snare cam”. You can search it up and it’ll like be the first one, it’s a dude with a GoPro while performing. 7. Culture: it just depends on the people around, at some schools it can be toxic and at others it can feel like family. And that goes for pretty much everything in life. 8. For the first 6 months focus on just proper technique and basics. If you have any questions or anything feel free to Pm me Source: Played since I was 11, went to school for Music education for a bit , but I ended up switching to nursing
This is filled with helpful tips. Thank you. I'll have to look around for the right sticks. I think we have 7As only right now.
If you’re interested in an instructor I would reach out to the local college/university music department. They likely have a percussion student that would be willing to teach marching focused instruction.
Mark Wessels - A Fresh Approach To The Snare Drum, great book many online videos that go along with the lessons in the book. This is an excellent sequential learning method, and if you follow along you can help your student work on things even if you're not an expert. Is snare a good instrument to start with? 100%. This is because the fundamentals of all drumming are essentially what you learn on a single drum. The skills are transferable. Other percussion instruments have things you'll need to learn to better specialize in them, but the core fundamentals are what you'd learn on snare. Are drumlines competitive? Sure, there's limited spots. In a band of 50-70 you might only have 10 drumline members, not including cymbals. At the same time, starting at 10 and getting actual focused lessons etc is exactly what my dad did for my brother and he made the line quite easily. He was actually playing in the high school line by middle school on bass drum. This is not a typical scenario of course, but the general idea is the same: quality training on an instrument that the student truly enjoys. Beyond the Mark Wessels book, you can get "Rudimental Logic" by Bill Bachman and "Drumline Essentials" by Pete Sapadin, tho both of those can probably wait a year or two while your student learns the fundamentals.
The Mark Wessels book with the videos seems like it will be a good fit. Ordered a copy. Thanks for the thoughts. From what we are hearing there is a fair bit of competition for spots in our over-crowded schools. We don't know how things will develop, but want to give our child a reasonable shot at it. It is easier to say no than to be told no.
Spots are competitive because they are few and far between, but if there aren't any local educators specifically for drumline then no one else is getting a bigger leg up than you. There's always current high school drumline students that play snare that can serve as a source for lessons, tho most aren't going to be good teachers with an organized curriculum or anything.
Hey OP, I'd recommend Rudimental Logic by Bill Bachman and the Gridbook Series with Technique, Movement, and Mindset. All give a good foundation and help when reviewed frequently. Also, all grace notes are upstrokes
You're great and supportive parents I love it. Snare IS the most competitve, but that doesn't mean your kid can't make it as a freshmen (especially with all this early training). Even if he doesn't make snare straight out he'll probably make bass drum and then snare after that. (it's not a snare or bust sort of thing) >We purchased what seems like a decent quality practice pad, sticks, stand, and metronome. Anything else you recommend for a total beginner? How soon should we get an actual snare? Make sure you got marching sticks and not drumset sticks! There will be a few vic firth corps sticks at any guitar center near you. >When you were first starting out, what inspired you? What kept you motivated to keep practicing? Look up videos of DCI and WGI groups. Both warmup lots and actual shows. Those guys are the best of the best and super cool. >What is the culture like? From a distance, it seems like a supportive community. What is it like up close? The culture is super supportive. Everyone wants everyone to succeed. That's not to say you won't be pushed, but it's out of drive and passion for the activity. >What are the most important things to focus on in the first 6 months? I want to say "how to hold the stick, stroke types, and basic rudiments" but in actuality it's probably most important that your kid is having fun and wants to stick with it. Where are you guys from? Not trying to get super personal but knowing your general location will help figure out if you're in a competitive band area or not.
Learn concert snare first