Practicing, among other things

Hello everyone. Hope you've all been having a great summer break so far and all that stuff. It's Friday once again, which means it's update time. :D

Ok. So practicing. Everyone should have at least glanced at the music at this point. If for some reason you don't possess any music, feel free to ask me, Eric, your section leader, Kimball, or anybody else who might have it. Same goes for any questions you might have about the music. Feel free to ask away.

Now it's time for sectionals. So far, tenors are the only section to actually get together and work on music. Each section should have at least planned a sectional by now. As of now, there is a bass sectional scheduled for July 2nd. No word on snares yet, however -_-. There is a possible full battery rehearsal in the works at the moment. Not too sure of the specs yet, but spoiler alert - a pool will be involved. Get pumped.

As for other things to get pumped about, there are 31 days until the awesomeness of marching season starts. Now is the time to start running and doing other strength-building exercises, especially if you aren't used to getting a lot of regular physical activity. Everyone should also be practicing. I cannot stress enough how crucial it is that everyone be practicing as often as possible. I'm sure everyone has heard the phrase "You're only as strong as your weakest player." Everyone's number one goal on the first rehearsal day back from break should be to not be the weakest player. This should also be a recurring theme throughout the entire season as well. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. As for now, everyone's main concern should be to focus on technique, ability, and music.

Speaking of music. Here's some more preseason jams. Enjoy.

Love you all. See you soon.

Forrest

Hello Children

Hello my drumline brethren. Welcome back to another weekly installment of the 2011 drumline blog. Summer still going all right? Perfect.

To keep in tradition, let's start with practicing. All of you should have had Chaos and the opening hit for almost a week now. If you were completely unaware of it's existence, you're cut, but make sure to email me at EGDekker@gmail.com for a copy asap and get yourself caught up. Otherwise, I hope all of you realize how big of deal having our music this early is. "But Eric, we have all summer to learn this" is the opposite approach that you should take. Legitimately sitting down and practicing even a small section each day is a must for a fast-paced, successful early season. Nobody wants to be the one of ten players unprepared for his/her part. Especially with the opening hit available, there is no excuse for not being miles ahead of everyone else day one of band camp. This is serious guys, any vet will tell you that their worst experiences were those they forgot to prepare for. Let's all avoid those experiences all together :D

Don't forget the five M's of practicing! met, music, mirror, marktime and...met.

Next, just another friendly reminder to watch your food and drink intake. I know some of you, especially those with a handy dandy driver's license, have been replacing breakfast or lunch for a daily RooCup slushie, or as I call it, the devil's chalice. That icee cup of syrupy deliciousness will be your downfall come July 26th, I guarantee it. It be hypocritical of me to demand you cut every drink but water out of your diet, but it's not a bad goal to work up to towards the last few weeks in July. You will be working harder and getting less water breaks than everyone else in the band, and you're expected to be physically prepared for that.

Almost there. Sectionals! They are important, and a pretty fundamental supplement to practicing on your own. Nothing will sound good as a line if a section sounds bad within itself. I know Forrest and Dylan held their first sectional today, and snares have one lined up. A section leader's primary responsibility is to put together sectional practices, both during the summer and mid-season. However, Forrest should be sending everybody contact information for the entire drumline in the coming minutes. Anybody is always free to contact me, Forrest, or their section leader if they have complaints, suggestions, questions, ect. Communication is key guys, never let yourself be in the dark about anything, especially if you're new to the marching band scene.

Make sure you treat this weekly blog seriously. It might sound overstated, but Forrest and I wouldn't waste out time writing things we didn't mean. You should be excited and intense, not scared :) Forrest is absolutely correct, the best is definitely yet to come.

Love, from the deepest chasms of my soul,

Eric

P.S. If you haven't seen the Brass blog, go check it out. They made "flat Jon" versions of Jon Swofford that are traveling all over world and country with various brass members. Fortunetly, we have space shuttles, air planes, control of physics and a time machine at our disposal, so this summer, the real Kimball will be traveling the universe. Please enjoy tracking his progress. His first destination was, of course, Mars.

It Begins Again

Hey guys (and Daniella), welcome to the first weekly drum line blog update of the 2011 marching season. How's your summer going? Good? I thought so. Now that the boring stuff is out of the way...

First order of business. Practicing. Very crucial to everyone's success as a member of this drum line. If you haven't touched your pad, drum, or sticks since last rehearsal, one, you're cut, and two, do it. Right now. Speaking of now, now is not the time to even think about getting slack on practicing. This is mainly for the rookies; we vets have all done this before, and any one of us will tell you stories about kids who haven't practiced and how many reps of push-ups we have done. Don't be that guy (or girl). Please. I've seen little bits and pieces of the music, and it will be challenging for everyone. Even the vets. The more prepared everyone is, the more enjoyable of an experience camp will be.

Second. If you aren't running at least ten miles a day, you're probably fine; that's kind of excessive. However, everyone's goal should be at least one easy mile by the first percussion camp day (July 26th). Push-ups, sit-ups, and planks should also be powerful weapons in your fitness arsenal. Starting to lower your amount of junk food and soda intake around now would also be an excellent idea. Some of you might be thinking, "But Forrest, I just bought a Roo Cup last week! I want to fill it up as many times as possible!" Unless you fill up your cup with water, (and really, who does that?) RELAX. The bulk of band camp will be done weeks before September 5th, so you soda fiends will have plenty of time to get hyped up on free carbonated deliciousness. Mmm.

Annddd lastly, in case you missed it at the top, the blog will be updated on a weekly basis, every Friday. As you can tell, we are already off to a great start, clocking in a nearly three hours late. Perfect. Please check back here as often as possible (can you say new homepage?) for updates, sectional announcements, and other drumming goodies. Speaking of sectionals, section leaders should already be in contact with their sections about getting together at some point(s) this summer. Drums don't necessarily have to be involved, but drumming does. Of course. If Eric or myself check with section members and discover that contacts have not been made, the pre-season throwing down will begin. And then we'll call the sectional ourselves. For another section. So either way, it's happening. 0:)

All of this may seem like a lot, and it is, but the key to this activity is to have fun with it. At times, it will be very difficult and tedious. Just remember that the best is yet to come. I promise. :D

Until next week,

Forrest

p.s. Here's some good summer listening material.