Posted by Leland on October 17, 2003 at 06:31:27:
In Reply to: To Drum Corp or not to Drum Corp... posted by Tuba Nerd on October 16, 2003 at 18:02:08:
Pretty much everything I was taught in corps that related to playing was remarkably similar to the principles being taught by the likes of Jacobs, Sheridan, Pilafian, and other teachers & instructors of that level. How that would overdevelop one's chops, I can't understand.
Imagine if, as a band director or brass professor, that you could get your kids to spend a significant amount of time every day during the summer to work on breathing, tone production, blend, intonation, and ensemble responsibility. A decently-taught drum corps, regardless of size, makes a habit of addressing these issues.
The hardest part of marching corps for me was coming back to band every year. Not because it was band, but because the playing was so much worse. Coming from "living in tune" to a hodgepodge of kids who mostly haven't touched their horn since the final spring concert is especially frustrating. It took a lot of discipline to keep my mouth shut every fall.