GRANDVILLE DRUMLINE

Drumline is the group of students in the marching band that play percussion instruments. Some students march with their instruments, in the battery, and some play stationary instruments on the front sideline, called the pit. Together these two sections keep the tempo and provide a rhythm section for the rest of the marching band.

What is the pit?

There are the two groups that make up the drumline - the pit and the battery. The pit is the front sideline section of the band that does not march. It gets its name from orchestra pits, where symphony musicians are seated beneath a stage during musicals, ballets, or operas. The pit includes a keyboard section, with wooden instruments like xylophones and marimbas, and metal instruments like vibraphones, bells and chimes, and an auxiliary section, comprised of timpani (large kettle drums), hand drums like bongos and congas, and various smaller percussion instruments like cymbals, triangles, tambourines, and shakers.

What is the battery?

The battery is the marching section of the drumline. They are on the field with the rest of the band during a performance and they wear or carry their instruments. Our battery is comprised of four sections: snares, tenors, basses, and crash cymbals. Snares are a single drum with metal springs, or "snares", stretched across the bottom of the drum that vibrate when the drum is hit. Tenors (commonly called quads) have 4 to 6 horizontally-connected, shallow drums. Grandville's tenors have 6 drums, 4 larger ones and 2 smaller, high-pitched drums called a shot drums. A bass drum is a single drum worn on the chest and played vertically, with one arm on each side. Usually in a marching band there are several bass drums, ranging from small, higher-pitched ones to bigger, lower-pitched drums. The marching cymbal players carry crash cymbals, primarily to be crashed but occasionally to be held flat and played like a suspended cymbal by another drummer, or to be used for visual effects.

Why does the drumline have more practices than the band?

With so many area bands practicing three or four times a week, plus Saturdays, the Grandville Band and Drumline staff feel that we can remain competitive while also leaving plenty of time for students to do homework and be involved in other activities if they choose. The drumline practices each Thursday night from 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. from February until the marching season ends in early November. After band camp, Monday night rehearsals are added, at which the drumline practices with the entire band. The drumline is vital to the marching band in keeping the correct tempo and rhythm - if the drumline falls apart in a performance, so does the rest of the band. So it's very important that the drumline is secure in their parts and is very familiar with the parts being played by other drummers. By having two practices a week, we strive to make our percussion section the best it can be, and try to ensure that the rest of the marching band can depend on us for a consistent tempo.

Why is the drumline always dismissed later than the rest of the band at practices?

Practice ends at 9:30, so why isn't your student let out of practice until close to 9:45? Well, we try our hardest to get the students out of practice in a timely manner, but please understand that the drumline has some of the largest and heaviest equipment in the entire band to take care of each week. The drumline often has a short meeting after practice, but also, the pit has to move all of their equipment off the field and back into the band room after practice ends - and they have a lot of equipment! To help things move more quickly, each student in the pit is assigned certain instruments to take on and off the field, but the instruments are often heavy or fragile, and the process of moving all the equipment inside can take 10-15 minutes. Please be patient and know that we will try to get your student out of practice as soon as possible.

What uniform do pit students wear to performances?

Pit students need to have the black band pants, black band shoes, and jacket that every marching band student wears. Pit students DO NOT need gloves, gauntlets, hats, or plumes. Pit students may or may not wear the band uniform, depending on the show. Karen, the pit instructor, will tell the students in August what they'll be wearing throughout the marching season. Some years the pit chooses a costume different from what the rest of the band or color guard is wearing; but we do ask that each pit student have the regular band uniform in case we decide to use it.

What should my student bring to practice?

Because most band and drumline rehearsals are outdoors, it's important that students wear clothing and shoes appropriate for the weather. Sandals are not allowed because they impede proper marching technique and do not offer sufficient support, and in the case of pit students, toes can be run over by heavy equipment. During fall practices, students should always have coats and gloves. We also recommend a hat or earmuffs. For summer rehearsals, students may want to bring a water bottle and insect spray. Every student should have their music folder and a writing utensil with them at every practice throughout the year.

Why does the drumline have so many instructors?

Because the drumline has additional, separate practices from the rest of the marching band, we often have 4 or more instructors on the drumline staff each year. We also always have lots of volunteer help from former students. When the drumline is at practice, we often split up into sectionals, where the pit will practice separate from the snares, who will practice separate from the basses, etc. We need an instructor for each of those sections. When the drumline practices as a whole, there is often one instructor watching the different battery sections, one watching the pit and one watching the marching from a viewing tower.

Why do I have to pay a pit fee every year?

The drumline students are the only students in the band that do not own or rent their own instruments, yet we have some of the largest and most expensive equipment to care for. We ask that each student make a small financial contribution to help keep the instruments in good repair and to ensure that we can replace old or damaged equipment. Battery members buy their own sticks because they are the only ones that will be using them for the season and they can take them home between practices. The pit members, however, do not purchase their own mallets and accessories, in part because they cannot take them home, but primarily because each student uses so many different mallets and sticks on different instruments throughout the show - and every year the new marching show calls for new and different types of mallets and accessories. If each student had to buy their own mallets each season, they'd be spending hundreds of dollars a year! By having each student paying a small fee, and by holding fund-raisers each year, the drumline is able to purchase the extra equipment needed for each new show.

When do parents get to see the show?

Starting in September when the band marches on the football field during evening practice, parents are allowed to come and watch the rehearsals from the stands. To see the "real thing" though, parents are encouraged to attend the local band competitions where Grandville competes against a number of other Michigan marching bands. The competition dates and locations are always posted on the Scores page of this website. Attending these competitions is a great way to see the different styles of music and marching, and experience the show that your student has worked so hard to prepare for. Also, Grandville hosts its own invitational every year on the second Saturday in October, when local marching bands perform at Grandville High School. It's a fun family activity and is probably the best and most convenient way to see your child perform with the band and enjoy some other marching band shows as well.

Why are the scores so different from show to show?

Basically, it's because there are 4 different types of competition in which Grandville participates, and each circuit has its own judges, rules, performance requirements and scoring criteria. To fully understand the differences between each circuit, click here and read a complete explanation of MCBA, MSMBC, MSBOA, BOA competitions.

Does the drumline need volunteer help?

YES! The entire band can always use volunteer parent help, but the drumline specifically needs certain volunteer roles filled each year. Parents are always needed to help load and unload instruments from the band semi at competitions. Some of the equipment is quite heavy so we generally ask some of the drumline dads to help in this area, but all help is welcome. Please contact me, Karen Hoekstra, if you are interested in helping load & unload drumline equipment. I have a sheet for helpers which explains the correct ways to handle our fragile and expensive instruments. When in doubt - ask the students! They are trained to handle the equipment properly.

There are many other ways in which you can help the band and drumline as well. The easiest way to learn about our needs and how you can help is to become part of the Grandville Band Boosters by attending the meetings! You can contact the GHS band room at 616-254-6461 to find out when the next monthly meeting is held, or check the Boosters page of this website.

What is "indoor drumline"?

Indoor drumline is an optional activity that the Grandville Drumline sometimes participates in outside of regular marching band season. It refers to a percussion ensemble which competes in a circuit of winter competitions, like Winter Guard International (WGI). The indoor drumline season begins in late November and ends mid-April with the WGI Finals competition. The indoor ensemble learns new music and choreography for these competitions, and competes against other drumlines from across the United States. Grandville has done very well with past indoor drumline ensembles. In 1998, the ensemble placed second in their class at WGI Finals, and in 1999 the ensemble took ninth place in the same national competition.

Where can I get more information about high school drumlines?

There are many resources for general high school drumline information. A good place to start is the links page of this website. You can check out WGI's website for information on indoor drumlines, or MarchingArts.com for all sorts of info on marching bands and drumlines. There are also many magazines available for high school drummers like Focus, published by WGI, and the Bands of America Newsletter which has information about marching bands competing across the U.S. There are so many websites available for drummers - to find one just use a search engine like Yahoo! or Google and search for "drumline" or "percussion". You'll come up with tons of great info.

What's drum corps?

Drum corps, or drum & bugle corps, (we drummers tend to leave out the "bugle" part) is like high school marching band in that there's a battery, pit, color guard, and a horn line (but no woodwinds) performing a marching program in competition. And just like marching band, there are different divisions of drum corps depending on the number of members. You can join a drum corps as young as 14, and age-out at 22, meaning you cannot join or remain in a drum corps if you will turn 23 at any time during the active season. Drum & bugle corps are usually not affiliated with any institution, but most are affiliated with and based in certain cities, as in the Madison Scouts or the Seattle Crusaders. Performers must audition for drum corps. Once they're officially part of the corps, they practice on weekends through the winter, and then begin a spring & summer tour when they compete against other drum corps through mid-August. The biggest organization of drum & bugle corps is Drum Corps International, or DCI. You can find out more about them at www.dci.org.

Where can I find more information about drum corps?

The best place to start is DCI's website, as mentioned above. You can find out about the organization, the competitions, the corps involved, the history of drum & bugle corps, and much more at their website. They also have an email mailing list called DCI Now, which notifies subscribers of drum corps news, events, scores, and other info. To find out about a specific drum corps, simply use a search engine to look up their website. Most drum corps have very in depth and informative websites.

Who do I contact about the Grandville Drumline?

There are several people you can call or email regarding the Grandville Drumline. All drumline students were given a list of contact phone numbers and emails at the beginning of the season. Please use this list to reach an instructor by phone or email. You can also get general information on the drumline or the marching band from the high school band directors, Robert Brower and Bob Persky. The band office phone number is 616-254-6461.

I still have questions. What do I do?

Email me, Karen Hoekstra. If I can't answer your question, I'll find someone who can.