I agree with Katherine. & plus, it can’t hurt to try.Right. U guys know how much I loove it. I’m starting to practice every single day now with a borrowed mace. But today, I learned that a whooollee bunch of other people want to do it too. this is gonna cause drama. HELLA drama.
Maki said to me today: “u trying out for drum major?”
“yeah”
“okay. I’m gonna be better than you. If you win, you know, I’m gonna cry.
me: ” u know if you win I’M gonna cry?”
“yeah”
maki: “bye.”
yeah, u see my point? (sigh) It’s a lose-lose situation. I need some help tumblr buddies. Reblog and tell me what to do.
wellll, if you want it, you should go for it. and if you get to be drum major, then that shows you have potential. and if people just cant take that then whatever, if you would rather not have drama than be drum major, then dont go for it cause you obviously dont want drum major that bad.
You know what? screw drama. I don’t care anymore what people will say if I make drum major. Screw them if their haters. I DO want drum major and screw people that want to stop me.Thanks guys for your help.
I have never seen freshmen in band get so worked up about drum major tryouts, in October. Goodness. And I don’t know if you’re one of them Josh, but it seems most freshmen have serious misconceptions about drum majoring. The first thing people notice about drum majors is their macework, and they think it’s cool so they want be DMs too. Being a DM is NOT solely about macework (I’d say it’s less than 20% of the job). First and foremost, it is a leadership position.
So what does leadership mean? The idea varies from person to person, but leaders are made by their ambitions and their experiences. In band and elsewhere, leaders set the example. Obviously, DMs are expected to be the better marchers and the better instrumentalists, and it is their duty to teach the band. But try staying at attention when the rest of the block has dropped their posture and starts to talk and move around. It’s physically and mentally difficult, but if you’re a drum major, that’s just the easy part of what you do. Now try motivating the band block to perform well, to get in line, to do whatever Kraft has told them to do 20 times already. (Next time Kraft or a DM gives a command, take note of how much time the block actually takes to respond, how many people respond, and how many times the command has to be repeated.) A few will listen. most will complain that they’re too hot, or that they’re thirsty. One person will ask, “Can I go to the bathroom?” and 10 more will do the same. So what are you supposed to do? Yelling, as a method of discipline, only goes so far (and since the band block is so big, DMs have to yell all the time so it loses effectiveness very quickly). Bribing with favors and water breaks? Doesn’t work with a group of 150. Cajoling and reasoning are the nicest and logically the best ways to go about it, but they rarely ever work. DMs could easily become the most hated people in band. A lot of Mission’s drum majors, myself included, are often too lenient because they want to avoid animosity. We don’t do it just because we want to be liked, we do it because we know that the more the group dislikes us, the less effectiveness we have. So being a drum major is being a diplomat, in both good and bad ways.
Drum majors also do most of the legwork for band. We paint the lines on the field, we get water for rehearsal, we serve lunch and dinner during band camp and potlucks, we pull more hours for makeup camp and rehearsal. It’s not a glorious job, but leading a group means you must serve it as well.
So you can have ambition, and you can have self-discipline, but that might not be enough to overcome the inertia of an undisciplined band like Mission’s. (And yes, it burns to admit that the band I lead is undisciplined, but it’s the blunt truth.) You could easily become frustrated with such a job. I’m not trying to dissuade you from trying out—it’s actually been an extremely rewarding experience and has given me discipline and developed my work ethic, but you should definitely think about what being a leader means to you. What would you want to accomplish as a drum major? Are your goals as a drum major for your own good or for the band’s good? If your goals are for the good of the band, how effective can you expect to be? Do your peers see you as a person to joke around with or a person who takes responsibility and has high expectations for himself and everyone else? You’ve got nine months to mull over these things, and you’ve barely had any marching experience, so don’t be too anxious about try-outs right now. When I tried out to be DM I had little idea of what the job actually entailed, so I hope what I’ve written is helpful to you.
