Happy New School Year: What you need prepared before your students arrive in Percussion

Happy Fall! Here is a quick list of items to check on for teachers and band rooms as your year gears up.

For all areas of percussion, ask the following questions: Is what I have functional and ready for students to use?

1) Mallet Inventory. What do you have? Does each instrument group have the correct mallet selection? Your classroom inventory will depend on your instrument inventory.

Most schools should have:

• cord or yarn wrapped mallets for xylophone, hard plastic mallets for xylophone and bells, and perhaps rubber mallets for xylophone/bells.

  (If you have brass mallets, hide them in your office. Please? Please. They are RARELY necessary and cause a ton of damage when played on incorrect instruments)

• Soft Mallets (yarn is best) for suspended cymbal rolls is also recommended. Tympani mallets, unless synthetic head wrapped, will get damaged on suspended cymbals

• Tympani mallets - a set of all purpose (medium) for sure, harder for sure, soft mallets only if you need them. Soft mallets are delicate, and require responsible student care (keep the plastic bags they come in, store them in these bags, in the bigger mallet bag).

• Snare Drum Sticks

  Are mallets in good working condition? Does anything need replacing? Do you have rental mallet bags for students? Hear me out.

In my nearly three decades of experience, a “general classroom” mallet bag tends to mean abused/broken/left out mallets and sticks, where as a “personal” rented bag tends to yield less lost and broken items. General use stick bags absolve the user of responsibility. The idea that it belongs to everyone somehow then becomes no one takes personal responsibility. When everyone is responsible, NO ONE is responsible. A rented bag and practice pad will be cared for as it is the responsibility of the individual, with consequences to replace the broken bits at the end of the season should they be broken or lost. And that kid that can’t get it together and breaks the things? Lessons will be learned.

2) Drum Stick inventory. Do your sticks actually match? Brand and stick widths (ie a set of VicFirth 5Bs with wooden tips, a set of SD1 Generals together, a set of 5A sticks for drumset)? Are they still in playable condition (not cracked along the tip)? If not, can you use one or two for cowbell playing in future? Anything else, toss it out. You can always replace sticks and mallets. They are far cheaper than replacing drum heads.

3) Drum heads. Are they in good condition? Are drums tuned and in good playing condition? With the plethora of available DIY videos, you can easily check to find out if you need new heads. Here’s a quick run down. If there is no more batter left on a drum head (the white coating on top), it’s probably time to replace the head. Some heads are clear plastic. If this is the case, is the drum tune-able in this condition? Yes. Keeper. No, consider replacing. Holes? REPLACE immediately.

4) Suspended Cymbal Gear: Cymbal, Cymbal stand in working order including cymbal sleeves (these are brand specific), cymbal felts, and wing nut. If you are missing cymbal sleeves, order them today. $5.00 part saves $400+ cymbals from damage. It also makes the cymbals sound their best.

Speaking of suspended cymbals for concert band: If you cannot afford a truly orchestral suspended cymbal, a thinner crash cymbals make for better suspended cymbals for rolling than ride cymbals.

5) Stands. Your percussion team needs snare drum stands that adjust properly (look for missing hardware/T bolts), suspended cymbal stands that adjust properly (look for missing parts), and music stands that are sturdy to make trap stands out of. MARK THE PERCUSSION STANDS. Use painter’s tape on the stand bottom so it is quickly identifiable. Nothing is more frustrating that trying to clip a triangle to a stand only for the music to flip off of it, or for it to tumble onto other instruments. This one step will make it more likely for students to set up their percussion stations to play multiple instruments.

• Trap stands need towels. A black terry cloth hand towel will blend nicely into the aesthetic of the stage, and also become a good place for placing additional instruments on for later use.

6) Practice Instruments. Now that you have this in mind, think about your goals as a music director. Do you want students who play percussion? Play mallets? Ensure you have practice kits available for home use. Practice pads should be available to them both in class and at home. When you are busy getting the clarinets to get embouchure sorted out, send percussionists to the practice room (or your office) with a practice pad to start learning the rudiments (Click here for ORDER PLEASE - a logical approach to rudiments for students)

7) Percussion extra parts in a folder. Before you do this, have each percussionist put their name on the top of their respective parts. Do not allow anyone to share parts, except on the stand. If you want someone to practice, they need the part in their folder. Get their name ON THE PART. When you inevitably pick it up, you will know whose it is. As a security blanket, have an “extra parts binder” and put them in the binder to use in class if necessary. This will keep you running smoothly at class time and rehearsal. Percussionists share instruments and move stands often. It’s partly the challenge of the demands of this job to keep track of ALL the things. It’s hard to do. It takes practice. But these two tools will keep you going quite well.

I hope this has helped you get a little more organized!