School is wrapping up for the year and we are all getting ready for some summer fun. We are also preparing for our next season whether that be marching band, drum corps, prepping college auditions, winter auditions...whatever is next for you. Don't forget that summer is also when you have the most time to make an investment in your playing and fundamentals.
One of the biggest "mistakes" I see young percussionist make is getting to the point where they play their first solo, or make their desired position in a group, and then they stop investing in how well they play in order to focus on what they play. I will say that I TOTALLY get it as well, as those are the fun things to work on...especially now. You may have drum corps music (as groups are starting to move in), or you are getting marching band music, and it is new and exciting. You feel the rush of learning something and it feels like you are being productive in your practice because you are making measurable progress on something. I knew none of this and now I know measures 1-8, or I knew half the piece and now I know three quarters of the piece. I definitely went through that phase and I think most musicians do. Heck, I think some teachers go through it as well. The feeling of a new thing to play with is exciting and making progress on it is more exciting.
As you are learning your music for whatever it is, I encourage you to take time to invest (and reinvest) in your fundamentals. If music is what you are playing, then your fundamentals are how you play. We have all experienced performance at all levels where what a group plays is super impressive when you first experience it, but when you dig in you realize that it is not as clean as it is impressive. Cleanliness of a solo, or group performance, will almost always be determined by the level of training of the performers. Think about this in terms of football. I have never played football before but I understand what a tackle is. I have no training in how to tackle, but I can tackle someone if I needed to. However, without that training there is a higher likelihood that I injure myself or my opponent. I would say this to be opposite of music in that no one gets injured, but that is NOT TRUE. Wind musicians can hurt their face without a proper embouchure or proper rest and percussionist can definitely hurt themselves with the physical nature of playing. The marching arts are essentially a sport where organizations are spending resources on health and wellness to not only help members when injures arise, but to train members in a way to prevent (or lessen the chance) of injury.
The nice thing is that as we are approaching the summer, this is largest amount of time you will have to focus on your fundamentals. If you are at drum corps, take your fundamental time seriously. As an instructor, this is where you get a majority of your cleaning done because if the technique and approach is good then the members just need reps. As a member, this is where you get stronger. This is also where you build/fine tune skills that will transfer into other musical arenas for your (high school, college, winter, etc.). If you are a high school student, this is where you can clean on the "spider webs" in your playing. Chances are you have some less desirable habits in your playing because you hit the end of the last season/concert cycle and you were having to do something to just "make it happen" in performance. There is nothing wrong with that as it almost always happens but this is YOUR time to get rid of those habits, so the next time you run into that piece (or skill) you can handle it with more control.
I definitely think you should learn new material and play for fun. Music is suppose to be fun and if you are always working on something, it loses that fun appeal. However, don't forget about those FUNdamentals and how much more fun music is when you play it well faster. Enjoy your summer and I hope you have plenty of fun!
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