Fall Drumline

Our Ensemble

Drumline is a sport of the arts activity representing the marching percussion.

Our goal is to create a strong culture where every member strives for excellence and, through hard work, develops the knowledge, skill, and mentality to achieve it.

At the same time, we hope everyone discovers the passion and the joy that exists in performing and creating music with others.

Pre-Placement Clinics

WHAT

A series of clinics designed to teach students the fundamentals of marching percussion on snare drum, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals in addition to preparing them for the audition. It is also a chance to meet other students and the staff!

WHO

Students interested in marching percussion and especially those who have little to no experience yet. We’re here to teach you and we want you to feel ready for auditions!

WHEN + WHERE

Clinics will be held in the Burnsville High School music suite at 6:00-8:30 p.m. on:

Monday May 19
Wednesday May 21
Wednesday May 28

Placement Auditions

Placement auditions will be held following the first day of marching band in the Burnsville High School music suite: 6:30-9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3rd.

Group auditions by instrument section before a full ensemble session with all students
Audition on snare drum, tenor drums, bass drum, and/or cymbals (we encourage students to try out on multiple instruments)
Plan on being present for all 3 hours of auditions to avoid missing a section audition
Placements will break down into one of the following:
1. 1. Percussion/orchestra players are guaranteed spots.
  2. Some wind players will split between percussion and playing their winds instrument for halftime.
  3. Some wind players will be full-time wind players.

Placement Form

Music, Materials, + Reminders

Drumline Handbook

STUDENTS BRING

Yourself and any other friends you’d like to audition with
Drumline Handbook*
Marching sticks, earplugs, and a practice pad (if you already own them)
Positive learning mentality

*Talk to your band teacher or Mr. Connell if you need this.

WE CAN PROVIDE

Extra music handbooks
Instruments and stands
Marching drumsticks and mallets
Knowledge and experience

REMINDERS

Everyone starts at the beginning!
Our staff and students are here to welcome you and help you succeed.
You will never actually know how it goes until you try.
It’s okay to make mistakes; they’re how you learn.

Fall /Marching Band Front Ensemble Information

We are considering having a small front ensemble (2-5 players) made up mostly of mallet instruments for our halftime show for marching band for this summer/fall. This opportunity will be for mallet players that have at least some previous experience already either because they are a percussionist or because they have played mallets in winter drumline.

After the first full week of marching band (week of June 9), we will evaluate what we have for instrumentation for the band and make a call on having a front ensemble. It is important to use that we have all of the wind players and drumline that we need for the halftime show to sound good.

If we move forward from there:

Percussionists can elect this option as opposed to playing a drum or cymbals for halftime. They would still play a drum or cymbals for pre-game, parades, and in the stands.
Wind players may be offered a spot if they have previous mallet experience AND are in a section with ample instrumentation. They would play their wind instrument for pre-game, parades, and in the stands and a mallet instrument for halftime only. Based on instrumentation from previous years, this is more likely for woodwinds than brass players, but we won't rule anything out ahead of time.
Front ensemble students will have some responsibility to learn the music on their own. They will likely be given small pockets of time during other rehearsals, but will probably still spend some time learning some of the halftime music on their original instrument as well. Students will definitely have additional time layered in during band camp to finish/finalize music.

Interest Form for Marching Band Front Ensemble