You enter a room filled with chairs, but only five are being used. Cadets warm up using grey and white practice drums. It sounds quieter in the back of the room, away from the cadets sitting together despite the large room. They take out their instruments, snares, bass, and tenors, but no cymbals. A while later, Mr. Tatlock, the percussion expert, enters the room. Even if he actively interacts with the cadets, it just makes the room seem slightly smaller.

It leaves you thinking, “should I join?” It might be beneficial for both them and you to join. Drumline is a club designed to encourage cadets to nurture their musical talents. While the number of available instruments is limited, it still teaches the major lessons of music as stated by Mr. Forrester, the drumline advisor, and music teacher.
The instruments taught are the snare drum, the bass drum, the cymbal, and the quads—most commonly known as tenors. As stated by Mr, Forrester, drumline help cadets since being “…in an ensemble builds a lot of teamwork, it builds musicianship, it builds listening skills, it works on kinesthetics, and hand-eye coordination.” Other benefits of the drum line, that were given by cadets, include motivation and entertainment, as stated by two cadets of the drumline. As stated by Cadet Captain Zitlaly Zuniga Mena, “I feel like it’s better and a lot more fun if we have a bigger group of people.” The more people that are participating in drumline, the more cadets will feel motivated to play.

These benefits seem to be correct when seeing the cadets practice. When playing as an ensemble cadets were encouraged to stay together. If one cadet slowed down or speed up the rest followed almost immediately. The only ones that seem to notice this change in tempo immediately were Mr. Forrester and Mr. Tatlock. While it might not have been perfect, the members were good at listening to each other and adjusting to each other’s needs. They could play the same note at the same time without needing to be told. They know how to help each other, how to listen to each other, and when to hit the drum while looking at the music. They do this while working on their physical health as well as enjoying their music.
It seems the claims made by Mr. Forrester and the students were correct.
These aren’t the only benefits of drumline. It can also help cadets with leadership skills, time management skills, and encourages friendly competition with others. Drumline seems to help cadets in more aspects than just learning an instrument. It helps cadets learn more about skills that they might need outside the club. It might be worth giving drumline a chance and joining.

Drumline Club Advisor: [email protected]