Ximena Valenzuela

Professor Rummage

Percussion Technique

Observation Paper

I observed Addison Trail High School Band directed by Mark Corey.

This class was made up of Freshman and Sophomores in the Symphonic

band. Then later we watched the Junior and Senior Band. The classes

were organized in a regular band setup as all the students sat according

to their instruments in their sections. Professor Corey started both classes

for about the first 5 minutes focusing on breathing techniques and making

students drop whatever they're doing to get their lungs warmed up. For

the Percussionist they did a similar warmup to the one we do in class, but

instead of going down counting, they played in etudes.

Mr. Corey then started to conduct the band, and comparing both

bands in the percussion aspect, there was a major difference in the way

they sounded. Mr. Corey spoke to us after the 1st lower band and said that

the freshman and sophomores were affected by covid pretty band, since

the district their middle schools came from did remote learning for a year

and a half without giving the students the option to return, so Mr. Corey

said that they’re really at a middle school level. Whereas the Higher band,

the students have more years of playing in a band/percussion section

where they individually carry themselves rather than having to rely on the

instructor.
 Quality wise, the students were learning relatively new music, so their

tone wasn't fully there, though it did sound very confident and proud. Mr.

Corey did notice that the percussion students tended to rush then lose

count so he insisted on taking the individual sections and singing their

parts and keeping a beat for them while the band played the melody so

they could engrave the feeling of the music then apply it when performing

with the rest of the band. I found it very helpful and informative that Mr.

Corey would have them first play with a given pitch, and then have them

repeat what they heard. Which I think worked fantastically as the students

were able to grasp it faster.

Lastly this observation made me open my eyes towards how open the

music community is towards many people who have disabilities. There was

a student by me who had a disability and was completely blind, and only

relied on feel, and hearing to navigate himself in the music. He was also a

part of percussion, he played so many instruments, and it makes me happy

to see much acceptance happen in our music community. :)