Marching Bands and Drumlines:
Secrets of Success from the Best of the Best
Paul Buyer, Clemson University’s professor of percussion, reveals the secrets of today’s top university marching bands and drumlines in Marching Bands and Drumlines: Secrets of Success from the Best of the Best, a new book published by Meredith Music Publications.
The book provides a behind-the-scenes look at seven top collegiate marching band and drumline programs and provides important insight on how each band attains and maintains performance excellence. Marching Bands and Drumlines follows Louisiana State University’s Tiger Marching Band, the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band, Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band, and Michigan State University’s Spartan Marching Band. It also looks at “The Best Damn Band in the Land” at Ohio State University, the Green Brigade Marching Band at the University of North Texas, and “The Pride of Arizona Marching Band” at the University of Arizona.
A life-long fan of sports, Buyer got the idea for the book after reading Every Week a Season by Brian Curtis. “That book provides access to nine NCAA Division 1 football programs by taking readers inside team meetings, on the sidelines, and in the locker room,” Buyer explains. “My book provides similar access to band programs.”
Marching Bands and Drumlines is not about timing, technique, or stick height. “It offers lessons on teamwork, commitment, and accountability,” says Buyer. “These are lessons that, hopefully, students will apply to their lives as they prepare for their careers. Marching percussion and marching band activities can serve as a vehicle for teaching our students some of life’s most valuable lessons.”
After traveling to seven campuses--becoming an honorary member of each band for a week--and then interviewing the likes of Frank Wickes, LSU’s veteran director of bands, Ohio State’s band director Jon Woods, as well as Bob Buckner at Western Carolina and nearly twenty others band leaders, Buyer’s research discovered common characteristics that he summarized into the “Five Factors Influencing Excellence.” They are culture, staff and student leadership, rehearsal time, number of shows, and competitive auditions. “These factors are the main reason why, I believe, college band and drumlines achieve excellence or fall short,” he says.
With chapters entitled “Establishing Expectations,” “Teaching Life Lessons,” “Instilling Motivation,” “Developing Practice Habits,” and “Building Musicianship,” the book blends leadership practices with strategies for music excellence. “As director of percussion and arranger for the Tiger Band Drumline for 10 years,” he continues, “I wanted to find out how everybody else ‘does it.’ What unfolded was a leadership book that uses marching band as a vehicle.”
A must read for band directors, percussion educators, music students, and anyone pursuing excellence in leadership, Marching Bands and Drumlines “is a wonderful book that shows us what makes a great band into a GREAT BAND!” said Jay Rees, director of the University of Arizona Marching Band.
