Exercise and Music Excerpt Breakdowns from Vic Firth Marching Percussion Ensembles

Since we began featuring “In-the-Lot” videos of Vic Firth DCI, WGI and College drumlines back in 2001, the level of technical skills and performance have steadily improved. Simply watching amazing ensembles at their peak not only helps viewers to raise their own expectations about what they want to achieve in their own individual or group, but also allows them to learn more about the technical skills required to play today’s complex arrangements.

That’s where this “Learn the Music” breakdown series comes in. Rather than simply WATCH the top level groups perform, wouldn’t it be better to grab your sticks, learn the music and play along with them? It’s often difficult to pick up on the exercises when played up to tempo, so we slow it down to half tempo so that you can work it out.  Instead of the (generally) terrible audio generated with many ‘on the fly’ computer-aided software tools, we’ve taken care to make sure the audio is clean and clear. Once you have that down, it’s time to try it a little faster – then finally at 100% tempo.

We hope you enjoy this series and come back frequently to catch up on new installments as we add them to our “Learn the Music” library!