Applied Percussion Syllabus

3. Integration: you should integrate different disciplines, major ideas, and realms of life.4. Human dimension: you should identify the personal and social implications of thisknowledge.5. Caring: you should develop new feelings, interests, and values in relation to the subject.6. Learning how to learn: you should continue learning about the subject after the course iscompleted. Course Components1. Private Lessons are intended to address individual needs. Most music schools offer 15private 50’ lessons per semester. In addition to private lessons, we assign weekly small group lessonsand the number of private lessons must be reduced to adhere to faculty workload regulations.Typically, you will receive thirteen private lessons per semester. Your class schedule is due the firstday of classes. Teacher assignments are made in consideration of your past achievement, studentand faculty schedules, and what will be most beneficial for your development. Every effort is made toprovide you experience with various teachers. Please notify your teacher of your presence byknocking on their door at your lesson time - use 3/2 rumba clave. It is your responsibility to notifyyour teacher when you must leave.2. Group lessons are designed to study with colleagues of similar abilities, interests, andexperience levels in an interactive environment. Group lessons meet weekly for 50’.3. Percussion seminar class is a weekly forum (Friday 12-12:50) for all majors. Includeslectures, discussions, student performances, masterclasses, clinics, and guest artist performances.Student performances typically occur in a masterclass format, where you perform and receivefeedback from faculty and students. Repertoire is derived from private lessons, group lessons, orvarious Dana ensembles. You may also be required to submit written or aural comments for eachperformer. Masterclass protocol: Dress appropriately and bring two copies of your music, numbermeasures in pencil, audio record your performance and the feedback, take notes afterwards.4. Rehearsal observation. I may choose to dedicate a small amount (an hour or two) ofyour lesson time to observing your ensemble rehearsals, as seeing you in this context may be the bestway I can assist you. In such cases I will adjust your lessons accordingly.5. Percussion studio maintenance duties may be assigned at my discretion and shall beequitably distributed amongst all studio members.6. Required advisement meetings.A. Brief advisement meeting first class day to review your schedule and curriculum guide.B. 15’ meeting during final exams to discuss self and instructor assessment, review jurycomments, assessment, and future studies. Sign-up list is posted the last week of classes.C. Recital advisement meeting during the first two weeks of fall semester.D. Additional advisement meetings (during office hours) may be required for registration,orientation, recital preparation, graduate school preparation, etc. Specific Course ObjectivesYou should develop knowledge in three broadlymental/physical skills, and related business skills.relatedareas-performance/pedagogy,1. Performance/Pedagogy. Develop a deep understanding through multiple perspectives offundamental performance and teaching skills. Experience music through the three primary modes ofcreation: re-presentation, improvisation, and composition. You and your instructor will establishsemester and weekly goals and discuss how to attain these. These typically include:A. Warm-up concepts, techniques, and methods.B. Practice concepts, techniques, and methods.C. Sound production concepts including acoustics and our perception of sound.D. Kinesthetic concepts and techniques across the percussion idiom.

E. Instrumental techniques and versatility - snare drum, keyboards, timpani, drum set,multiple percussion, orchestral accessories, and ethnic percussion.F. Visual, aural, and tactile rhythmic and pitch discrimination skills including relativetempo memorization, rhythmic microbeat division, interval identification, singing, transcription, andsight-reading.G. Musical interpretation. Awareness, understanding, and synthesis of the elementsnecessary for informed musical interpretation including historical research, biographical informationabout the composer, accurate score realization and analysis, and concepts of musical expression.H. Development of listening skills through live and recorded performance observation.Written documentation and analysis may be required.I. Develop familiarity with percussion literature through research assignments that mayinclude reading, writing, and listening assignments.J. Develop familiarity with effective pedagogical techniques and methods. May includeresearch and lesson observation assignments.K. Development of improvisation skills.L. Development of composition and/or arranging skills.2. Mind/BodyA. Develop knowledge of effective lifestyle habits including: sleep, nutrition, breathing, andphysical fitness techniques including stretching/flexibility, warm-up techniques, cardiovascularconditioning, and strength training.B. Develop the personal/social skills necessary for constructive contributions to our studioand society.C. Develop effective time management techniques.D. Develop an understanding of the learning process including critical thinking and problemsolving.3. Business SkillsA. Develop a professional quality portfolio.B. Establish active membership in major professional music organizations such as thePercussive Arts Society, Music Educators National Conference, College Music Society, etc. Philosophy of percussion curricula Since the mid 1900’s, the percussion domain has grown exponentially and we believe thatthe opportunities are limited only by our imaginations. Percussion educators frequently debate whether the university undergraduate percussioncurriculum should include a broad general curriculum or more specialized studies. Since the advent of the percussion major degree in the late 1950’s, the typical universitypercussion curriculum has been based on an orchestral model consisting of timpani, snare drum,keyboards, and orchestral accessories. Some programs have also included drum set and ethnicpercussion in their curriculum, although often to a lesser degree. More recently, drumset and ethnicpercussion curricula models have become increasingly common and are often designed as distinctprograms, with separate faculty and little or no crossover to the orchestral model. There also existthose who believe that a comprehensive curriculum, or synthesis of both models, is a viable option.Some educators believe that an undergraduate education should develop fundamental skills on thestandard orchestral instruments and to a lesser degree multiple percussion and drum set.Specialization is often viewed as something that should be pursued only after mastery offundamental skills - typically at the graduate school level. Interestingly, many of today’s premiere percussion specialists are not limited by theirchoices, but rather, have created unique and exciting career opportunities. We consider these myriad issues and provide you an opportunity to design a personalizedcurriculum of various breadth and depth. We believe that such diverse choices will enrich our studiopercussion community.

There exist fundamental musicianship skills such as multi-cultural rhythmic skills, auralskills, listening skills, interpretation, sight reading, composition, and improvisation skills that webelieve are central to a well-educated musician and these can usually be address regardless of yourinstrument or musical style interests. I believe this body of central skills must be the foremostconsideration when designing an effective personal **************************************Bachelor of Music PhilosophyUndergraduate students are advised to conceive of their degree program as consisting of twobroad phases:Phase 1 – freshman and sophomore years. Emphasis on the development of fundamentalmusical concepts and skills as determined in your lessons and seminar classes. See UndergraduateCurriculum later in this syllabus.Phase 2 – junior and senior years. Emphasis on advanced musical concepts, instrumentaltechniques, repertoire, and the development of personal career objectives.Throughout, you should experience a gradual transformation; from a predominantly prestructured curriculum in Phase 1 and progressing toward an increasingly personalized course ofstudy in Phase 2. Your opportunity to experience this transformation is determined by your ability toachieve Phase 1 proficiency levels; the faster proficiencies are mastered, the earlier thetransformation process begins. We belief that the personal maturity necessary to wisely determineyour own course of study must be earned and that earning it provides you myriad opportunities.Such autonomy is a true measure of personal maturity and should be the deciding factor as towhether or not you pass from Phase 1 to Phase 2.Phase 1 – Freshman and sophomore levelsThese years are dedicated to developing a collection, or core set, of fundamental concepts,techniques, and repertoire on the standard percussion instruments (snare drum, drum set, keyboard,timpani, Latin percussion, and orchestral accessories). We believe these skills are central incontemporary percussion performance and teaching and that they serve as the foundation of yourpercussion career. Of course, the exact content will ideally vary from one student to another.It would be helpful to conceive of this concept of “a body of skills/knowledge” with a metaphorsuch as “intellectual capital”. “Sociologists have shown that intellectual capital (i.e. knowledge)operates in almost every sphere of modern society to determine social class, success or failure inschool, and even psychological and physical health.“ (Hirsch 1996) Your accumulation of wideranging foundational knowledge is the key to your educational achievement. To be useful,intellectual capital needs to be broadly shared with others, to enable you to communicate and learneffectively.American educational theory has claimed that students need to be given all-purpose tools thatare necessary to continue learning and adapting. But the content used to develop those tools has notbeen specified. Unfortunately, the tool metaphor, which encourages indifference to specificknowledge (i.e. critical thinking skills divorced of a specific subject matter, etc.), has shown itself tobe ineffective. Intellectual capital is itself the greatest all-purpose tool of adaptation in modernsociety.“Psychological research has shown that the ability to learn something new depends on anability to accommodate the new thing to the already known.” (Hirsch 1996) Experts learn new thingsfaster than novices because of their considerable background knowledge. Wide knowledge ismotivational in that it nourishes an active curiosity to learn even more.One possible Percussion Curriculum is included at the end of this syllabus. It is addressed inprivate lessons, group lessons, and percussion seminar. In addition, selected items are labeled as

Proficiencies. These will be tested as indicated. All proficiencies must be passed before enrollment ispermitted into junior level applied percussion. Testing will occur in percussion seminar class, privateand group lessons, and jury exams throughout the freshman and sophomore years. Dr. Schaftassesses your achievement and determines your pass or fail status. He incorporates the input of thepercussion faculty in the exam process.Ideally, some of these standards would be learned before you enter the university. In reality,however, few students master these before college and there are many reasons why. The percussiondomain is a relatively new field that is experiencing a tremendous growth rate, one that really beganto accelerate in the mid-twentieth century. Compared to classical piano or violin pedagogy,percussion pedagogy is in its infancy, whereas violin and piano pedagogy has a history that datesback several centuries. The first university percussion degree, on the other hand, was only grantedat the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in the mid-1950’s. Before then, a percussionistwas required to major in another instrument or area (such as history or composition) to earn a musicdegree. In the 1950’s, few universities employed full-time percussion professors, as the primarydemand was for an adjunct teacher to teach orchestral percussion private lessons at the minor level.There was little or no university level instruction available on drumset, hand drums, percussionensemble, etc. Shortly thereafter (in the 1960’s and 70’s), colleges and universities witnessed awidespread and rapid growth in academic percussion studies. Many schools began percussiondegrees, percussion ensembles, and hired full-time professors. The state of percussion pedagogytoday is, viewed in this context, a very young field.As contemporary percussionists, we face tremendous challenges and exciting opportunities. Theprimary challenge is to determine how to balance the concept of breadth and depth. Some of thequestions we ask ourselves are: How much general percussion studies should I possess? Should Ispecialize? If so, when and to what degree? The most fascinating opportunity for a contemporarypercussionist is to keep abreast of recent developments while maintaining a focus, i.e. the concept ofbreadth and depth. Many of the world’s finest professional percussion artists continue to advocatethe importance of general percussion skills, in our early training, achieved through mastery offundamental skills on the major instruments such as snare drum, drum set, keyboards, hand drums,timpani, multiple percussion, and orchestral accessories. The focus of this tends to revolve aroundthe instruments as the core variable. Alternatively, one could conceive of the acquisition of coremusicianship skills as the most important goal regardless of the particular instruments pursued. Ifavor this latter approach as it encourages attention toward musicianship rather than a diversecollections of physical skills.I would hope that all percussion students would be fortunate enough to study with a teacher whounderstands the importance of such musicianship skills. Of course, some teachers may not viewthese skills as foundational or universal, which is, of course, their right. The most important conceptwe can offer is to help you understand why we believe this knowledge is central to your success. Inmy opinion, far too much percussion education focuses on motor skills – kinesthetic experience - andnot nearly enough on the development of aural skills, sound production, improvisation, andcomposition.Many of you are active private teachers and we would ask you to experiment and adapt thiscurriculum in your teaching as much of it can and should be learned before college. We areconstantly re-evaluating this curriculum and your suggestions are welcome.When you begin at YSU we will perform a complete assessment of your musical achievement anddetermine your educational needs. This process will continue throughout your YSU tenure until youhave developed the necessary skills.

Phase 2 – Junior and senior levelThese years are primarily dedicated to developing more advanced techniques and preparingrepertoire for junior and senior recitals. Recitals should demonstrate both your versatility andspecial interests.Individual curriculum options:Once you have completed Part I curriculum, you may begin to pursue a more individualizedcourse of study. Discuss this with Dr. Schaft and develop an agenda. It is not uncommon for studentsto change their curricular emphasis. Individualized curricula may range from broad to specializeddepending on your experience, needs, and goals. Your studies will be assumed to be based on the“total percussion track” until you declare an alternative. See our website for percussion degreeoptions. Master of Music PhilosophyGraduate students are advised to conceive of their degree in two parts:Part 1 – semesters 1 and 2. The primary objective is to develop any instruments, styles,techniques, etc. you believe are deficient and/or to explore your individual career goals. This mayinclude a focus on a single subject area. You should review the YSU Undergraduate PercussionCurriculum and learn any items you do not possess mastery of.Part 2 – semesters 3 and 4. The primary objective is to prepare your graduate recital andwritten program notes. The graduate recital should demonstrate advanced achievement pertainingto your chosen career ent should compare you to a set of faculty expectations and these must beunderstood and documented by you and your instructor. In the case of group lessons and seminarclass, you should learn cooperatively and yet individual assessment must be performed on you. Wemust work together to determine how your learning can be assessed and you should do as much ofthe assessment as is practical. To this end, you will be asked to recommend your course grade, yourjustification for it, and your teacher(s) will do the same.Assessment consists of performance assignments, portfolio assignments, and adherence tosyllabus policies. I consider your interest in learning the most important determinant of yourachievement. Your motivation should be intrinsic, not extrinsically motivated by grades; as intrinsicmotivation is the best assurance of long-term progress. To that end, I focus on what you must do toreach your potential, rather than discussing grades at each lesson. If, however, you wish to knowhow a particular lesson is graded, please do not hesitate to ask.Grading Scale – The Dana School of Music grading policy states you must receive a “C” orhigher in each course for that course to count toward your degree.Grade “A” – includes: superior attendance, superior achievement of weekly and semestergoals, consistent positive attitude, a complete commitment to attaining your potential. You love whatyou do and it shows through your passion, dedication, and achievement.Grade “B” – Slightly less than letter grade “A” above.Grade “C” – May include flawed attendance, partial achievement of weekly or semestergoals, inconsistent attitude or progress, and a partial commitment to attaining your potential. Yourpassion, dedication, and achievement is, at times, questionable or inconsistent, and it shows.Grade “D” –May include flawed attendance, partial achievement of weekly or semestergoals, inconsistent attitude, or a partial commitment to attaining your potential. Your passion,dedication, and achievement is questionable and it shows.Grade “F” – May include significant disregard for any of the above; a minimal achievement.

Late assignments may require grade reductions appropriate to the nature of the situation.Academic Dishonesty see YSU Bulletin, regarding plagiarism and dishonesty.Grades of “incomplete” or “PR”: See the YSU Bulletin “Grading System”. The only validreason for an incomplete, or PR grade, is for a medical or other reason so extreme as to cause you tobe unable to complete the course. You must be passing the course at the time of your request anddemonstrate that the circumstances requiring the “PR” are beyond your cont

Gary Chaffee – Time Functioning Patterns Latin Percussion Michael Spiro – The Conga Drummer’s Guidebook www.shermusic.com Ed Uribe – Afro-Cuban Percussion and Drumset Ed Uribe – The Essence of Brazilian Percussion and Drumset Orchestral Accessories Raynor Carrol