When most people think of a marching band, they picture saxophones, trumpets, and tubas. But does anyone consider the drumline? An average drumline consists of bass, cymbals, snare, and tenors, all of which are part of the percussion ensemble. Every Tuesday, Rosemont holds a club that specializes in drumline from 3:15 to 4:30 pm. As students may have seen during the spirit assembly, Rosemont’s drumline currently has 20 students actively participating, including a four-person snare line, two people on tenors, five students on cymbals, five bass-drum players, and an additional section containing four players that play a “flub” drum.
One may assume that Ms. Chu instructs the students because drumline takes place in her classroom, but that’d be wrong. Drumline is instructed by J. Fernando Diaz and several student volunteers from the Crescenta Valley High School Marching Band who specialize in certain sections. The CV volunteers help the students during sectionals and give them feedback to help them become better drummers.
Drumline at Rosemont is considered to be very beginner-friendly. At the beginning of the school
year, when Drumline started inviting members. A participant only needed drumsticks, no experience was needed! Right now, drumline is not accepting any new participants. Any interested 7th graders can join next year in September. When it comes to newcomers, Ms. Chu asks the students to “Come first semester, ready to learn, and to practice at home, that’s it.”
If 8th graders are interested, they can join CV’s marching band next year. Any students who want to join the drumline at CVHS can go to “clinics” starting in May, which counts as an audition. There is also band camp during the summer, where students learn how to play and do drills (moving around the field). At the end of Band camp, there is a performance and a pool party. Information about the marching band is on the Crescenta Valley High School website.
Drumline welcomes everyone, musically inclined or not. If you want to meet some like-minded musically interested people, or even just wanna get out of your comfort zone, then visit room 5205 in September or look into clinics for CV in May. If you’re interested in seeing the drumline perform, Ms. Chu says, “This school year, the drumline will be performing at Spirit Assemblies. We will have a showcase of everything we learn at the Rosemont Bowl concert on May 17th.”
