Expectations of a Drum Major

Hey there! This week I'd thought I'd talk about what exactly it means to be a drum major. In my first post, I gave a little background, but that was just a little about what the whole job is about.

So, a drum major is the one who leads the marching band. He or she is expected to conduct (in a field show or pep band setting), control tempo, show dynamics/assist in musicality, lead on the street (in a parade setting), and be a sort of bridge between the band and the band director.

There are different sorts of drum majors, as well: mace and military. Mace means the drum major uses this:

Which, comparatively, looks like this:

The proper height for a mace is from the ground to the drum major's shoulder.

Drum major military looks like this: 

Which, for comparison, is this:

It's a much smaller baton, used for sort of speedy maneuvers. 

Traditionally, Oak Ridge drum majors use the mace, and so I probably will too. (There's a slight debate on this, given the fact that I'm small, and the mace is heavy... But I'll probably end up mastering it and blowing everybody's minds.) I'm super excited to learn; I know I can, since I can use a bo staff in taekwondo pretty well. Anyways, just to recap: the drum major has a pretty important job. He or she is a conductor, a time-keeper, and, most importantly, a leader. 

See you later!

Oh, and just because it's funny...

About This Project

Hello again! I wasn't very specific in my last post about exactly what I'm doing and why, so this post is to clarify what exactly this project is
Well, first, let me tell you a little about what exactly a 20% project is. You might have heard of Google's ideal that its employees should work on what they want to work on 20% of the time, yes? That is exactly what this project is! Mrs. Arthur, my history teacher, is letting us work on whatever we want to work on, something that will further us in some way, for 20% of our class time. By the end of the year, we must present our "discoveries," and some sort of product, in a TED-like talk. (If you don't know what a TED Talk is, I encourage you to look it up on Youtube. Pretty cool stuff.) This blog is part of my 20% project, and my mace routine at the end of the year will be my product.
Anyways, that's sort of the background on this project. If you want more information on 20% projects and how they work, visit this site: What is the 20% Project in Education?
Thanks!
Oh, and just because I think this picture is brilliant, here is, for your entertainment, a picture of Darth Vader leading his Imperial Marching Band.