The Impossible Drill

We were learning the third and final song of our show (we had spent band camp on making the first 2 songs presentable and on the stand music). The drill creator had left to study abroad, so we were trying to learn it without him. We got into the ending set of the second song and walked our places for the first set of the third. The drumline looked at our dot book and realized our spots for the first set of the third song were 30 yards from where we were standing in the last set of the second. We skeptically looked at each other and when we realized that we only had 8 beats to go those 30 yards, mixed reactions were voiced. The section leader was downright pissed and threw down his sticks, yelling and screaming. Much of the snare line had the same reaction, while the basses (me included) looked and just laughed at the distance we had to cover in 8 beats with our huge drums.

"OK guys, let's try it," the drum major said as the snareline's protests grew louder. We took our positions and it was then that the bassline noticed that we'd be going this ungodly distance while marching backwards. Many of the basses shook their heads incredulously as I burst out laughing. The guy who came up with the drill was a drummer...how could he not see that this was impossible?

The drum major counted off and the cow bell kept the beat as we took the biggest steps we had ever taken in our lives. Eight beats passed and we looked around. Not even half way there. "Can we march in double time?!?!" the section leader yelled to the drum major. The drum major consulted the band director and they decided that it was the only way we had a hope of making it to our marks on time. The cow bell started up again and we moved our feet twice as fast as the beat. The problem was that since we were moving faster, it was harder to take large steps. We were still about 7 yards off by the time 8 beats had passed. The section threw down his sticks yet again and walked away. I saw the drum major look at our section leader and he turned and again consulted with the band director. We were told we all had a ten-minute break as they tried to figure how how on earth the drumline would do this.

We reconvened after the break and the drum major told us the solution. "OK, we are no longer going to march in time. Everyone walk or run to your spots between the second and third song. Just get there in 8 beats. No more, no less." The basses look at each other as we imagined ourselves running with our drums. Big Bertha, the largest of the four bass drums, was surely going to kill her drummer. I knew that I, being a petite girl, was going to die too. the cow bell began and we turned a booked it towards the end zone. We made it...but had to do it over and over and over again because the rest of the band got to their spots too early. By the end of the practice, we were all fed up and reflecting the section leader's sense of frustration...


We were told a week later that someone else had redone the drill and we would be re-learning it.