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njpac.org • DRUMLINE LIVE 1
DRUMLINE LIVE
passport to culture
Generous support for SchoolTime provided, in part, by
arts education@
NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Teacher’s Guide 2012–2013
SchoolTime
2 DRUMLINE LIVE • njpac.org
contentsOn Stage 3
In step with DRUMLINE LIVE
Meet the Artist 4A chat with the show’s creator
Did You Know? 5The drumline and HBCU
In the Classroom 6Related activities and resources
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Arts Education Department presents the 16th season of the Passport to Culture SchoolTime Performance Series.
Teacher’s Resource GuideThis guide will help you prepare your class for an enriching experience at our SchoolTime Passport to Culture Performance. We provide discussion ideas, activities and reading resources that promote arts literacy in your classroom and link to New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards. You can find additional resources online at artsed.njpac.org.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute this guide to any class attending a 2012–2013 SchoolTime performance (all other rights reserved).
NJPAC Arts EducationAt NJPAC, our mission is to join with parents, teachers and community to cultivate an appreciation of the arts for all children in all schools. We believe the arts provide an effective means of knowing and learning that helps children find the self-esteem, poise and confidence they need to succeed in every facet of life. Our innovative programs are designed to engage the artist in every child.
In-School ResidenciesNJPAC brings the joy of dance, music and theater directly into your classroom with In-School Residencies. Our teaching artists create stimulating performing arts experiences that engage students’ imaginations and encourage self-expression. Residencies are customized to meet the curricular goals of the classroom teacher. Each residency ends with a performance that teaches students to work together and believe in themselves.
SchoolTime and FamilyTime PerformancesOpen a world of culture to your students through performances of music, dance, storytelling, theater, and puppetry through professional stage productions by local, national and international artists. Performances are enriched by teacher resource guides as well as Q&A sessions with the artists.
Arts Training ProgramsStudents interested in acting, dance, musical theater, vocal or instrumental music will find an artistic home at NJPAC where creative expression and solid technique serve as cornerstones of the Arts Training programs. Teaching Artists with exceptional profes-sional experience guide students at all levels of arts learning (beginner, intermediate and advanced) to greater creative understanding and self-confidence.
arts education@
NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
KID POWER!Through energy efficiency and
conservation, kids can help preserve our planet’s rich natural resources and
promote a healthy environment.
TIP OF THE DAYAll together now
The word synchronization has many definitions and applications in our world. In DRUMLINE LIVE, synchronization—
the coordination of events to attain a single result—enables a large number of performers to march and play in unison.
Synchronization keeps trains running on a timetable, generates power, regulates traffic
lights, and keeps our clocks, cell phones and computers “in sync.” Ask students for other
examples of how synchronization saves energy and makes everyday living
more efficient.
Made possible through the generosity of the PSEG Foundation.
visit artsed.njpac.orgFind additional resources by clicking on SchoolTime Performances
NJPAC’s Summer Youth Performance Workshop
njpac.org • DRUMLINE LIVE 3
Sound-sational
Thundering into NJPAC for a return appearance, DRUMLINE LIVE is an animated and interactive theatrical show combining the evolution of African-American music and the story of marching bands at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU).
The 32-member cast draws young talent from some of the top HBCU marching bands, such as Florida A&M University, Jackson State University, Tennessee State University, and others. Trained as stage actors, in addition to their specialties as instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers, they dazzle the audience with an all-out rendering of a traditional half-time show at an HBCU game. A highlight of an HBCU marching band is the drumline, the high-stepping procession of percussionists in a marching band, presented not only as musi-cians, but as a living art form.
“We tried to put the HBCU experience on stage,” says co-producer Reggie Brayon—therefore the set resembles a college football field with stands. “We do a little stepping. … We put in a little theatrical flash, but we tried to keep it true. (The audience) will
get an idea of the energy, the fun (and) the variety of the music performed.”
Right from the start, the show astounds by transporting audiences back to the origins of African-American music from its cultural roots in Africa to the great musical genres of the 20th century and beyond: funk, soul, blues, gospel, R&B,
and rap. The performance reveals the musical connection among these styles while infusing dance, song and theater. DRUMLINE LIVE is a historic musical voyage that demonstrates how unity comes from individual working parts, often under the leadership of a drum major’s whistle, baton or hand gesture.
The company, now on its fourth national tour, plays music from such artists as
Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Hoagy Carmichael, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Slick Rick, and Parliament-Funkadelic. The performers also create synergy with audi-ence members by inviting them to come up on stage.
“We don’t want people just watching us,” Brayon says. “We want them to get involved.
They get some choreography (to learn).” For the finale, the band and the dancers
strut into the aisles. The show closes in a roaring extravaganza, Mardi Gras style, outside Prudential Hall.
Lisa Vernon Sparks is a staff writer with The Providence Journal in Rhode Island. She is a former professional ballerina and an alumna of the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
“DRUMLINE LIVE has made its way around the country, showing the thrill, the musical genius and the true flavor of the ever-exciting HBCU halftime show.”
— The Star-Ledger
ON STAGE
The blue and gold costumes pictured in a scene from DRUMLINE LIVE recall those used in the film Drumline, which inspired the stage show.
By Lisa Vernon Sparks
4 DRUMLINE LIVE • njpac.org
Growing up in Atlanta, DRUMLINE LIVE creator and director Don P. Roberts first embraced the marching band experi-ence as a trumpet player in middle school. Thanks to a high school teacher, who saw his potential for leadership, the young performer embarked on a career path in music.
At his alma mater, Florida A&M University—one of the historically black colleges and universities (HBCU)—Roberts studied music education and honed his skills as the band’s drum major. He earned a master’s degree at Jacksonville State University in Alabama and eventually returned to Georgia, where he taught and supervised marching bands in the DeKalb County school system.
Still, he was surprised when a call came from music producer Dallas Austin offering him the job as band director and technical consultant for a new feature film titled Drumline.
“They came to me. I am not a Hollywood guy,” Roberts recalls candidly of his involve-
ment with the 2002 movie, which starred Nick Cannon and paraded some of the country’s outstanding HBCU band talents. “I am a true band educator. I want to change kids’ lives in my community.”
The Hollywood experience was not only amazing for Roberts, it gave him an idea. Following the film’s success, Roberts devised a way to bring the HBCU drumline experience to the stage. With Drumline
colleague Demetrius Hubert and Reggie Brayon, he co-produced a 10-minute piece for the UniverSoul Circus. Originally called Halftime Live!, it became a sensation.
The team attracted the attention of Columbia Artists Management Inc. and the show was retitled DRUMLINE LIVE. But don’t be fooled—it’s nothing like the movie, Roberts notes.
“The movie gave you an idea of what the HBCU culture was about,” he explains. “Our show goes beyond the (traditional) halftime show. You’re going to get gospel and how it relates to Usher and Mary J. Blige. It’s up close. It is drums—and dancers.”
Roberts says the show pays homage to the roots of African-American music through the platform of the HBCU marching bands.
“The storyline is the music,” he concludes. “You will have a walking history lesson.”
— L.V.S.
A musical journey
MEET THE ARTIST
Performing on trumpet sparked Don P. Roberts’ love of music and marching bands.
“I am a true band educator. I want to change kids’ lives in my community.”
— Don P. Roberts
njpac.org • DRUMLINE LIVE 5
In a traditional marching band, the drumline is the segment that features the percussion instruments. This section, with its own styles of dance and music, is the most unique in the band because it can perform a complete show by itself or be a featured highlight to the main halftime show. As a result, the drumline lends itself to more creative choreography, musical styles and drill formats.
Drumlines are popular in high school and college marching bands and are also found in drum and bugle corps and pipe bands. In 2002, the drumline concept gained notoriety with the release of the movie Drumline, which showcased the legacy of marching bands from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU).
In DRUMLINE LIVE, the drumline is a crucial part of the stage production; producers say it is really the band’s iden-tity. The traditional high-stepping style of marching is like a dance routine. It is a very different approach than what is seen in military corps style. Learning the drumline style is not as easy. The musicians are executing complicated formations and precision drills—involving movements such as the high step (point and drive) and the glide (roll step)—while playing a heavy instrument.
The drumline has two main parts: the battery and the front ensemble. The battery marches on the field as a unit. The instru-ments include snare drums, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals. The drumline is the heart and pulse of the band and keeps the marchers and the sound flowing in a rhythmic, melodic progression. The front ensemble stays in a set position. The instru-ments typically featured are xylophones, marimbas, cowbells, chimes, and timpani.
Other sections in a marching band supporting the drumline include the brass section with its trumpets, trombones and French horns and the woodwind section composed of saxophones, flutes and piccolos. At college football games, HBCU bands are known to perform pre-game and at the half-time and “fifth quarter” (after-event).
Historically black colleges and universi-ties trace their beginnings to Pennsylvania,
more than two decades before the end of slavery. In 1837, Richard Humphreys, a Quaker philanthropist born on a plantation in the West Indies, founded the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. There, free people of African descent were taught to become educators. The school relocated to farmland 25 miles west of Philadelphia and was renamed Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. However, the first of the HBCU to grant degrees was Lincoln University in Chester County, founded in 1854 as the Ashmun Institute. By the begin-ning of the 20th century, some 85 schools had been set up by white philanthropists, free blacks or churches to teach the children of former slaves.
The HBCU were the best option for most blacks seeking higher education until about 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court ended the “separate but equal” mandate in the landmark Brown vs. the Board of
Education decision. The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines HBCU as “… any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose prin-cipal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association ….”
The early HBCU marching bands were created to raise funds. Some historians believe that the first marching band was at the Tuskegee Normal School (now Tuskegee University). Other early African-American collegiate bands include Florida A&M University, Alabama State University, Tennessee State University, and Jackson State University. Today there are 105 public and private accredited HBCU. In addi-tion to four-year institutions, they include community colleges and medical schools.
— L.V.S.
Leading the march
DID YOU KNOW?
The drumline at Tennessee State University is one of the most prestigious among HBCU marching bands.
6 DRUMLINE LIVE • njpac.org
Before the Performance
Actively engage students in learning to identify the percussion sections of a marching band through pictures and taped sounds or CDs. Use a projector or hang reproduced pictures of the instruments in the classroom.
•The Battery Section — the group first marching onto the field. Percussion instruments include snare, bass and tenor drums with cymbals.
• The Front Ensemble — the section of the band that doesn’t move. The instruments include mallets, xylophones, marimbas, congas, calves, bongos, tambourines, and gongs.
On another day, clear a space in the classroom or use the gym to have students practice marching fun. Familiarize students with the fundamental marching band steps:
•High Step/Point and Drive — lifting one’s knees very high with a pointed toe.
•Glide or Roll — stepping gently on the heel with the toes pointed up and then rolling forward onto the toes before lifting the foot.
• Floating — everyone moving together.
• Flanks — military formation (to the left, to the right, to the rear march, etc.)
•Marching Time — marching in line.
Teach and then drill students on musical terms and the instruments utilized in a marching band. (Consult the DRUMLINE LIVE Study Guide at drumlinelive.com.)
Give students the task of simulating a marching band and drumline. Divide the classroom into two groups. Each group selects a leader to brainstorm and create a name, formations and music played. Give students time to practice their simulated marching band (after school, a weekend, during lunch).
Suggest that the groups participate in a Battle of the Bands. Invite other classes to see the battle. Share the band battle idea with other classes in the school to continue the momentum. As a reward, throw a pizza party for the students and listen to recorded band music. Offer a prize to both groups. (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4) *
After the Performance1. With the DRUMLINE LIVE perfor-mance fresh in their minds, have students summarize their experience verbally. Write the key responses, words, impressions, or critiques on the blackboard or overhead projector. Review each recollection.
Conclude this “flashback” activity by giving students 10 minutes to write a few paragraphs about their experiences. Read and post the comments on a bulletin board.
Back to the computer for research. Lead students through a Google search to famil-iarize themselves with the premier HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) marching bands. Searches might include Southern University and A&M College, Grambling State University, Jackson State University, and Tennessee State University. Encourage students to continue their Google search to investigate the celebration of HBCU
marching bands through competitions: the Florida Classic, Honda Battle of the Bands and the Bayou Classic, all of which attract up to 50,000 attendees. Ask students to write letters to their favorite marching band for additional information. (1.1, 1.2)
2. Introduce students to a free-wheeling game: Crazy Marching Band. Students imitate the sounds heard in a marching band’s brass, woodwind and percussion sections. Students march in formation to a selected song or orchestration while making the sounds of the instruments. Beatboxing can be used for the percussion sounds. (1.1, 1.3)
* Numbers indicate the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standard(s) supported by the activity.
More ResourcesBooks for Students and TeachersBrandt, Courtney. The Line. iUniverse, Inc., 2007.
Lumas, Giselle. Journal of a Cymbal Player—Freshman Year. Donty Books, 2011.
Rudnicki, Lee and Scott Johnson. Tale of a Drum Line. Broken Ocean Entertainment, 2012.
Websitesdrumlinelive.com
linklogen.com/drumline.htm Drummer Link Logen’s history of drumline.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumline_(film) Wikipedia entry for the 2002 film Drumline.
drumpus.com D’Rumpus Music. Site for percussion musicians.
DVDsDrumline. Fox 2000 Pictures, 2002. Rated PG-13.
CDsDrumline (soundtrack). Various artists. Jive, 2002.
DRUMLINE LIVE. Available through drumlinelive.com.
VideosCD Drumline ‘Children of the Night’ Practice. youtube.com/watch?v=HXARcJ6RdzY
In the classroom
njpac.org • DRUMLINE LIVE 7
DRUMLINE LIVE vocabulary list
Music originates as sound. All sound is created by vibration. The vibrations from a vibrating object are sent to the eardrum. Our eardrums vibrate when they come into contact with vibrating air, and the brain recognizes it as sound.
Sound has two variables, volume and pitch. Volume can be loud or soft with all gradations in between. Pitch is high or low with all gradations in between. Loudness or softness is in direct proportion to the size of a vibrating object’s back and forth motion. A narrow, limited back and forth motion will produce a small sound. To increase the volume, a larger, wider back and forth motion must be created. Pitch is governed by frequency (the number of times the back and forth motion occurs in a second). Every sound has a distinct pitch.
NJ Core Curriculum Content Science Standards state that all students will “gain an understanding of natural laws as they apply to motion, forces, and energy trans-formations.” The exercise below investigates how sound becomes music.
Pair off students. Give each pair a rubber band. Have one student stretch the band between his/her index fingers. Have the partner pluck the rubber band. Listen for volume and pitch. Now pull the band further back before releasing it. Was the sound produced louder or softer?
Have the student holding the band stretch it tighter to create tension. Pluck the band again. Was the pitch produced higher or lower? Does the pitch change as the band is stretched even tighter?
Now explore the differences between noise and music. Ask students to listen as you strike a ruler on the top of a table. Ask them if this is noise or music. Next, use the ruler to tap out a song. Though it may still be perceived as noise, ask the students if anything in the way you strike the table has
changed. (Is there rhythm? Is there cadence? Are some taps louder and others softer?) Though they probably won’t be able to distinguish the song, they should be able to notice the difference between the first series of taps and the second.
Remind students that not only true musical instruments create music. Almost any object can make music to someone’s ears when you alter the volume, pitch, melody, cadence, and rhythm. In the past, people did not always have a piano, guitar or drum available. Music was made with pots and pans, ribbed washboards, blocks of wood, and jugs filled with varying levels of water.
Teaching Science Through the Arts is made possible through the generous support of Roche.
arrangement — a new adaptation and orchestration of an already existing musical piece.
band — a group of musicians organized to play together, often using woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.
composer — a person who writes music.
dynamics — the interplay between loudness and softness and smoothness and “choppiness” of notes that are played or sung.
gospel — a form of vocal church music developed in the black Baptist churches of the southern United States that incorporates elements of African rhythm and music, choir music and instrumental accompani-ment, e.g., organ, drum, bass, percussion.
instrumentalist — a musician who plays a musical instrument.
interpretation — the expression through performance of a particular conception of a music piece.
jazz — a syncopated style of music developed in the United States in which improvisational skills and complex harmonic structures are explored.
lighting — lights illuminate the performers and create different moods by using varied levels and/or different colors of light. Light can focus the audience’s attention on a solo performer, a group of performers or an entire section of the stage.
melody — an organized succession of single musical notes arranged in a related and recognizable pattern; a tune.
musical director — a person who oversees all aspects of an orchestra and often serves as the conductor.
percussion — the beating or striking of a musical instrument or the clapping, tapping or snapping of one’s fingers. The most common percussion instrument heard is a drum.
rhythm — a regular pattern produced by the length of strong and weak musical sounds at a particular speed or tempo, frequently called the beat.
score — a piece of music showing all the vocal and/or instrumental parts, often used by the conductor.
solo — a musical composition or passage for an individual voice or instrument with or without accompaniment.
syncopation — stressing the normally unaccented beats, often used in African-derived music.
visit artsed.njpac.organd click to SchoolTime Performances/Teacher’s Resource Guides to learn more about marching band instruments, courtesy of Yamaha Corporation of America.
Teaching Science Through Music (Grades 5-12)
By Timothy and Katrina Macht
8 DRUMLINE LIVE • njpac.org
arts education@
NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
NJPAC Arts Education programs are made possible by the generosity of: Automatic Data Processing, Bank of America, The Arts Education Endowment Fund in Honor of Raymond G. Chambers, Leon & Toby Cooperman, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, McCrane Foundation, Merck Company Foundation, Albert & Katharine Merck, The Prudential Foundation, PSEG Foundation, Marian & David Rocker, The Sagner Family Foundation, The Star-Ledger/Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Verizon, Victoria Foundation, Wells Fargo, John & Suzanne Willian / Goldman Sachs Gives and The Women’s Association of NJPAC.
Additional support is provided by: Advance Realty, Anonymous, C.R. Bard
Foundation, BD, The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, Berkeley College, Allen & Joan Bildner, Bloomberg, Ann and Stan Borowiec, Jennifer Chalsty, The Johnny Mercer Foundation, Chase, Edison Properties, Veronica Goldberg Foundation, Meg & Howard Jacobs, Johnson & Johnson, The MCJ Amelior Foundation, The New Jersey Cultural Trust, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Novo Nordisk, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Pechter Foundation, PNC Foundation on behalf of the PNC Grow Up Great program, The Provident Bank Foundation, E. Franklin Robbins Charitable Trust, Roche, TD Charitable Foundation, Turrell Fund, and The Blanche M. & George L. Watts Mountainside Community Foundation.
Writer: Lisa Vernon Sparks
Curriculum Consultant: Arthur T. Wilson
Editor: Linda Fowler
Designer: Bonnie Felt
NJPAC Guest Reader: Kira Ruth
NJPAC Teacher’s Guide Review Committee:Laura IngogliaJudith IsraelMary Lou JohnstonAmy Tenzer
Photos courtesy of DRUMLINE LIVEPhoto on page 5 courtesy of Tennessee State University
Copyright © 2012New Jersey Performing Arts CenterAll Rights Reserved
New Jersey Performing Arts CenterWilliam J. Marino ................................................................................................... Chairman
John Schreiber ............................................................................................ President & CEO
Sandra Bowie ...................................................................... Vice President of Arts Education
Sanaz Hojreh ........................................................ Assistant Vice President of Arts Education
Verushka Spirito ............................................................. Associate Director of Performances
Caitlin Evans Jones ................................................................ Director of In-School Programs
Faye Competello ................................................................................Director of Arts Training
Linda Fowler ................................................................. Editor of Teacher’s Resource Guides
One Center StreetNewark, New Jersey 07102Administration: 973 642-8989Arts Education Hotline: 973 [email protected]
Acknowledgments as of 8/10/12
visit artsed.njpac.orgFind additional resources by clicking on SchoolTime Performances or scan the QR code displayed here.
For even more arts integration resources, pleasego to Thinkfinity.org, the Verizon Foundation’ssignature digital learning platform, designed toimprove educational and literacy achievement.
Coming to NJPAC
ScrapArtsMusicDecember 6 and 7A performance of pulsating percussion, performed on more than 145 mobile sculptures created from industrial scrap metal. For grades 4-8. Call (973) 297-5828.
ScrapArtsMusicTeacher’s Guide 2012–2013
passport to culture
Generous support for SchoolTime provided, in part, by
arts education@
NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
