Have you ever seen someone do something and thought, “I want to do THAT.”
That was the exact feeling I had when I saw the high school drumline for the first time as an 8th grader. From that day on, as soon as the 3pm bell rang, I’d run out the school’s back exit and stare in awe through the chain-link fence as the drumline rehearsed on the blacktop parking lot.
I was hooked.
After weeks of hanging around and reticently getting a little closer and closer to the drumline each practice, the instructor finally acknowledged me and said, “Why don’t you come by this Friday night’s football game? You can watch us warm up in the parking lot before half-time.” Wait, that’s an option?!
“Um…yes. Yes, I will do that.”
Yes! I was headed to my first-ever lot warm-up.
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$5 to enter the stadium, 10 minutes of wandering around by myself in the stadium for the first time, and finally, there they were; the drumline was blocking up in a patch of grass slightly beyond the bleachers.
The members were like rockstars to me. As I walked up, I nearly passed out when someone waved and said “What’s up, Huei!” I felt cool.
I was so excited, this may as well have been DCI or WGI Finals night lot for a drumline finishing off an undefeated season. In reality, it was just a nerdy 8th grader watching the high school drumline, but to this day, it’s one of the most vivid lots I’ve ever seen.
What happened next was the moment that set me on a path of a relentless drive to master marching percussion.
When the warm-up ended, and everyone began collecting their gear, the center snare took off his carrier and said “Alright, Huei – you’re in,” and gestured at me to take it from him.
Now, of course there’s no way anyone can just walk into a show, blind. But, in that moment, I completely choked.
No one expected me to take him up the offer, but instead of saying, “Sure, I’ll try,” and having them turn me down, my gut reaction was to awkwardly wave my hands and mumble something unintelligible. I declined because I didn’t have the skills to play what they had played standing still, much less while running around a football field.
I totally choked, and I knew it. “I’ve got to figure this out.”
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After countless hours of relentlessly working and practicing all summer, I made the bass line the next year as a freshman. I went on to play snare my sophomore year and finished as captain my senior year. I was one of three freshmen to make my college snare line and continued on to spend four summers marching drum corps (’01 Phantom, ’02-’04 Cavaliers). I taught a high school drumline in the area while I was a music major, and taught and wrote for my university drumlines during undergrad and grad school. I graduated and spent 5 years teaching public high school, and eventually returned to the activity ten years later to teach World Class DCI and WGI lines.
Now, I create online content and resources to help teachers and the next generation of percussionists. I’ve distilled 20+ years of playing and teaching experience into Volumes 1-5 to answer the questions I most frequently answer during live streaming lessons and in direct messages.
Each volume addresses a very specific skill set, the weaknesses I most commonly see in young players. I can’t tell you how many individual auditions I’ve watched over the years, and the mastery of these skills are what separate the baby gazelles from the king lions.
The seeds for the book began in March 2016 as free one page handouts, and with over 7,000 of those free PDF’s downloaded, I decided to expand the material into more detailed explanations and extensive exercise breakdowns.
This is the book I now use with all my private lessons students, and for the first time ever, I’ve compiled and curated the most essential exercises I’ve learned, written, and taught by rote over the years into one resource.
This is the book I wish I had written 10 years ago, but then again, it would be a different book. I’ve now written the Marching Percussion Playbook to help other teachers and students that have seen an amazing drumline at some point and thought, “I want to do THAT.”
Thanks for your interest in the MPP. Through this collection, I can’t wait to share what I’ve experienced and learned over the years to help you achieve your “THAT” moment. Say goodbye to the days where you wondered what you should be practicing, and welcome the confidence of knowing you are setting yourself up for success. Cheers!
Huei
Huei-Yuan Pan is a Los Angeles based musician via Chicago, originally from Houston. His drum corps experience includes performing with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps (Snare, 2001) and The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (Snare, 2002-2003; Front Ensemble, 2004). From 2008-2011, Huei served as Director and Arranger for Green Thunder Percussion, what is now Cavalier Indoor Percussion, and in 2013-2014, Percussion Caption Head with Regiment.
He is currently the Director of the Jumpstart Young Musicians Program at The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles, and spends his time as a digital content creator providing live streaming video lessons, vlogs, and more.
