Drill Writing
During my 7th semester at Penn State, I had the opportunity to take a drill writing independent study with Assistant Director of the Penn State Marching Blue Band, Dr. Eric Bush. Dr. Bush is one of the main drill writers for he blue band. I learned the process of picking music for a marching band and creating drill on Pyware for different size bands. I explored different marching and drill styles of different bands and what works best for different bands as well. and Here is an example of the drill I created.
Drill Example
Instrument Repair
During my 7th semester at Penn State, I took part in an instrument repair independent study with the repair man of The Penn State Blue Band, Mr. David Cree. I fixed woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments for the Blue Band and concert bands at Penn State. This allowed me to fix real instruments in need of repair that I could see in my own program in the future. This study was also very structured for my own needs. Therefore, I could work at my own pace, and receive help where I needed it most. The final in this class was to create my own repair kit, which I have used daily in my student teaching.