...which explains 9Volt's take on the tenor voice. It sounds like his instructor might have been coaching a less-experienced tenor line, hence the "play under the snares" mentality.

But if you've got any talent in the tenor line, it can be used for a whole lot more than adding depth to the snare voice.



EXACTLY. Including tenors.



How can a piccolo, being as obnoxiously shrill as it is, not stand out to the audience?

Also at my school, everyone thinks the snares are so bad*** and the basses a little and when someone says , "What about the tenors"? usually they will say , "What are tenors, are they the things with a couple of drums"? Half the time they don't have a clue what your talking about.

Thats the kind of thing that always put me down about playing tenors. No one knows what the heck you are and no one really cares about you.

I do understand about what all you guys are saying though, thanks for the input.

Don't let a bunch of uninformed high school kids get you down. If you're lucky enough to end up playing tenors in college or corps some day, you'll learn what all the hype is about.

Sorry... maybe not the best comparison

Alright, So, Now I want to know, how exactly should the tenor player be playing? Even with the snares then?

As for the piccolo being tenors, No way. The piccolo is obnoxiously: small, loud, screechy. You hear that thing through-out the entire show.

And if people don't understand what you mean by tenors, try saying quads. Alabama has a LOT of show style bands, Show style is huge in the south, Most show bands don't know tenors by the name of tenors, they know them by quads. And I will stick to what I was saying earlier, In the south, the snare is where it's at. If you came up north you will see the opposite, tenors have all the hype.

Balance from section to section will vary depending on what the arranger has in mind. Sometimes the snares will be the lead voice, sometimes the tenors will be, sometimes they'll share the lead, and sometimes neither are part of the lead.

It's similar to the arrangements for the rest of the band or corps. Sometimes the trumpets will have the melody, sometimes they won't. Whoever has the melodic line generally plays out while other voices are supportive.

I'm from the north and there are a lot of talented drumlines in the Michigan area, and in all of those drumlines, everything is about blend. If you can't here a voice it's because someone is over/underplaying the dynamics.

In my experience a lot of snare lines at the high school level beat the living crap out of there drums ie. over playing, while tenor players do not.

I don't necessarily agree with the "Tenors are all the hype" Maybe amongst people who don't know, and haven't been involved with drumline, but in all of my experience snare bass or tenor every instrument is appreciated for what it contributes to the line as a whole. Sure they all sound decent alone but when you hear a full batterie ensemble....Sorry I need to go change my pants....

Either way you shouldn't be able to pick one instrument of the drumline (or band for that matter) out above the rest everything should blend that's what it's all about.

any DCI video i've ever watched of a drumline, you can always hear the tenors. Yes your not going to hear the tenors all the time but like it has been said it is another dimension of the music. If you really wanted to you could compare tenors to an electric bass in a rock band. They almost never stand out, but you take them away and you definitely realize something is missing. Oh and i live in new hampshire, pretty far north and tenors are definitely not all the hype. Snares still steal the spotlight and everyone still thinks they're better than us.

hey dont feel bad on my line i am a tenor and i basicaly lead all the other freshmen
and im atenor and im in florida

i personally think its more about how you like the sound. if you play in front of a crowd, they will hear you.