Could you hurt your back or something if you march with a bass drum or tenors? I heard some people got hurt badly at another school.

it is just a matter of back strength, which you can build as you wear the drum more often. after a full day of marching, your back will hurt, but the pain will go away after a few days of just living with it and not complaining. suck it up and you will get stronger. hope that helps

odds are you will twist your ankle before anything crazy happens with your back. like the guy above me said, it's all about making your muscles stronger and then the drum will feel like nothing.

the only other two problems------
1. you have really screwed up posture....as crooked as a question mark (for those who saw forrest gump).
anyway, if you don't stand up straight, like, alot a lot not straight that could cause problems

2. if your carrier doesn't have enough padding on it that can cause bruises or numbness. might want to check that out.

oh thanks.

And dont trip backwards with a snare.

You can get back braces if you are really that worried about it. Our 5th bass player is a pretty small guy, and he wears a brace. I think it helps more with the soreness than any actual damage you your back.

Another thing is that you have to be cautious when you march. I play bass, and we were crabbing to the left and transitioning to the right, and there was wet mud in front of me, and I didn't see it, and I totally slipped on the mud and twisted my leg. Not fun.

Our first bassdrummer tripped on an orange cone while marching out of the football field at an away game. She bruised herself and cracked(severed) one of the rims... the night before a competition. Somehow our 3rd bass managed to jerry rig that thing before we left for the comp. So yeah, you can hurt yourself and the drum while marching. The funny thing is that those orange cones are designed for you to be able to see them since they have reflectors on them.

Yes, you can( as everyone one else has said). I play the bass and when I was walking to get to the stage to help perform the proper way to do the cadence, I tripped on a rug and fell forward. I didn't have any major damage but I did have some cuts and scrapes.

My first year one of our basses was runnin 2 get in form n he tripped over a tuba. it didnt hurt him 2 much but his druma got a couple marks. it made his harness better though

Not to be rude or anything, but I think his question was if you could injure yourself BADLY. Little scrapes and cuts are not badly injuring yourself. I think more along the lines of breaking something or otherwise putting yourself out of commission.

I got tripped by a cymbal player in indoor and torn my PCL in my left knee, and also got sliced in the forehead by the symbal too. I think that's pretty bad.

i think that if u use the right techniqe then ur sweet. My back is so freakind strong from holding bass 5. i always stood str8t up and never leaned to the front or back
doing the bendy though helps after a while holding your drum....

As a matter of fact, the day of All-State Championships, I was going outside, and I moved my bass out of the way to see, and I didn't see anyone, so I kept walking, but this kid was on the ground tying his shoe, and I got my foot caught in his snare harness and tripped. He grabbed my arm to try and get my balance back, but gravity sucks like that, and I got pulled down onto the concrete. My left ankle was bruised and I had a few cuts, My whole right calf was totally torn up and bruised. I also cut the top of my hand open. I was limping the whole rest of the day, but the show still ended up being awesome. You really have to be cautious.

one of my captains 2nd bass had to have metal rods put in his back because his freshmen year the other basses never really told him he could bend certain ways for a long time and he ended up hunched back and still is but is better because of the back rods he marched the year after he got them and this year his senoir year. for me marching isnt where i get my injuries i get them from stairs, basketballs and heavy bookbags. the stairs only kept me out for 2 days but the basketball broke my finger and the book bag put me in a sling which wasnt as bad as the cast

Yes! You can injury yourself. You never know what can happen marching with a bass drum. Just this year during one of our field show competitions we had almost the whole drumline fell. Thankfully there wasn't major injuries. But there were some minors sprain ankles and etc. Especially our small guy who plays 1st bass. He was injury to the point we had to notify his parents about the accident. So as any drumline instructor would say be very careful and be precaution when marching with any battery instrument.

eh?

Stretching keeps my back in shape after playing for a long time

As with any athletic endeavor, there is a certain chance of getting injured. Marching band is a very strenuos activity and if you don't stretch properly, or aren't properly conditioned, there is a chance of injury. Being sore isn't something to be alarmed at since you do have to build the proper muscles. I think that with basses and tenors, it is easier to get injured since those instruments are some of the heaviest instruments and the majority of the weight gets displaced on the shoulders and back. While there is a possibility of injury, don't let it keep your from marching.

I injured myself while marching with me quints... if you step the wrong way, or if you do some kind of crazy back flip corkscrew thingy ma jigg, you'll get injured.

I agree with Demonllama. Bad posture contributes towards back injuries while wearing a drum (or set of drums). My back hurts at the end of the more from sitting in a school desk than from wearing a drum. This is because I normally have bad posture while sitting or standing, but when I'm wearing my drum, though it isn't that big (18" bass) I use my best posture.

ive never been injured very bad, but a friend of mine has a major problem with his hip from his marching and now he cant ever march again.