I have a friend who plays trombone but really wants to march snare next year so I've taken on the task of helping him along the way to get good enough to make the line. I know he can make it to the point where he's better than the worst player on the line, but I'm thinking he could also become only that good. Our line is decent compared to other years, but we have a couple people who are just cutting it, but not by much (not bad enough to bring down the whole line). Obviously if he works hard and becomes say the third best snare we have (He probably can), he should play on the line, but I can help but thinking that if he just barely cuts it as well, whenever he makes a mistake or something I will get some of the blame. So, do you think it's a good idea to try to help this kid out and if he does make it, what do you think the others' reactions may be?

I think that if a member of the band that was originally playing a non-percussive instrument wants to try out for a drumline spot, then I'd say go for it. However, you should let your friend know that he's got to practice 100 times harder than anybody else on your line. If he's out on the field bringing down the quality of your line, you are going to have serious sectional issues.

If your director thinks the way that ours does, there is no way that this is going to fly...there are a couple of things that this depend on however...how big is your band?...how big is the low brass section in your band?...i think that these are a few of the intangibles that must be answered before knowing whether or not this is a good idea...

Well, the thing is it that he did talk to the director, who converted himself from sax to tenors his junior year of high school, and he had no problem if he worked and became good enough to pass the tryout. Plus, our high school is huge, we have two seperate campuses, so I doubt there is any issue there fielding a good brass section. Lastly, I wouldn't exactly describe our line as high quality. We basically started anew this year and do have some unexperienced players. I know if he works, he can get to the point where he's better than our worst snare.