I get as picky as I can with my line but it’s hard sometimes because their so young, they aren’t really there to be super hard core and drumming is their whole life. It’s more of just a fun thing for them. I know when I’m spending too much time on the little picky things because the kids are getting bored and they eventually stop trying or they just complain the whole time. So I try to mix it up. I’ll tell them “were going to spend an hour working on technique and then were moving on to marching” or something like that. So they know that it’s not just going to be 2 hours of the same thing over and over. I try to get them to realize how their hands should be and they work on it a lot at home and then I can give them more tips and help them at practices. With my line we don’t really go “trophy hunting” for the kids they just want to learn and have a good time doing it, and I just want to see them improve. I tell them before every show “I don’t care if you get 1st or 5th place, so long as your scores are going up.” If they are improving every time…how could I possibly ask for more. It’s about being THEIR best, not THE best.

I really can't get that picky. Time is the biggest issue. Our percussion ensemble class is only about 45 minutes long, and thats the only time we get to work on our music. After school rehearsals are for learning the drill mostly. When we had sectionals outside of school only a fraction of the line would show up, and it would always be the same people not coming. So the only time we get to rehearse with everyong is during our class. Sadly, most of the line doesn't want to put in the extra effort to be really good.

I'm going to go ahead and say that it's not necessarily WHAT you're picky about, but WHEN you're picky about it. If you're picky about technique and timing during band camp or spring one-a-weeks, then you don't need to be picky about it later because, theoretically, at least, it will spill over to the regular rehearsals.

You can never be too picky when it comes to rudimental druming. There are simply no excuses for a rudimental drummer; it all has to be perfect. To answer your question (I'm still a student) I play every rudiment I can think of for three hours a day (this isn't counting staying before and after school)

rudimental man, I don't mean to hit on you, but if you played every rudiment in the PAS 40, you'd be drumming for 120 hours a day.

As far as the topic, it really depends on the day and the goal. Obviously if the kids have been drumming for 8 hours, I'm not going to be as picky as I would be an hour of drumming. But it also depends on the status of the line. If you're a competetive line, you still need to be picky. If you're just a fun band, it's not as important.

Being picky is just like adult diapers - it just depends.

I agree with Neil and Bill completely. Stress technique and proper approach to the instrument first and foremost. I think you need to evaluate the group and its overall ability level and its specific goals AS WELL as the individual student and their goals and their needs. I think the tendency is try to make marching band on whatever level(high school or college) into drum corps. Drum corps is a seperate beast all together that requires a seperate mindset from the individuals involved. I know there are things you can get away with as an instructor with a corps that would get you fired if you were to pull the same thing in a classroom. The whole vibe and feel of drum corps is different. You need to find where that spot is right before the kids are ready to lynch you and then use that as the pinnacle of your intensity. Every group is different and therfore each groups "spot" is going to be different. I know that teaching at one school I can easily use one style of teaching and it works amazingly well and yeilds results as well as a good time for all of us whereas at another school this same style was met with too much good time and not enough results.
"Never ride the horse off the cliff" Jim Hoover once said that to me. I remember taht everyday. What Jim meant was never actualy go to the breaking point approach it and approach slowly but never get to the breaking point. I want the kids to have fun and feel good about what they are doing and I want to have fun and feel good about what we are doing. If oyu get too picky the kids will turn off. They may show up but if you ask theings of them that they are not able to do then they will think all of your requests or comments are ridiculous and out of reach. Then you have a snowball effect. Know how far the students are able to stretch and go no further.