Organizing in the back of the Band Room

The stereotype of the secondary school percussion section is chaos, broken instruments, and a never ending cycle of trying to solve the problem. It can be really frustrating for band directors trying to manage a whole band on top of such an equip-heavy section! Thankfully, there are a couple of tips and guidelines you can use for keeping on top of organization before it falls apart.

Tip #1: Make a place for EVERYTHING

Every item, from a triangle beater to a woodblock to an extra snare drum needs to have a dedicated spot in your room or closet. When instruments come from and go to the same spot every time, students will build the habit and stop asking questions about where to put things.

Tip #2: LABEL EVERYTHING!

Those places that you just assigned for triangle beaters and woodblocks? Take a sharpie and some masking tape and LABEL that drawer, outside and inside, as obvious as possible. Make a diagram of your rehearsal set up on the wall, and label the spots for large instruments on the floor with masking tape. Visual reminders do a lot to build the muscle memory in students’ brains, and you will be asked to find instruments and waste precious rehearsal time ten times less often.

Tip #3: Assign jobs to Student Leadership

Managing the organization of your percussion section can be a fantastic job for passionate students looking for leadership experience! Make it the responsibility of one or two students to check off that everything is put away after rehearsal. This job is fairly low-stakes overall and will make leadership students feel like an important part of the rehearsal process!

Organizing the percussion section may feel like an impossible task, but I hope these tips can make a difference! If you have more questions or want more advice, send me an email or fill out the contact form below!