Jazz band or percussion ensemble?

Shaneola

Junior Member
Hey gang,

My school offers beginner-intermeditate jazz band and beginner-intermediate percussion ensemble. I have only ever played drum set; which would be the better choice for me to do as far as experience, knowledge, etc. goes? I can only choose one because the times conflict.

Thanks
 
Percussion ensemble is probably gonna be more fun. I can say from both my own experience and watching my son. good luck
 
The correct answer re: anything where you get to play, is to do both if at all possible. Jazz band will help you with your drum set, the other will help you with your reading. You might also look at who is teaching, and go with the one who you guess is most knowledgeable, or who you like better. Also look at how much playing time you're going to get. If there's going to be more than one other drummer in the jazz band, I would pass. If your reading is very weak, you might end up sitting out some pieces, or getting assigned the lamer parts in perc ens. If you still can't decide, flip a coin...
 
Thanks guys, I've never played jazz, and I know the percussion ensemble leader, so I'm gonna go with that.
 
Yeah, for what it's worth, you won't be playing much drumset in percussion ensemble. It will, however, probably make you a more well-rounded percussionist, so I'd choose it as well.

Plus, you might get to play some mallet instruments, and everyone knows that those are much cooler than drum set!

*ducks, covers, runs*
 
I'd get in the jazz band, and get so good that the percussion ensemble teacher moves the time of the percussion ens. rehearsal so I could do both!
 
Plus, you might get to play some mallet instruments, and everyone knows that those are much cooler than drum set!

Hell yeah they are!

(semi-kidding. the marimba is my favorite tonal instrument to play, by a small margin, but i also love playing the not-necessarily-lyrical drumset as much. opposite ends of the spectrum, though marimba with good literature will undoubtably make one a more dynamic percussionist.)
 
I've done both in college, and enjoyed both. However, I spent alot of time practicing piano, which I think, from a jobs standpoint, actually helped me a bit better. So when I wasn't playing drums in jazz band or a rock band, I was playing piano. And this led me to arranging and writing music for projects I got to be involved in. Studying mallets and tympani is good, but there was really no way I'd be able to own any of those instruments, and be good enough on them to actually be able to sub for any percussionists in town. I can only speak for me, though.
 
I would go with percussion ensemble. There are still plenty of opportunities to play jazz outside of school, but relatively few for percussion ensemble. Percussion ensemble in general is a lot of fun. If you want to play percussion in a group, your two main choices are the concert band/orchestral route or the drum set route. In either case, your technical proficiency quickly exceeds the musical requirements of the ensemble. In other words, you don't get to use your cool licks. Percussion ensembles release the proverbial hounds. You actually get to use advanced technique and play parts that are more challenging and interesting than what you might play anywhere else.
 
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