American Revolution: Everything Was Bad if the Drummers Were

Scott K Fish

Silver Member
VIDEOS: Upper Dublin teacher 'drums up' Revolutionary War history
Published: Saturday, March 14, 2015
By Linda Finarelli

kennedy_sean.jpg

Photo Credit: Montgomery Media

Upper Dublin -- In the...1770s...listening to the beat of the drum was...a way of life.

That message was brought home to the eighth-graders at Sandy Run Middle School...when music teacher Sean Kennedy demonstrated the role of drummers during the Revolutionary War.

“Snare drums were strictly tools of war” back then, said Kennedy, a professional drummer who “was brought up learning all of the battle signals the drummers used to play in the 1700s and 1800s,” and teaches them to his current students. “Without the battlefield drummers, modern drumming might not exist,” he said.

...Kennedy said...the “single largest employer of musicians today is the U.S. military.”

[T]hat history can be traced back to sunrise April 19, 1775, when John Parker, commander of a 77-member militia company in Lexington, Mass., seeing 700 British troops approach, told company drummer boy William Diamond, 17, to sound “To Arms,” signaling the enemy’s approach and the start of the armed conflict leading to the War of Independence, he said.

Gen. George Washington complained the “music of the army” was “very bad,” and threatened that if the drum and fife majors didn’t improve, their ranks and pay would be reduced.

“Everything was bad if the drummers were,” Kennedy said.

The Rogue’s March”...was played when a soldier was “drummed out” of the army for misbehavior or for a funeral processional.

“The drummers and signals were life and death,” Kennedy said. “Usually they were teenage boys and usually didn’t get shot at, but it was very dangerous.”

...Kennedy noted, “Everything...played on the drum set today has roots in the Revolutionary War.”

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...Kennedy noted, “Everything...played on the drum set today has roots in the Revolutionary War.”

Thanks for this Scott--I really dig this stuff. I like to think of how all of us here are connected to this legacy. When we talk of "standing on the shoulders of giants," some of those giants were these kids whose playing was literally a matter of life and death.
 
Thanks for this Scott--I really dig this stuff. I like to think of how all of us here are connected to this legacy. When we talk of "standing on the shoulders of giants," some of those giants were these kids whose playing was literally a matter of life and death.

What a clear way of looking at that. It is really cool to know that the drumset as an instrument is really young in the big scheme of things. And all of us are here with access to the early pioneers. We are really very close to the original practitioners of the instrument. Which is really cool. I'm just glad I got to see what music was like before ones and zeros turned everything upside down.

And it still rings true. Everything still is bad if the drummers are.

Scott just keeps pushing out this great stuff on a regular basis. He really is under-thanked.
 
I think it's weird how some instruments have a stigma from being used in battle while others don't. For example the Aztec death whistle, was worn by all Aztec soldiers, but it is associated with cannibalism. However, the snare drum used by soldiers isn't associated with slavery.
 
Drums were used by armies other than in the Civil War so there should be no association to slavery. I think that's a reach.
I mean the thread is called American Revolution
 
I also see no reason for the snare drum to be associated with slavery. They've been used in war just about as far back as written history goes, if I remember correctly the earliest historical reference has tympani mounted on either side of a camel to encourage troops and scare the enemy.
 
"Among ancient war drums that can be mentioned, junjung was used by the Serer people in West Africa. The Rigveda describes the war drum as the fist of Indra.[1]

In early medieval Europe, the use of the drum for military purposes did not begin until the crusades.[2] (p. 19) [3] The European armies first encountered them used by the Islamic military forces, who used primarily their traditional kettledrums, and found that the sound would particularly affect the Crusader's horses, who had not previously encountered them. By the early 13th century the Crusaders used them also.

The snare drum was taken into use in 13th century Europe, to rally troops, and to demoralize the enemy.[4]

A military tattoo was originally a drum signal for soldiers' curfew. Other uses for military drums have been recruiting and calling for parley.[5]

Ancient Fife and Drum Corps, as well as modern drum corps have been used by early modern armies for signalling and ceremonies, occasionally played by drummer boys in conflicts such as the American Civil War.

Over a period of time, Snare drums, as well as timpani, have been adopted into civilian classical and popular music."
 
And Americans were slave holders at the time.

C'mon man, you are really reaching on this one.

Pants and hats were also worn by slave owners, should we stop wearing them?

The snare drum is in no way associated (by any logical train of thought) with slavery. It is associated with the battlefield.
 
C'mon man, you are really reaching on this one.

Pants and hats were also worn by slave owners, should we stop wearing them?

The snare drum is in no way associated (by any logical train of thought) with slavery. It is associated with the battlefield.

What were those counter examples again, maybe I missed something.
 
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