By Katie Looby
Special to The State News
The deafening sound of the MSU fight song echoed throughout East Lansing this weekend - despite the fact that the Spartans football team was on the road.
Members of the Spartan Marching Band's drum line kept the beat with members of high school drum lines from across the state. Seven high school drum lines were invited to MSU on Saturday for a chance to perform and be critiqued by two outside clinicians and performers, Scott Johnson and Jeff Queen, both of whom teach private lessons.
Students from East Grand Rapids, Howell, Lahser, Okemos, Lansing Eastern, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Troy high schools performed in the Auditorium, and then received feedback from Johnson and Queen.
"I haven't learned everything possible to learn, and after watching Jeff I saw how much better you can get by practicing," said Billy Azkoul, an East Grand Rapids High School sophomore.
The high school students got a chance to practice and play side-by-side with members of the Spartan Marching Band and ask them questions throughout the day - an opportunity that could lead to a college career in the band, percussion instructor Jon Weber said.
"This helps recruit band members," Weber said. "They get to see our drum line, and if they like it and what we do, they will audition here in the spring. The purpose of the event is education - hopefully everyone will learn and enjoy."
Grant King, a senior at Okemos High School, is a section leader for his school's drum line, and takes lessons from MSU snare drummer Joe Porenta. King said he hopes to continue playing for MSU next year.
"A lot of the people here are well-known," he said. "I want to make an appearance and learn how we can be a better drum line."
When it was Okemos High School's turn to perform, King and other members of the drum line tapped their feet, leaned forward and backward, bit their drumsticks and pretended to wipe sweat from their foreheads.
The colorful visuals did not go unnoticed by clinician Johnson, who said his philosophy is, "If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.
"What's cool about visuals is that it makes you think the whole time, and it looks cool - very cool," Johnson told band members.
Larry Allswede, snare section leader for the MSU Drumline, said he is impressed with how much better high school bands are now compared to when he was in school.
"They keep stepping up the ladder," Allswede said.
Throughout the course of the day, the high school band members were split up and grouped with students from other high schools and MSU who play the same instrument, and worked with a professional who specialized in each instrument.
Having the chance to work with college students while still in high school is a way to get the students more enthusiastic about music, Johnson said.
"The biggest goal of these clinics is for these kids to go home and drum their butts off," he said. "For them to see more talented people, like the university's drum line, see where they can go, and see all the opportunities they have - it's about the excitement."
