Drum Corps and Intelligence...
It's Not Just An Extracurricular Activity
Mr. James A. Roscoe, Steering Committee
Contents.
Preface
1. Introduction
2. The Seven Intelligences as postulated by Howard Gardner
3. Applications of The Seven Intelligences to the performing arts domain
4. Conclusion and implications for a revised image and marketing strategies
Preface.
I believe that I was a little overzealous with what I thought I would be able to present
within the confines of the length requirements of this report. The fact of the matter is that even
in this greatly reduced version of my original presentation which was developed to help save a
competitive field marching band in a local high school, I still found it necessary to exceed these
parameters in order to project some semblance of the concept of this subject. I ask that you
invoke your skills of extrapolation to fill in what I will not be able to present. Anyone interested
in the full report on this subject is urged to contact me. I sincerely hope that this presentation
will contribute in some small way in helping to keep alive an activity that we obviously love
(albeit sometimes in disagreement) so much. Thank you.
1. Introduction.
Current image - idiosyncratic activity.
I don't think it is a secret to any of us within the activity that drum corps, as we truly
know it, is somewhat an idiosyncratic activity. With 99% plus of the general public, the term
drum corps probably invokes images of cute little kids marching down the street playing hardly
recognizable music from funny little horns. It is no wonder that we give up a lot of ground to
more appreciated activities such as boy scouts, little league, and the like. On "face validity"
(that which can be considered true by personal observation) we have come to understand the life
skills of which members of drum corps are exposed...skills such as vision, acceptance, and how
as an individual, one fits into the entire scheme of things. And I'm quite confident you could add
to this list. I believe that if the general public (particularly parents of young children)
understood that such skills may be facilitated by membership in a drum corps, we would be that
much closer to exiting the ranks of the "idiosyncratic" and entering into the "mainstream" of
public knowledge and acceptance.
However, there is strong evidence for another life skill that the public, and indeed most
of us veterans probably have never considered...drum corps as a means to elevate one's
intelligence. We need to present more than just face validity pertaining to the above skills. We
need to present scientific evidence that drum corps is not just fun and games, but provides young
children and young adults with important tools from which they can benefit throughout their
lives. The research evidence of Howard Gardner may provide just that evidence.
Howard Gardner - theory and approach.
It must be kept in mind that Howard Gardner does not view his findings and subsequent
theory as a panacea for all to adopt without question. In fact, in his recent publication, "Frames
of Mind, The Theory of Multiple Intelligences", tenth anniversary edition (New York: Basic
Books, 1993), Howard Gardner provides an entire chapter to critiquing his theories throughout
his book. NOTE: Since this presentation is not a "formal" research project, per se, a separate
bibliography will not be provided. Complete references for research contributions cited in this
presentation will be provided in Gardner's book (referenced above) unless otherwise noted.
Howard Gardner is Professor of Education and Co-director of Project Zero at Harvard
University. Hailed by educators throughout the world, Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences
has been applied in hundreds of classrooms and school districts since "Frames of Mind" was first
published in 1983 (as reported in "Frames of Mind", 1993).
Gardner's work has received tremendous support from such institutions as the Bernard
van Leer Foundation (Project Zero), the Medical Research Division of the Veterans
Administration, the Department of Neurology of Boston University School of Medicine, the
National Institiute of Neurological Diseases, Communication Disorders and Stroke, the Spencer
Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the National Institute of Education, and the MacArthur
Foundation.
Gardner rejects the notion that certain human abilities can be arbitrarily singled out to
qualify as an intelligence, while others cannot. That is to say that he refutes any implication that
dancers and chess players may be referred to as being talented, as opposed to being smart (on the
basis of just these two abilities): "In my view, it is fine to call music or spatial ability a talent, so
long as one calls language or logic a talent as well (p. xx)." It becomes evident that Gardner
believes in the concept of multiple intelligences (MI), as opposed to the definition of
intelligence as a single underlying construct initially theorized by first generation psychologists
such as Charles Spearman (1927), and widely adhered to today. The problem with previous
efforts to convincingly establish the concept of multiple intelligences has been that they have
been formulated using only one or two lines of evidence (e.g., logical analysis, educational
disciplines, intelligence testing, brain study, etc.).
Gardner's efforts in the construction of his MI theory is much more encompassing. His
studies have included prodigies, gifted individuals, brain-damaged patients, idiot savants [those
developmentally disabled individuals whose mental age, as defined by current IQ tests, are
extremely low, but who possess a high degree of some special ability], normal children, normal
adults, experts in different line of work, and individuals from diverse cultures.
2. The Seven Intelligences as postulated by Howard Gardner.
Linguistic Intelligence.
The core operations of language include, a sensitivity to the meaning of words, a
sensitivity to the order among words, at a somewhat more sensory level - a sensitivity to the
sounds, rhythms, inflections, and meters of words, a sensitivity to the different functions of
language, the rhetorical aspect of language, the mnemonic potential of language, the role of
language in explanation, and the potential of language to explain its own activities.
"While oral and written forms of language doubtless draw on some of the same
capacities, specific additional skills are needed to express oneself appropriately in writing. The
individual must learn to supply the context that spoken communication is evident from non-linguistic sources (like gestures, tone of voice, and the surrounding situations); one must be able
to indicate through words alone just what point one wishes to make (p. 95)." Interestingly,
Gardner's comments serve not only to emphasize necessary skills in the written form of
linguistics, but also to link an important competence, a partner, to its oral component - that of
bodily gestures - a competence which will be reviewed later as one of Gardner's separate
intelligences. In fact, as we now continue our examination of Gardner's works, it will become
increasingly clear that along each step of our journey, the skills associated with linguistic
intelligence will share many working relationships with those of other intelligences.
Musical Intelligence.
"Of all the gifts with which individuals may be endowed, none emerges earlier than
musical talent (p. 99)." Gardner notes that the principle constituent elements of music evoke
little dispute. They are "pitch" (also referred to as melody), and "rhythm" - those sounds which
emanate at certain auditory frequencies and are grouped according to a prescribed system.
Closely tied to these two elements in degree of importance is "timbre" - the characteristic
qualities of a tone. According to the twentieth-century American composer Roger Sessions,
"music is controlled movement of sound in time...it is made by humans who want it, enjoy it,
and even love it (p. 105)." Anyone who has been intimately associated with music can forbear to
mention its emotional properties of evocation. Even the renown Stravinski who once exclaimed
music as being powerless to express anything, later went on to recant, "Today I would put it the
other way around. Music expresses itself...(p.106)."
Gardner notes that the anthropologist Levi-Strauss is scarcely alone among scientists in
claiming that if we can explain music, we may find the key for all of human thought - or in
implying that failure to take music seriously weakens any account of the human condition.
Many composers such as Sessions, believe strongly in the ties between music and bodily
or gestural language. Stravinski has insisted that music must be "seen" to be properly
assimilated. Although the ties between music and spatial intelligence are less evident, Gardner
claims the relationship to be no less genuine. The psychologist Lauren Harris has evidenced the
strong dependence of which composers have on powerful spatial abilities which are required to
posit, appreciate, and revise the complex architectonic of a composition. The relationship
between musical performance and the "feeling life" of persons (personal intelligences) are
universally acknowledged both in the access to ones own feeling life (intrapersonal intelligence),
and in the ability to notice and make distinctions among other individuals (interpersonal
intelligence). According to Gardner, "Music can serve as a way of capturing feelings,
communicating them from the performer or the creator to the attentive listener (p.124)."
Gardner chose to save until last, that intellectual competence which he believes to be
most closely related to music - the mathematical sphere. He points out that the careful study of
music shared much with that of the application of mathematics, such as an interest in
proportions, special ratios, recurring patterns, and other detectable series such as the operation of
rhythms in musical work and a sensitivity to regularity and ratios that can sometimes be quite
complex. At a somewhat higher scale lies the appreciation of basic musical structures, and how
they can be repeated, transformed, embedded, or otherwise played off one against another.
Indeed, as Stravinsky comments: "[Musical form] is at any rate far closer to mathematics than to
literature...certainly to something like mathematical thinking and mathematical
relationships...Musical form is mathematical because it is ideal, and form is always
ideal...though it may be mathematical, the composer must not seek mathematical formula (p.
126)." Other mathematical applications are evidenced in the wake of "twelve-tone" music, and
more recently, the widespread use of computers.
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence.
In the course of logical-mathematical development, one proceeds from objects to
statements, from actions to the relations among actions, from the realm of the sensori-motor to
the realm of pure abstraction, ultimately to the heights of logic and science. Of prime
importance in mathematical prowess, is the ability to recognize significant problems, and the
ability to solve them.
Other traits include both inductive and deductive reasoning skills, and solving by
analogies, that is, the ability to solve one problem by "picking-out" another problem with similar
(or dissimilar) properties. Gardner refers to the striking commonalities among the energizing
ideas in areas like music, the visual arts, and mathematics as conveyed by Douglas Hofstadter in
his justifiably acclaimed "Godel, Escher, Bach" (p. 168).
Spatial Intelligence.
According to Gardner, the most elementary operation, upon which other aspects of
spatial intelligence rest, is the ability to perceive a form or an object. Being able to manipulate
the object with an appreciation of how it will be apprehended from another viewing angle, or its
visual presentation were it to be turned around is tantamount to full entry into the spatial realm,
for it demonstrates a manipulation through space. Thurstone believed that spatial ability could
be divided into three components: "...the ability to recognize the identity of an object when it is
seen from different angles; the ability to imagine movement or internal displacement among the
parts of a configuration; and the ability to think about those spatial relations in which the body
orientation of the observer is an essential part of the problem (p. 175)."
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence.
Characteristics of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (or bodily intelligence for short) as
defined by Gardner, include the ability to use one's body in highly differentiated and skilled
ways, for expressive as well as goal-directed purposes. another characteristic is the capacity to
work skillfully with objects, both those that involve the fine motor movements of one's fingers
and hands, as well as those that exploit gross motor movement of the body. Gardner treats these
two capacities as the cores of bodily intelligence. The divorce between the "mental" and the
"physical", as Gardner reports, is often associated with the notion that what we do with our
bodies is somehow less privileged, less special, than those problem-solving routines carried out
chiefly through the use of language, logic, or some other relatively abstract symbolic system.
However, psychologists in recent years have begun to stress a close link between the use of the
body and the deployment of other cognitive powers, as well as a discernable tendency to focus
on the cognitive facets as well as the neuropsychological basis of skilled body use, and a clear
trend to analogize thought processes with "sheer" physical skills.
Gardner notes (p. 229): "The fact that some individuals prove skilled at this kind of
learning, but that it is accorded a low priority, may help to explain why many promising young
performers and dancers in our culture become alienated from school at an early age."
The Personal Intelligences.
Gardner's theory of the personal intelligences can be illustrated by the perspectives of
two prominent psychological figures, Sigmund Freud and William James. Freud and James
represented stark differences in their views of the development of individuals and the cognitive
processes which unfold.
To integrate their ideologies into the framework of Gardner, Freud would espouse the
necessity for an individual to "access one's own feeling life" - one's range of affects or emotions;
the capacity instantly to effect discriminations among these feeling and, eventually, to label
them, to enmesh them in symbolic codes, to draw upon them as a means of understanding and
guiding one's behavior. This, of course, represents Gardner's core requirements for the
"intrapersonal intelligence". James, on the other hand, would emphasize the individual's "ability
to notice and make distinctions among other individuals," and in particular, among their moods,
temperaments, motivations, and intentions. This then, becomes the criteria for "interpersonal
intelligence".
Gardner (pp. 241, 254) points to the evidence that each of the two forms of personal
knowledge has its own characteristic neurological representation and pattern of breakdown, and
that the reason he chose for treating both intelligences together was chiefly expositional:
In the course of development, these two forms of knowledge are intimately
intermingled in any culture, with knowledge of one's own person perennially dependent
upon the ability to apply lessons learned from the observations of other people, while
knowledge of others draws upon the internal discriminations the individual routinely
makes....The less a person understands his own feelings, the more he will fall prey to
them. The less a person understands the feelings, the responses, and the behavior of
others, the more likely he will interact inappropriately with them and therefore fail to
secure his proper place within the larger community.
Having reviewed the seven intelligences of Gardner's MI theory, it may be of some
benefit at this point to provide a final synopsis in terms of their categorical relationships. Since
Gardner (p. 276) performed this function quite admirably, we will complete this task with his
rendition:
The "object-related" forms of intelligence - spatial, logical-mathematical,
bodily-kinesthetic - are subject to one kind of control; that actually exerted by the
structure and the functions of the particular objects with which individuals come into
contact. Were our physical universe structured differently, these intelligences would
presumably assume different forms. Our "object-free" forms of intelligence - language
and music - are not fashioned or channeled by the physical world but, instead, reflect the
structures of particular languages and musics. They may also reflect features of the
auditory and oral systems, though (as we have seen) language and music may each
develop, at least to some extent, in the absence of these sensory modalities. Finally, the
personal forms of intelligence reflect a set of powerful and competing constraints; the
existence of one's own person; the existence of other persons; the culture's presentations
and interpretations of selves. There will be universal features of an sense of person or
self, but also considerably cultural nuances, reflecting a host of historical and
individuating factors.
3. Applications of The Seven Intelligences to the performing arts domain.
A number of skills which Gardner put forth as his core operations for language, could be
perceived as having been identified with the performing arts in mind. We refer to those skills
more at the sensory level, such as, a sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, inflections, and meters of
words. In the areas of instrumental music and dance, in order for students to come to understand
the particular vocabulary of their craft, they must first exhibit basic linguistic knowledge.
The novice instrumentalist in a band, for example, does not just "read" music. He or she
must first "learn" to read music. In other words, the student does not simply observe a
pre-arranged number of music symbols (notes) on a piece of sheet music and acquire some
magical realization that this represents the "chromatic scale", a scale made up of thirteen
successive semitones of which eight represent diatonic tones and five are identifiable
intermediate tones. Rather, the student must initially have learned through instructive teaching,
a working knowledge of that definition - what are diatonic tones? What are intermediate tones?
In turn, the term "working knowledge" indicates that an understanding of the denotative
meaning alone is not sufficient, as one must develop a connotative appreciation of these
definitions as well. Finally, the student eventually must learn to extrapolate from this
knowledge base, and often perform expedient calculations of modification as a consequence of
the continual and timely instructions from the teacher, and then to convey to the teacher (through
both the performance and linguistic modes), the resultant product, This exact same principle
applies also to a student of dance...henceforth, to a member of a band or drum corps auxiliary or
to a member of a winterguard.
The role of musical intelligence in a music program is, of course, self evident. What is
particularly noteworthy and of considerable relevance, is the potential of the drum corps and
winterguard experience to significantly facilitate many of the attributes required for musical
competence. Certainly rhythm skills are enhanced by the processes described above. Similarly,
the assertion of Roger Sessions that music is "controlled movement" of sound in time can
certainly take on even greater meaning in a visual program of controlled movement. And what
of the "emotional" qualities, and of music's "expressive" capability as quoted by Stravinsky.
Then there are those, such as many of the composers including Sessions, who believe in strong
ties between music and bodily or gestural language. Stravinsky insisted that music must be
"seen" to be properly assimilated, and instructed his student to personally attend musical
performances and observe its "visual" aspects.
The psychologist Lauren Harris evidenced the strong dependence exhibited by composers
on spatial abilities required to posit, appreciate, and revise the complex architectonic of a
composition. Probably the most telling assertion regarding this relationship was cited by
Gardner, who professed that although the ties between music and spatial intelligence are less
evident, the relationship is no less genuine. Certainly the drum corps and winterguard
components bring into the light this covert connection, and serve to heighten and strengthen its
bonds.
And what about that intellectual competence which Gardner believes to be the most
related to music - the mathematical sphere. Recall, that as a result of his careful study of music,
Gardner found much that could be shared in the application of mathematics, such as an interest
in proportions, special ratios, recurring patterns, the operation of rhythms in musical work, a
sensitivity to regularity and ratios that can sometimes be quite complex, and the appreciation of
basic musical structures, and how they can re repeated, transformed, embedded, or otherwise
played off one against another. Then there are the mathematical relationships found in
twelve-tone music, and the increasingly widespread use of computers. All of this serves as
testimony that increasing one's music competence may very well serve to heighten the skills
associated with another intellectual competence - Logical-Mathematical Intelligence.
With the exception of twelve-tone music, the mathematical inclinations above are again
capable of being developed even further through the field marching and winterguard experience.
In a well developed program of complex visual field design, it is not difficult for the student to
associate (although the unsophisticated viewer may not appreciate) with intricate concepts such
as ratios, recurring patterns, rhythms, regularity, ratios, and structures. In addition to these
mathematical related concepts, computers also are being utilized more frequently in creating the
visual program. The field marching and winterguard experience however, provide even further
mathematical proclivities.
Such concepts as distance, interval, spacing, stride, and positioning not only require
mathematical computations, but in a visual presentation of ever changing symmetrical and
abstract forms, and of frequent changes in timing, tempo and rhythm, these computations may
need to be performed often, and require expedient resolution. In addition, at any given time, for
any given student, they may also mandate the immediate inclusion of adjustment variables. Add
to this the fact, that all the while these on-going visual calculations are being performed, the
instrumentalist also must be simultaneously concerned with performing a musical program, and
the auxiliary member must be intricately engaged in the skillful manipulation of objects in time
and space. Indeed, Gardner makes reference to the attributions inferred by mathematicians in
their evaluations of one who has been considered the greatest mathematician of the previous
generation - John von Neumann; "...the ability to size up an area and decide whether it harbors
interesting problems, the courage to take on difficult and seemingly intractable problems, and
the ability to think extremely rapidly (p. 142)."
It is worthwhile to identify once again, Gardner's account of psychometrician L.L.
Thurstone's delineation of spatial ability.
Thurstone himself divided spatial ability into three components: the ability to
recognize the identity of an object when it is seen from different angles; the ability to
imagine movement or internal displacement among the parts of a configuration; and the
ability to think about those spatial relations in which the body orientation of the observer
is an essential part of the problem.
All three of Thurstone's components represents abilities very much nurtured through the
experience one gains in a field marching band, in a drum and bugle corps, and in a winterguard.
One first learns in the mind to visualize the object (be it inanimate or another person or group of
persons) from all perspectives, to conceptualize the object as it moves, disperses, and
re-connects to provide a new form or pattern, and finally to perceive one's body orientation as an
integral part of the production. Note Thurstone's last component. Not only does a member of
any of these performing arts units have to "think" about one's body orientation as part of the
problem, but in addition, the student must "actively" involve one's body orientation in this
process. This incredible feat of three dimensional spatial orientation of the self not only
provides for demonstrating spatial competence in self inclusion from the perspective of mental
imagery, but it allows for oneself to be physically fused in the time and space continuum. To
understand this concept better, "imagine" the difference between viewing a computer game as it
appears on the monitor, and being a part of the game within the computer.
One may say with a reasonable degree of accuracy, that the "competitive field marching"
aspect of the band and drum corps, and the "competitive floor performance" aspect of the
winterguard, are in and as of themselves, prima facie evidence of bodily kinesthesia. It is the
connotative implications of the term "competitive" by which we legitimize "prima facie"
evidence. Getting out of bed in the morning, showering, getting dressed, combing hair, and
walking to school, are all bodily-kinesthetic functions. However, these examples of bodily
control and movement are, all things being equal, developmental endowments which we all
inherit at birth (and actually before). It is in this sense that we refer to these illustrations of
bodily-kinesthesia as those which exemplify "basic" skills. This is a very important point, since
truth be known, these everyday functions require skills which are anything but basic, as they
mandate complex and critical coordination of the neurological, physiological, physical, and
mental systems. For purposes here however, since it is assumed that from the moment of birth
we will all perform the aforementioned functions at prescribed stages in our developmental
growth (again, all things being equal), and further, since it is also assumed that we will be able
to accomplish these feats with little, if any, specialized training, we henceforth apply the term
"basic".
Playing a musical instrument results in the development of some additional abilities of
bodily control. These include the embouchure (shaping of mouth or lips through the inflection
of corresponding muscles) to produce exact pitch, rhythm, and timbre in wind instrument; fine
motor control of the fingers for manipulating wind and string instruments in order to attain
specific notes and timing; diaphragm control to regulate air dispersement for wind instruments;
and rhythmic movements of the body in order to "feel the music." All these functions require
special training to develop skills beyond those to which we have referred as basic.
When a "non-competitive field" marching band or drum corps and an auxiliary
component is introduced, the capacity for increasing bodily-kinesthetic competence becomes
even more evident. Parading down the street while playing musical instruments and spinning
flags, would now require skills in addition to those required to play a musical instrument.
Prescribed positioning of different parts of the body, prescribed manipulation of object (to
include musical instruments as object themselves), prescribed rhythmic movement in a precise,
coordinated and timely manner, prescribed posture (in addition to that which is necessary in
simply playing an instrument), and the simultaneous coordination of all these functions in a
prescribed manner (to include, of course, those skills perpetrated in the actual playing of a
musical instrument), are all bodily gestures involving skills which will require still further
specialized training.
It is the "competitive factor" however, which will truly act as a catalyst for the potential
to increase all the above mentioned skills, and those which will now emerge and develop, to
exceedingly high levels. This phenomenon can be likened to the difference between observing
an individual who is ice-skating for fun, and one who is ice-skating in competition. Although
one may not be able to explain in words all the nuances associated with the performance of the
competitive skater, one nonetheless is undoubtedly able to perceive the much higher level of
skill presentation. And do not confuse the cause and effect ordering of this relationship.
Although it may seem logical to perceive the ice-skating competition as a by-product of those
individuals possessing high level skills in this art form, it makes much more sense to think of it
the other way around, for if there were no competitive factor, it is highly unlikely that these
individuals would have developed such high level bodily-kinesthetic abilities, since the
specialized training needed for their development would simply not be needed.
The "competitive factor" of the field marching band and drum corps, and the
"competitive factor" of the winterguard, likewise provide the stimuli for developing high level
skills in bodily competence through specialized training.
Gardner notes however, that the body is, in fact, more than just a machine, and is
distinguishable from the artificial objects of the world. The body is also a vehicle of one's sense
of self, transporting the individual's feelings and aspirations. and it is an entity to which another
responds in a prescribed manner from the very beginning of its existence. Eventually, the
manner by which others view an individual will have profound implications as to the manner by
which one view oneself. Likewise, this sense of self (intrapersonal intelligence), which is
subject to perpetual modification due to the changing inputs of others, will come to influence
and eventually reflect one's thoughts and behavior on the environment from the people within it
(interpersonal intelligence).
From the multitude of information and examples presented thus far, it is again believed
that the reader should have gained some further perceptual insight with respect to the field
marching and winterguard experiences, now in terms of their contributive role in the
development and facilitation of the intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences. "Mutual
dependence", "comradery", and "team-ness" are concepts which take on significant proportions
for music students, from which whom are required in the partaking of such multi-faceted, yet
closely knit learning endeavors, to demonstrate high levels of attainment in a multitude of skills
associated with the various domains of intelligence. After demonstrating proficiency in each of
the required skills, these students must then simultaneously coordinate them in a critically
balanced and timely manner so as to aspire to a masterful presentation of a performing arts
production. Notice that each of the above terms connote the building blocks of "personal
relationships".
4. Conclusion and implications for a revised image and marketing strategies.
I hope that in this significantly reduced version of my original report, I have at least
imparted some small semblance of the vast implications of Gardner's works...and of the possible
ramifications it may hold for drum corps and winterguard. It is of paramount importance that
we all remember that the above information does not simply represent personal opinions, such as
those we frequently post on RAMD (although I have obviously made some inferences based on
this information). Rather it presents scientific evidence that children, adolescents and young
adults who are exposed to drum corps may benefit tremendously in terms of their intellectual
development. Although there are many activities which facilitate any number of intelligences,
the competitive field marching band and drum corps, and the competitive winterguard serve to
facilitate all seven...to often considerable levels. As the assistant director of the Blue Devils 'C'
Corps, and later as the director of the organization's 'B' Corps, I have observed many examples of
such intellectual growth. Additionally, I have witnessed this phenomenon with my own two
children who have been in drum corps and winterguard for 9 years.
We now have a valuable tool for reshaping and re-educating the public's image of drum
corps. No longer is it to be viewed as simply an extracurricular activity to be allowed for young
children so long as it does not interfere with their grades in school. Is your child having
difficulties with linguistics or math...enroll him/her in drum corps/winterguard. Is he withdrawn
or unable to relate well with others...enroll him in drum corps. Does he experience physical
coordination difficulties...enroll him in drum corps. Is it difficult for him to perceptually
visualize his physical environment...enroll him in drum corps. Would you simply desire a
program to best help your child facilitate growth in the broad spectrum of competencies...enroll
him in drum corps. And to those who might espouse that this is still theory, my response would
be that every learning model that we have ever been (or presently are) exposed to in the
academic setting or otherwise, has been predicated on some theory. I believe this one
commands great merit.
The marketing strategy, although complex in its delivery, is quite simple in concept. Get
the word out. Present such "scientific" evidence to school officials, to the PTA and other parent'
groups, to civic organizations, and to as many other public domains as necessary in order t bring
the benefits of drum corps and winterguard into the public light. Those of us more
knowledgeable in drum corps may have our differences in its mode of operations, in its
direction, and as to how it should evolve technically. However, I believe we all share the
common belief in drum corps and winterguard as important and meaningful mediums in the
world of performing arts...and beyond. We now have evidence of their even greater
contributions.