As winter comes to an end, winter percussion is ramping up.

“It’s a competition where all groups come together to compete in gyms and do it for a smaller crowd and it focuses on precession mainly. We have band members that come and play sometimes like brass players, and it’s a really fun experience, but it is a big mentality game. You have to memorize everything, or it won’t go well,” sophomore Evan Ruse said.

Practice makes perfect

“So we actually have three practices this week. This is our final day, and then we have an hour Saturday, and we basically will go over everything that we’re going to play. We try to make sure that the music is the best we can play,” Ruse said.

Competitions are important because they show growth within the band.

“Winter percussion is important to Greenwood because we have always had a strong group of people in percussion. Competing in winter percussion helps us showcase our talents better and up close. We have practices every other day and on Saturdays, and those practices can be 2 and a half hours to 6 hours long,” sophomore Sydney Branch said. 

There are typically one or two competitions every few months.

“Anyone in winter percussion should be practicing every day for our shows. There is choreography and stick tricks and so much to remember than just the music and where to march. Practicing every day helps us maintain our skill and helps us memorize what we have to do next when performing,” Branch said.

By practicing every single day, percussion students show major growth between competitions.

“It’s important to me to practice every single day because it shows that I’m getting better, and it also shows that I care enough about this to want to put in the work inside and out of the classroom,” freshman Oliver Coss said.

Hard work pays off.

“I might need to work on helping me get better when practicing, my favorite way to prepare is to run through it with others, who are also struggling with certain things. Students should be practicing every single day for hours,” Coss said.

By focusing on one thing at a time, students find it easier to be productive in multiple things.

“To show the most improvement in your skills really comes from practicing outside of school. You would have to do that at least two hours a day after school. I try to get my hands moving and really focus on not messing up,” Ruse said.