A high school drumline is a musical ensemble made up of marching percussionists in grades nine through twelve. Drumline members usually perform as part of a larger marching band, but they may also perform as a separate group for showcases and competitions. When part of a larger ensemble, they usually serve as the metronome, keeping the other musicians in time, but some members of a high school drumline play melodic instruments like the glockenspiel.
When marching, high school drumline musicians most commonly use snare drums, base drums, toms or quads, and cymbals, and these instruments make up the battery, or marching section, of the drumline. However, some members of high school drumlines do not march. They are members of the “front ensemble” or “pit,” which is so named because the front ensemble members are in front of the other performers and close to the audience during a performance. These musicians use instruments like traditional xylophones and timpani, which are difficult to move around a performance space. When a drumline performs in a parade, there is no front ensemble because every member of the drumline must march.
The size of a high school drumline is determined the size of the high school that supports it. It’s not uncommon for a marching band to have at least 200 members in a large school. These schools’ drumlines can have up to 25 members. In a small school, one drumline member per drumline instrument may be the norm. The principal snare player, regardless of size, is perhaps the most important drumline member, as drum majors communicate with the principal snare player to set tempo and cue specific pieces or cadences.
Uniformity is an important aspect of any drumline, high school or otherwise. Members of the drumline, out of all the members of a marching band, are the most visible to the audience because they must frequently make larger physical movements in order to play their instruments. Players of cymbals, for example, may open their arms wide to prepare for a cymbal crash. Members of a high school drumline, for example, pay close attention to their mallet grips and sequences. The audience notices this uniformity and the fact that the members of the drumline seem to “click” when their hard work pays off.