Okay here is the deal. The winterline I’m in did really well last year (we won states and got moved up a class), and we had a good feeling about this year seeing as how last year went. However, this year there is no motivation, a good portion of the line either expects us to get everything handed to us like it was last year or that we just aren’t going to do well. Now I really don’t have room to try and order the line around because I’m not a section leader, but I was wondering if there is anything you guys suggest doing so that we can become motivated and have a few productive practices before states this weekend and worlds shortly after that.

give them the old what separates the good line from a bad line speech ( a good line practices a part until they get it right...a great line practices a part until they cannot get it wrong.)

we've had speeches like that. so i'm not sure if it will work, because what people, alumni, staff, people in the line, have said before hasn't really gotten into their heads.

it seems to me as if they just dont care if we have a good season and then when we dont have a good season they complain. thats whats mostly getting to me and a ton of other people. i dont quite know how to motivate them, well mostly my section to want to have a great end to the season.

I have a problem with motivation. But it has to do more so with writing. I have had a solid writers block for about two weeks now. Any suggestions to help a struggling writer with his problem? I need to Finish a cadence for next year and so far i have a good start. And then you can tell where I get the Block. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

my best advice would be to go and listen to other groups ... see what they are playing, see what sounds cool and try to get something from that. other than that the only other thing i can think of is to just wait ... stuff will come to you

Yeah. Thats what people keep telling me. But after 2 months i have lost all ideas. I guess its more-so a waiting game now. Untill i find that one thing that helps me out.

This sucks. I need to get over this!!

P.S. Thanks.

Find the least motivated, whiniest person in the line. Ask them why they're there, and what their goals were for the season. Did they reach them? Why or why not? Is there anything that they, as an individual, could do better? Anything they could do to help reach their goals so that all of the time and effort that everyone put in won't go to waste?

Motivation doesn't come from someone preaching to them. It comes from the individual. Otherwise, it will always be someone else's problem. Each individual in the line needs to take responsibility and make the decision to make the rest of your season go well. And the first step to that is for everyone to start changing what THEY have been doing wrong instead of complaining about the staff, student leaders, etc. It's all about accountability. It's a cliche, but it's true - if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

You go Patty! Give the least motivated person responsibility for making others better. Put the pressure on that person.

Okay thanks guys....

our Instructor finially said something about motivation ... and he told us all to make goals for what we want after we walk off the floor in Dayton, i think that is what we really needed.

Good Luck in Dayton!

I agree good luck!

Thanks!!!! good luck to you too if you are going to dayton or what not.

first off... i had the same problem with my line last year. i was only a sophomore... but the actual section leader was a senior. i took him aside and told him i could help and that i had ideas... just talk to him first off.

second... when practicing your music... think of what you actually did or how you thought of it to get it right... and use that in teaching the rest of people.

another thing is occasionally i like to bring like some blue devils dvds to school and watch it with them... or tell them to go to vicfirth.com... good stuff

okay well i hope that helped... keep asking questions there's some really nice people on this site

Our drumline has motivaton but i think a little to much of it and i think going to world this week being over confident isnt such a good idea what do you think

being confident is always good to a certain extent. as long as they aren't cocky or mean to other lines you should be okay. but as far as confidence goes, you never want to go into a competition thinking you're going to loose, because you will loose if you think that way.

bottom line is... its good to be confident, not cocky
happy drumming

I have to agree with being confident is somewhat of a good thing. you have to be confident that you are going to have a good show. even if it isnt happening

but if you are over confident, that can almost be as bad as not being confident at all.

To expand on the good/great line idea:
One of the things my Choir Director (the best) does to motivate us is to sort of warn us of overconfidence. He lets us know that we've done a great job, then informs us that we're in danger of thinking we've got it, and relaxing too much. That's when performance flops; you don't want to peak too early.
Let them know that they're in danger of losing whatever it is that made them great, keep them on their toes, and always raise the bar, ever so slightly; low enough to reach for, yet high enough to demand some effort. After all, success is a journey, not destination, right?