Great post Neil.

To me you learn how to teach and rehearse from every teacher in almost any subject you have had. You can learn how to teach flams and scales from a great teacher you had who taught physics and only ever played the radio in their entire life. I know i have learned a lot about how I want to teach from teachers who i felt were NOT good teachers. I learned how not to make a connection with students and how to easily turn someone off to the information you have give. The aforementioned competitive circuits are great for learning how to play, learning dedication, and bla bla bla. But it does not make you a good teacher. You can know the mechanics of playing and have amazing chops on a marching, a set, and a keyboard but still be a bad teacher. Teaching is a lot more than just chops and marching experience.

Competeing certainly adds validation from "our" community but you don't have to compete to be "legit". Honestly i think anyone going around using that terminology is not yet ready to be a teacher and have a very closed mind about music and what it is we do. For me at the end of the day its not about flam drags and C Maj.7 #11, its about teaching life skills. The fact is most of the students we see will never have call to use their music knowldge and skill at age 30+. But they will remember we taught them accountability, committment to something larger than self, what it means to truly be a team player and most of all how a well rounded adult(you the instructor) conducts themselves. I try to make an impact on my kids. I flat out tell them that what we do at the end of the day is just a hobby and it means nothing if you can't take care of yourself and your family.

I agree with you Bill...to an extent. I think you can learn just as much in a college drumline as you can in DCI or WGI, however, I really think it depends on the college line. I know when I was in college we were putting 12 snares, 7 tenors, and 9 bass drums on the field while trying to learn a new show each week. We simply didn't care enough about trying to clean things. We just needed to learn music and drill and how to play over 300 horns. Plus, we had 4-5 corps represented in the line. If a guy just finished a summer with Cadets then we weren't going to take the time to match his technique with guy who just finished up with Devs.

Personally, I learned more in DCI. I was fortunate to be around some good techs and soaked up everything I could. In college we just didn't take the time to fix a minute detail like we did in corps. During the summer I was able to observe different approaches on how to fix the little things that made big differences.

That being said, I've taught along some great people over the years that never marched DCI, WGI, or college. I've also taught along some guys who marched numerous years but can't teach.