Dr. Nave and her Philosophy of Percussion Education
A Brief Bio of Dr. Nave
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DR. PAMELA J. NAVE serves as Purdue Bands’ percussion instructor and its Associate Professor of Bands and Orchestras. She formerly served on the band’s faculty at Ball State University, where she completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Percussion Performance. Following her undergrad degree, Dr. Nave opened a percussion studio in Indianapolis, Indiana for three years. She then went back to Ball State as a Graduate Assistant and received two more degrees: one in Music Education and one in Percussion Performance. Dr. Nave completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at The Ohio State University. At OSU, she won the graduate concerto competition as a marimba soloist, adding to a long list of academic honors that includes being a two-time recipient of BSU’s James L. Lane Percussion Award and the winner of BSU’s Concerto Competition. Also at OSU, Dr. Nave was awarded the Graduate Associate Teaching Award, which is only given to ten graduate students out of the 2600 graduate students in each class. Between degrees, Nave, a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, performed as a freelance percussionist in Orchestras and Community Concert Bands throughout Indiana.
She began her career with Purdue University Bands and Orchestras in 1999, and has been a figurehead in the department and the Big Ten ever since. In 2008, she was appointed Director of “All State Marimba and Percussion Ensemble” for the Indiana Music Educators National Conference, and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society. Dr. Nave is also the percussion section leader for the Lafayette Citizens Band and is on the community band’s Advisory Board. To this date, she remains the only female percussion director in D1 athletics. Dr. Nave’s current duties with the Purdue University Bands and Orchestras Department include Director of all Percussion Studies (a studio of ~110 percussion students), Assistant Director of the Marching Band, Drumline Instructor, Operations Advisor, and private percussion instructor. As of June 2020, Dr. Nave also serves as the treasurer of Purdue’s chapter of Pi Kappa Pi, an academic honors fraternity on campus. She is also very dedicated to her wife, Courtney, her three children, Parker, Johnathon, and Charlotte, their cat Casper, and their dog Gustov Holst Gus Gus Spartacus D.R. Nave. |
My Philosophy of Percussion Education
By Dr. Pamela J. Nave
My ideal thought of percussion education lies with a totalization philosophy in percussion. The student will have a firm foundation in technique on all instruments — simultaneously, they may pursue higher levels of musicianship on a single instrument.
A totalization approach offers students the opportunity to emphasize one instrument while still covering traditional percussion instruments. If carefully designed and implemented, this may prove to be an effective approach to the curriculum for the 21st century. Several traditional areas of percussion need to remain in all undergraduate curricula. I believe that the study of traditional percussion instruments such as snare drum, cymbals, keyboard instruments, timpani, etc., and the “auxiliary instruments” should be included in every undergraduate curriculum. Percussionists at Purdue University should be expected to possess basic technique and knowledge of the literature on these instruments. The mastery of these instruments is important not only to promote percussionists’ professional knowledge, but also because all areas of percussion relate to one another as “one big matrix” (interview with Michael Udow, 2001). To be a true percussionist, I believe it is important to have an understanding and appreciation of all areas of percussion.
I also believe that students should have a basic knowledge of Latin and African instruments and styles. These instruments and styles are written into contemporary music, ranging from percussion ensembles to orchestral works, from concert band music to drum and bugle corps arrangements — so a competent percussionist should know how to handle them. Additionally, a percussionist playing in a large ensemble or in musical theatre may encounter contemporary orchestral and concert band composers such as David Gillingham, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Frank Ticheli, and Libby Larson. These composers expect percussionists in the ensemble will be capable of playing music for any percussion instrument. The average professional percussionist will face these situations at some point in his or her career and must have the training to handle them.
I believe that how soon and the degree to which a student should specialize is different for every student. If a student enters my percussion studio and cannot read keyboard music, they will study xylophone and marimba until they gain basic reading competency technique, regardless of their wishes for specialization, for the reasons mentioned in the paragraph above. On the contrary, if a student enters my studio and proves their competency in the basic areas of percussion, I will allow them to emphasize a favorite instrument. I have found that students have more motivation if they are allowed a measure of control in choosing the direction of their education, whether this means selecting which instrument to emphasize or which solo to play on the instrument I have dictated. In general, undergraduates will spend their first year or two developing their proficiency in the basics. But when the case arises that a talented underclassman wants to focus on one instrument, I feel ethically obligated to provide the opportunity for him or her to do so, with the support of my knowledge and teaching skills.
Regardless of what talent you enter the music/band program with, you will leave Purdue University with knowledge regarding several facets of the percussion world. My hope is that you, as a percussionist, may continue your playing and performing within the communities in which you live.
A totalization approach offers students the opportunity to emphasize one instrument while still covering traditional percussion instruments. If carefully designed and implemented, this may prove to be an effective approach to the curriculum for the 21st century. Several traditional areas of percussion need to remain in all undergraduate curricula. I believe that the study of traditional percussion instruments such as snare drum, cymbals, keyboard instruments, timpani, etc., and the “auxiliary instruments” should be included in every undergraduate curriculum. Percussionists at Purdue University should be expected to possess basic technique and knowledge of the literature on these instruments. The mastery of these instruments is important not only to promote percussionists’ professional knowledge, but also because all areas of percussion relate to one another as “one big matrix” (interview with Michael Udow, 2001). To be a true percussionist, I believe it is important to have an understanding and appreciation of all areas of percussion.
I also believe that students should have a basic knowledge of Latin and African instruments and styles. These instruments and styles are written into contemporary music, ranging from percussion ensembles to orchestral works, from concert band music to drum and bugle corps arrangements — so a competent percussionist should know how to handle them. Additionally, a percussionist playing in a large ensemble or in musical theatre may encounter contemporary orchestral and concert band composers such as David Gillingham, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Frank Ticheli, and Libby Larson. These composers expect percussionists in the ensemble will be capable of playing music for any percussion instrument. The average professional percussionist will face these situations at some point in his or her career and must have the training to handle them.
I believe that how soon and the degree to which a student should specialize is different for every student. If a student enters my percussion studio and cannot read keyboard music, they will study xylophone and marimba until they gain basic reading competency technique, regardless of their wishes for specialization, for the reasons mentioned in the paragraph above. On the contrary, if a student enters my studio and proves their competency in the basic areas of percussion, I will allow them to emphasize a favorite instrument. I have found that students have more motivation if they are allowed a measure of control in choosing the direction of their education, whether this means selecting which instrument to emphasize or which solo to play on the instrument I have dictated. In general, undergraduates will spend their first year or two developing their proficiency in the basics. But when the case arises that a talented underclassman wants to focus on one instrument, I feel ethically obligated to provide the opportunity for him or her to do so, with the support of my knowledge and teaching skills.
Regardless of what talent you enter the music/band program with, you will leave Purdue University with knowledge regarding several facets of the percussion world. My hope is that you, as a percussionist, may continue your playing and performing within the communities in which you live.
