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DR. PAMELA J. NAVE serves as Purdue Bands’ percussion instructor and is Associate Director of Bands. Formerly on the bands faculty at Ball State University, she 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 it to a list of undergraduate honors at Ball State that includes being a two-time recipient of the James L. Lane Percussion Award and 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 that attend The Ohio State University. Between degrees, Nave, a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, operated a private percussion studio in Noblesville and performed as a freelance percussionist throughout Indiana. She was appointed Director of "All State Marimba and Percussion Ensemble" for the Indiana Music Educators National Conference in 2008 and is also a member Percussive Arts Society. Dr. Nave's duties at Purdue University Bands are Director of all Percussion Studies, assistant director of marching band, drumline instructor, Gold and Black Sound director, Collegiate Band, Tau Beta Sigma Sponsor, Operations Advisor, and private percussion instructor.
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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 option 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 Michael Udow referred to when speaking of percussion as “one big matrix” (Interview 2001). To understand percussion, I believe it 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, and 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 students enter my percussion studio as freshmen 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 freshmen enter my studio and prove 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 student 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.
Here at Purdue University, with whatever talent you came in to the music/band program, you will leave with the knowledge of 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 option 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 Michael Udow referred to when speaking of percussion as “one big matrix” (Interview 2001). To understand percussion, I believe it 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, and 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 students enter my percussion studio as freshmen 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 freshmen enter my studio and prove 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 student 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.
Here at Purdue University, with whatever talent you came in to the music/band program, you will leave with the knowledge of 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.
