Unified Drumline

Maine South High School, Park Ridge, Illinois

Description

We created our school’s first ever Unified Drumline that combined students in our life skills programs with our marching band. We performed at the all-school homecoming assembly and at the homecoming football game for the community. With the Unified Drumline up front on floor toms, the band accompanied their performance to 3 short tunes that showcased their new drumming skills. The football crowd sounded more like they were at a symphony audience during the performance because they were in awe of the music being made and then erupted into cheers at the end!

Objectives

The goal of the project was to make our band performances more inclusive to our entire school population. We wanted to truly show that “Music for All” includes students with learning disabilities. The hidden outcome of this joint effort was how much the students leaders gained from working with these new band members and the friendship bonds that were made and carried beyond on rehearsals.

Target Audience

This project really effected everyone involved at all points of the process from the participating students to everybody in the audience. First the Marching Band members learned how to lead and include others in their performance. Many friends were made along the way that continued throughout the year well past the rehearsals and performances. As a teacher, I learned the benefits of including others and was impressed with power music can have on people. Finally, the parents, admin, and community members in the audience at the assembly and football game were blown away by the performance. They saw a group of students who are not normally celebrated instead shine on the 50 yard line in front of a crowd of 1000’s. The powerful performance brought tears to many eyes and the impact of inclusive music was felt.

Timeline

At the beginning of the school year, I met with the lead teacher in the special education department and a student leader to talk about how we could make this dream a reality and make a plan for rehearsals and performances. We picked out 3 short stand tunes that the marching band already knew how to play and made accessible unison drum parts to teach to the Unified Drumline members. We also ordered t-shirts for the Unified Drumline that matched the front of the traditional Marching Band Shirts but had a special logo for the Unified Drumline on the back. Over the course of four 30-minute rehearsals, the Unified Drumline members worked with buddies from the Marching Band Drumline to learn how to hold the sticks, play the drum, keep a steady beat, and learned a short routine to each prerecorded song. The final rehearsal included 30 wind players to model what it’s like playing with live musicians instead of a recording. Our first performance was at the all-school homecoming assembly the entire performance took less than 5 minutes to set up the floor toms for the 18 Unified Drumline members and play all 3 songs with the entire marching band accompanying them. Our second and final performance was at halftime of the homecoming football game. We went onto the field and perform our set once again for the community.

Overview of Planning and Execution

Myself and the lead special education teacher were the main adults involved. Together we spent 3 months planning and executing the performance. We also were helped by 6-8 adult teacher assistances who aided in one-on-one situations with students they were work all day in each class. We had 12 student leaders who play percussion in the marching band partner up with 18 Unified Drumline members. Together they rehearsed 4 times over the span of 2 weeks. Finally, we performed with the 150 person marching band at both performances.

Tools and Resources

We had the full Marching Band make a couple quick rough recordings of the stand tunes that the Unified Drumline could rehearse to. Between the high schools instruments and drumline members bringing in gear from home, we had enough floor toms for everybody to have their own drum to play on. We discovered rubber floor dots (used in gym class) made the perfect dampener/drum pad to put on the drums. It allowed the drums to still be heard without overpowering the room. The heights of the drums were able to be adjusted for the physical needs of each performer including students in wheelchairs. A few students were aided by adding a foam grip made out of a small pool noodle to help grasp the stick. Guidance, inspiration, and mentorship from the teachers and organizers of the King Cobras (The Rosemont Cavaliers Inclusive Drumline) was paramount in creating this project.

Marketing and Promotion

We made t-shirts that had matching fronts to the traditional shirt the marching band always wears but had a special logo on the back for the Unified Drumline. This made the performance more professional and inclusive since the Unified Drumline members looked more like the marching band. We posted about the progress of project on our social media and included a final video of the performances. This widened the reach of our performance.

Costs

$352 for 20 t-shirts.

Challenges/Obstacles

At first, we wrote out large color-coded music that was similar to traditional music notation but after our first rehearsal we quickly learned that it wasn’t helpful due to many students struggling to track along on the music visually. Instead, rote teaching was the way to go! After some time struggling with random playing and having a hard time communicating with a large group, we learned a great method to stop all the extra music making. To avoid extra sound during undesired times, we made an X with our sticks above our heads to signal it’s time to stop playing.

Success/Effectiveness Measurement

We attempted to advocate for the opportunity for all students to get the chance to create music. Our observation of smiles, cheers, and hugs gave us all the data we needed to show that we accomplished this mission. It was so successful, we are making it into an annual tradition to include the Unified Drumline at one game each year.

Community Impact

I thought the main impact would be on the students from our life skills program and how they learned to play drums. They did have a great experience, learned a lot, and had a lot fun but it was my band members that got the biggest impact from the project. They learned how to be inclusive, how to be joyful, and how to do something for others. Our community gained an appreciation for this part of our student body and had the opportunity to celebrate them. I continued to share our story during sessions at conferences like the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and the Illinois Music Educators Conference. I hope it will inspire other schools to do the same thing.

Advice for others?

Just do it! Don’t wait for somebody to ask you. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your special education department. Don’t be scared to try something new. This is an easy performance to put together that will have a profound impact on your students, program, school, and community.

2025 Student Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention Award Recipient
1-3 Months
Grades 9-12
6-10 Adults
$100-$500
Students

Supporting Materials