Standard Of Excellence Book 1 Percussion

Working With Standard Of Excellence Book 1 Percussion

I first ran into Standard Of Excellence Book 1 Percussion around 2009 when a school district adopted it for their introductory wind ensemble program. The books sit on a rack, get dog-eared, and students generally tolerate them. That's about as exciting as it gets. What matters is whether the pedagogical structure actually holds up when you're trying to teach someone to read rhythm while simultaneously figuring out which drumstick to hold. The percussion volume covers basic mallet technique, snare drum rudiments, timpani fundamentals, and introductory percussion instrumentation. It progresses from single-note strikes to basic stickings, then layers in rudiment vocabulary. The layout is clean and the engraving is adequate. The music itself is functional rather than inspiring. You'll find mostly etudes and simplified arrangements, with some original exercises mixed in. Here's the thing most instructors miss on day one. The book assumes you can teach snare and mallet percussion simultaneously to beginners, but those are two completely different motor skill sets. Snare requires wrist control and rebound awareness. Mallets require independent hand movement and grip consistency. Trying to develop both at the same rate in the first eight weeks tends to produce sloppy technique on at least one instrument. I solved this by splitting my class. The first month, half the students work exclusively on snare while the other half works on mallets, then we swap. The book doesn't tell you to do this. It presents both tracks as parallel options you're supposed to manage alone.

The timpani section starts earlier than I think is practical. Book 1 introduces timpani tuning and basic pedal technique before most beginners have developed reliable reading skills for pitched notation. I usually defer actual timpani playing until week six or seven and spend those early lessons building note-reading confidence on snare and mallets. When I've had students attempt the early timpani exercises without that foundation, they spend more time reading than playing and never develop a consistent pedal stroke. One specific problem I ran into repeatedly involves the mallet grip exercises in the first dozen pages. The book introduces the traditional grip before the French grip, which works fine for snare but creates confusion on vibraphone and marimba because the transition between grips feels arbitrary to a beginner. I flip the order. French grip on mallets first, establish a consistent hand position, then introduce traditional grip for snare-specific passages. It takes maybe twenty minutes of adjustment and prevents three weeks of confused hand positions.

Standard Of Excellence Book 1 Percussion: What It Does and Doesn't Do

The series is strong on incremental progression. Each lesson builds on the previous one with minimal jump cuts. The rhythm exercises use visual spacing effectively, and the stickings are generally notated clearly. The accompaniment tracks from the accompanying CD or digital audio are useful for developing ensemble awareness, though the recordings themselves are serviceable at best. Where the book underdelivers is in actual percussion repertoire. The pieces included are functional classroom material, not music you'd want to perform publicly. If your program cares about recital quality or competition preparation, you'll need supplemental material from the start. I pair the method book with simpler literature from composers like John Williams or arrangement books from series like Band World Classics to give students something they're actually proud to play. The rudiment progression follows a standard curriculum: single strokes, double strokes, paradiddles, and flams. This is conventional and appropriate for the level. However, the book introduces the flam at a point where many students still struggle with basic stick control. A flam requires near-simultaneous strike timing, which is difficult when you're still developing consistent height and rebound. I move the flam introduction later and spend additional time on double strokes first. The book's sequence is defensible but not optimal.

There's also a notable gap in snare drum technique coverage. The book doesn't address hand height variation, dynamic control through grip pressure, or the difference between stroke height and sound production until much later. A student following the book exactly will reach the intermediate sections with correct sticking patterns but inconsistent tone quality. I fill this gap with simple exercises focused on playing the same pattern at different dynamic levels while maintaining even stick height. It's about ten minutes of warm-up work and makes a measurable difference in ensemble sound. If you're evaluating this method for a new program, here's what you need to know. It's solid for a classroom setting with limited prep time. The lesson structure is pre-planned, the exercises are graded appropriately, and the pacing matches a typical school semester. But it's not comprehensive. You will supplement it. Budget two to three extra pieces per unit for repertoire, plan grip sequencing adjustments for mallet players, and expect to spend additional time on snare tone development that the book glosses over. The book gets students from zero to competent in six months. It doesn't make them excellent. Nothing at that level does without outside work.