First All-Female Drumline
Finally, some sisters get some drumline love! Girl Scout Troupe 6087 in Allentown, PA have formed the nation’s first all-girl drumline and are getting ready to take on indoor competition.
Calling themselves the Percussion Patrol, the cookie-slingers get together every Sunday and sling grooves under the direction of Don Amig. It’s about time they show those all-male corps that the gender gap swings both ways.
They are still accepting members, so if you’re a girl age 14-18 in the Allentown, PA area, call 610-349-7251 or e-mail percworx@ptd.net.
Source: The Morning Call
Donald Amig waved his drumsticks like batons before tapping out a rhythm on the edge of a table.
A row of teenage girls, clad in jeans with pink toenails peeking out from their flip-flops and hair tied back in ponytails, stood before an assortment of drums, drumsticks ready.
At Amig’s cue, the room reverberated with sound as the girls began beating a syncopated rhythm on the assortment of snares and bass drums in the Lehigh Valley Girl Scout Service Center in Allentown.
Every Sunday, a dozen girls in Girl Scout Troop 6087, also know as the Percussion Patrol, get together to learn drumming techniques on percussion instruments ranging from marimbas to xylophones. They are the first drumline in the Girl Scouts and hope to become the first all-female competitive indoor drumline in the country.
Officials at the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania are hoping special interest patrols like the Percussion Patrol will draw more girls into scouting. Canoeing, clowning and alpacas are the other special-interest patrols offered by the council.
”It’s a new venture for the Girl Scouts,” says Amig, who started the patrol in September. ”I thought we could get girls who are not already in scouting interested with something different, and the council agrees.”
As Amig explains a complicated rhythm to the girls on a recent Sunday, 15-year-old Katelyn Schumaker of Hamburg grabs her pen to notate her sheet music.
”This is something new,” she says of the patrol. ”I joined because I wanted to try a new instrument.”
Katie Leonard, 14, of Spring City, Chester County, said she joined because she loves playing all kinds of percussion.
”I’ve been playing drums since I was in fourth grade,” she says.
”We’re all into music,” adds Johanna Bender, 15, of Hamburg.
Amig says the patrol is made up of girls from several different Girl Scout troops who joined because of their interest in drumming. Several of the girls drive an hour to take part in the drumline each week.
”They are pretty dedicated,” he says.
His goal is to get more girls from the Lehigh Valley involved.
Amig, who started playing drums when he was 10, has played in drum corps and written music for drums. He also has designed routines for drum competitions.
”I’ve played in every type of band there is,” he jokes.
His wife, Marya, is a life-long member of the Girl Scouts and both his daughters went all the way through the ranks of scouting. Being surrounded by girls in his family, Amig discovered many girls wanted to learn the instrument more frequently associated with boys.
”This is quite unique,” he says of the patrol. ”All the girls I’ve ever taught drums enjoyed it. I knew there were a lot of girls interested in percussion.
Amig says the patrol is open to any girl between the ages of 14 and 22 ”who plays a percussion instrument or wants to learn.” Drumming experience is not required.
Mar 20, 2009 @ 06:30:35
Apparently, shoes are optional. 🙂