WGI Percussion World Championships 2017 – 5 Reasons You Should Go

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 No Comments

Below is a post we shared back in April of 2015.  It’s still valid today, so we updated it and posted it here again.  TLDR?  Go to WGI this weekend!

The WGI Percussion World Championships are this weekend and we have our top 5 reasons why you should go. But before we get to that, maybe you’ve never heard of WGI and are wondering what this is all about?

From their website: “WGI Sport of the Arts is the world’s premier organization producing indoor color guard, percussion, and wind ensemble competitions. As a non-profit youth organization, WGI serves as the leading governing body of the winter guard and indoor percussion activities. It is called the Sport of the Arts because it brings music to life through performance in a competitive format. Now entering its 40th year in 2017, the sport continues to evolve and grow.”

If you would attend this weekend, you would see the percussion section or “drumlines” of a marching band performing indoors. These show aren’t just thrown together. Hundreds, if not thousands of hours are spent designing, building, rehearsing and competing over several months.

Indiana is one of the premier states when it comes to competitive percussion ensembles. The Indiana Percussion Association just recently held their State Prelims and State Finals competitions where over 100 groups competed in both the concert and movement categories! You can view those results on the IPA website.

As you might have guessed, Indiana will be well represented this weekend in Dayton, Ohio at the WGI Percussion World Championships with several groups competing in various classes.

With that said, here are our top 5 reasons on why you should attend.

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April 2017 News at Chops

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 No Comments

Compete in the PASIC17 Marching Festival & Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble Competition

Compete at PASIC 2017

Recognized as one of the premier marching percussion festivals in the country, the Percussive Arts Society’s annual Marching Percussion Festival is an excellent opportunity to be critiqued by some of the leading percussion specialists in the field of marching percussion today. Categories include:

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2017 Indiana Percussion Association State Finals

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 No Comments

Chops Percussion was proud to once again be the presenting sponsor of the Indiana Percussion Association.  It was an exciting day of performances at the Hulman Center of Indiana State University (also with great weather this time around!). We’d like to congratulate the IPA board and ISU volunteers who did such a great job of making it a fantastic day and great experience for everyone.  We would also like to congratulate the students, staff and parents on another exciting year of great performances.  It’s amazing what these young musicians are able to achieve, and the talent level seems to increase every year.  Congratulations to everyone involved with performing and constructing these shows, along with all the support staff who made it possible for the students and staff to do what they do!

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Quick Tips for Indoor Drumline – Warming Up Outside 2017

Tuesday, March 28, 2017 No Comments

Here’s a repost from last year, just before the first IPA State Finals at Hulman Center in Terre Haute. We thought it was worth sharing again heading in to state finals weekend.

This weekend is only the second contest in the history of the IPA (Indiana Percussion Association) that requires an outside warm-up. Those groups who have performed in Dayton for WGI Championships or participate in circuits in warmer regions of the country know this is a normal process. The outside extended warm-up can be very beneficial to preparing for the large arena environment. But for those who have not gone through that process before, here are some tips to make sure the experience is smooth and beneficial for everyone.

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ChopsStick Challenge!

Tuesday, March 21, 2017 No Comments

Hey Everyone. Welcome back to the Chops Blog. We’ve got something brand new for you this week to help build some hype for the upcoming IPA State Finals competition on April 1st at Hulman Center.

We’re calling it the ChopsStick Challenge! The rules are simple.

Rules

1. Perform a trick “shot” like the one below and capture it on video.
2. Make it as fun/hard/complex as you see fit. (Please be safe!)
3. Post that video to our Facebook page with the hashtag #ChopsStickChallenge, and we’ll pick our favorite as the winner. Enter as many times as you’d like. Bonus points for wearing a Chops t-shirt!
4. Post your video by Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 11:59pm. We’ll pick a winner on Friday, Aptil 7, 2017.

Check out Jeff trying a couple of quick shots here in the store:

 

Prizes

The winning shot will receive a prize to be announced later. Don’t worry, it’ll be worth it.

Questions? Email us at chops@chopspercussion.com

Have fun!

Jeff, Derek, and Dustin