The man behind the music
By Julie Bandy
Skiff Staff

If you ask his students, you’ll hear that he’s a miracle worker. You’ll hear that he’s the toughest guy around. You might even hear that he will whip you into shape or kick you to the curb.

Regardless of what you hear about him, Brian West is definitely a talented man with a vision — to make the TCU percussion section the very best it can be. As coordinator of percussion at TCU, he instructs the drumline for the marching band in the fall and leads the TCU Winterline in the spring. Since he was quite young, music has played an instrumental part in his life.

“Mother encouraged me to play music and supported me in every aspect of music growing up,” West said.

She would provide private lessons, attend every recital he performed in and drive him twice a week from Birmingham, Ala., to Atlanta, Ga., for rehearsals three hours away.
After watching a friend play drumset in the sixth grade beginner band, West knew he wanted to be a percussionist. Since then, he has marched in two drum and bugle corps, earned his music education degree from the University of North Texas and master’s degree in performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and is currently completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

He has a knack for creating drumlines and having them hold their own against veterans with years of experience. At Texas A&M University at Commerce, he assembled a line that placed second at its first competition at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, he said. As a graduate student at IUP, he created an indoor drumline that placed seventh at a PASIC contest.

After arriving at TCU in 2000, West created the school’s first percussion winterline. In its short existence, he has already seen vast improvements in his students’ abilities and techniques.

“The program helps educate more students about marching percussion,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun and there is plenty to learn.”

He said it also brings community members together, which helps recruit new members to the marching band and drumline programs.

West hopes that by teaching local ninth through 12th graders, as well as college students who ordinarily play woodwind or brass instruments, he can change some misconceptions many people have about percussionists.

“These students have to learn how to play more instruments than any other musician, and they have to be able to play many different styles of music,” he said. “It takes many hours and years of dedicated study and hard work.”

Regardless of the time and commitment he dedicates to his work, West sincerely enjoys what he does. He loves to see his students improve and become better at their craft.

The students are his favorite part of teaching at TCU, he said. Seeing them grow as people, teachers and performers makes the job more than worth it, he said.

j.n.bandy@tcu.edu