The St. Petersburg University Steel Drum Band is looking for musicians who want to learn a new instrument.
Cameron Healy
Have you ever heard the soothing rhythms of a steel drum band and wondered how they learned to play that tune?
Believe it or not, you can study at St. Petersburg University.
Instructor Brian Scott teaches steel drums to SPC students who play in the community and for fun during rehearsals.
Scott began his musical journey on the steel drums in the sixth grade. He couldn’t read music but had a passion to learn, and Joe Braccio, SPC’s guitar and steel drum instructor, gave Scott a chance.
For the past 16 years, Scott has played steel drums under Braccio’s tutelage in the music building on the St. Pete/Gibbs campus, but in 2020 Braccio left SPC to continue teaching the instrument at Eckerd College, so he asked Scott to take his place.
“[Braccio] “It’s a great honor for me to be the teacher of perhaps one of the most influential music teachers I’ve ever had in my life and the instrument I love the most,” Scott said.
But while Scott’s rhythm was right, his timing couldn’t have been worse: He started his new job at the start of the pandemic and saw his student population drop from 20 to just four by fall 2021.
“We had speakers with backing tracks on them and we did that. We didn’t have enough people for a band so we did that for a whole year,” Scott said.
Most of the students are new to steel drums but not new to sheet music.
Cameron Healy
Steel Drum Band Resurrection
By September 2022, 11 students had enrolled in the course. It was time to get to work.
Only a handful of students had ever performed before, but the rest had years of experience playing steel drums.By November, the band was playing at the Sunday Market in Indian Shores.
The Market performance was their first time playing in front of an audience together, and it was also Scott’s first performance in his new job as an instructor two years later.
“My big goal was not just to take over the class, but to go out and play in the community,” Scott told the Gover Newspaper. “And that’s what I want to do. I want this to be a community band.”
Band members performed some of their favorite songs during their final rehearsal of the school year.
Cameron Healy
Scott hopes the band will have more of a presence in the community in the future: The 2022-2023 school year could see the band perform at multiple markets, churches and other events.
“I’d love to help out with fundraisers and other community activities,” Scott said. “If Gulfport has something going on or needs music, I’d love to pitch in.”
Scott said the students learned about 10 songs before their last class of the semester on March 29. They celebrated the class by eating pizza and playing songs like “Tequila” by The Champs.
You don’t have to be a registered SPC student to participate. The course is part of a workforce education program for people looking to improve themselves. It costs $75 for 10 weeks.
Scott requires students to have some basic musical experience, including the ability to read music, before enrolling.
For now, Scott hopes his ever-growing Steel Drum Crew will become a local staple: “We just want to be a friendly neighborhood community band.”
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