Drum captain and music education junior Charlie Tran loves being the heart and the beat of the band.
Though currently in the marching band, wind ensemble and percussion ensemble at San Jose State, Tran wasn’t always infatuated with drumming.
Tran’s musical journey began in middle school when he learned to play the piano, but that transitioned to drums when his parents bought him a drum set from Costco.
He took lessons for it, but it didn’t stick at first.
“After a few months of lessons I didn’t really care for it,” Tran said. “What I [learned] from lessons were mostly simple beats and to actually be good at drums you need to put in the individual practice.”
Despite the lack of initial interest, Tran kept with it and found his love for it while at Silver Creek High School in San Jose.
“In high school, I was the band geek that would stay in the band room the whole time. That was my life, that was my hideout,” Tran said.
During his senior year at Silver Creek, Tran participated in an event called SJSU High School Band Day.
At the event, local high schools are invited to play with the SJSU Spartan Marching Band during a football game at CEFCU Stadium.
“When I was there, I saw someone to look up to,” Tran said. “It’s kind of funny that now I am one of the leadership people that helps with that event for the high schoolers.”
The same year, Tran participated with an independent group at Winter Guard International in Colorado.
Winter Guard International is a non-profit youth organization that produces color guard, percussion and winds competitions.
His team, named Tri-City, didn’t place high, but Tran said it was a memorable experience regardless.
“Our first show over there, our electronics stopped working and it seemed like a disaster, but we pulled through and had a great time performing,” Tran said. “That trip taught me to always make do with what I have in any situation.”
In his freshman year at SJSU, Tran tried to play snare in the drumline but said his hands “couldn’t really keep up.”
Tran then set his sights on working toward becoming a more well-rounded player in his sophomore year and practiced two to four hours a day.
“I got the drive to start practicing and improving because I wanted to be [as good as] the upperclassmen,” Tran said. “I just became more of a clean player in my second year.”
The SJSU School of Music and Dance has a Listening Hour series each Thursday that features a student performance in the concert hall.
He participated in the event multiple times during his sophomore year, each time playing a song by Japanese composer Daiki Kato, which served as a great learning experience.
The first piece, a duo titled “The Last Dance”, challenged Tran because of the difficulty of the song.
His instructor, director of percussion studies Galen Lemmon, told Tran that it was important for every student to have a hard piece to help them grow as a musician.
The second piece was an unpublished sequel titled, “The Last Game.”
When Tran learned of the piece, he emailed back-and-forth with Kato for a month and eventually bought the sheet music from him for $50 and subsequently performed it at his last Listening Hour event.
“[Tran] has been so much fun to teach,” Lemmon said. “I love his enthusiasm, energy and work ethic.”
Now in his junior year as the drum captain, Tran is focused on helping the rest of his drummers out.
His responsibilities include creating a good culture within the group and getting the drummers to play together.
Tran’s fellow drummers spoke highly of him as a leader.
“[Tran] is definitely an amazing dude,” music performance sophomore Steven Potter said. “He puts in a lot of hard work in all of his musical endeavors, and it really shows.”
Economics sophomore and drumline member Mikaela Cocke also raved about Tran as a drummer and friend.
“[Tran] is someone we can always count on, no matter what, whether it is band-related or not,” Cocke said.
Aside from his responsibilities at SJSU, Tran also finds time to teach at Del Mar High School and Santa Teresa High School as a drumline instructor.
“Sometimes it can get frustrating, because it’s high schoolers, but I do enjoy it,” Tran said.
After graduating, Tran said he would be interested in continuing his teaching career on a more full-time basis.
For now, however, he is content with the camaraderie that the music program brings him.
“We’re all supportive of each other, that’s what I like about SJSU,” Tran said. “I’ve heard other schools can be really competitive, but that’s the difference with SJSU, we all bond.”
Along with performing at the next home football game Friday, Tran and the rest of the marching band will play at the Fire on the Fountain festival Oct. 17.
