Tenor players use matched grip and generally play with mallets with plastic disc-shaped heads, though traditional drumsticks and softer mallets are commonly used to achieve different timbres. Tenor players add pitch variety to the drumline with drums of different sizes. Modern tenor configurations usually have four to six drums, but there can be as few as one or as many as seven. Typically, they are referred to as tri-toms if there are three drums, quads if there are four, and so on for quints, and sextets. Marching tenor drums (also called quads, tom-toms or multi-tenors) are single-headed tonal drums. Tenor DrumР”Р„ tenor drummer in the University of Virginia Marching Band Usually on the last 4 (or only 4, as the case may be) 'duts' said, on the third (or second-to-last) 'dut' they go from set position to playing and on the fourth dut, are in playing position and usually lifting the stick to play just after it. Usually, while dutting, they are also preparing their sticks to play again from the set position. A lot of the time, one will hear one or more people on a snare line 'dut' just before they play. An example of hearing a drumline 'dut' would be to watch any drumline from a Drum & Bugle Corps, like The Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment, or any other corps, when their drumline performs 'in the lot' this is usually just some practicing of excerpts or cadences, and are just played to a group of people as a sort of crowd-pleaser. The first 'dut' will always be on beat one, and usually conists of 4-8 'duts' before an entrance, although some times they may dut for multiple measures or counts, depending on what the drum captain or percussion section leader feels is necessary. The purpose of dutting is so that everyone knows when to enter and stays on time. More often than not, the section leaders will subdivide (give verbal checks pronounced 'dut'), however sometimes the whole line will. Subdividing, otherwise known as 'Dutting', or 'verbal checks' are a common way for the drumline to keep time and help enter a phrase together. Everyone relies on them, including the Drum Major, who gets the tempo from the snare lineРІР‚в„ўs feet. When rehearsing or performing, the center snare may 'tap off' the ensemble, setting the tempo with a solo rhythm.Р”Вuring a performance the snare line is the metronome for the band. The center snare player (a position typically held by the most experienced snare drummer) is responsible for maintaining the tempo. The snares are the center of tempo in the ensemble. Snare parts are typically unison and provide the center rhythm of the drumline. There are, however, many groups that are returning to a slight tilt playing style in order to make using traditional grip more comfortable for the players. Percussionists call this grip 'matched grip' because both of the hands are in the same position (matched). Most modern snare drums have rigid over-the-shoulder harnesses that hold the drum with the playing surface parallel to the ground, which affords the option of performing with matched grip. The traditional grip is used by the right hand in the matched grip and the left hand holding the stick with the two fingers and the thumb above the stick and two below. Due to the discomfort of this angle for the left hand, a new grip was created- traditional grip. In the past, snares were typically carried with slings. Marching snare drums have high-tension heads that manufacturers typically make out of Kevlar or PET film. Sometimes, due to the charts set by the marching band's show, the front ensemble may have a certain position on the field in order to create a certain visual effect.

In other cases, marching units may place the pit in the back or behind the band because the band may be too small for them to station the pit in the front. In modern marching band and drum corps- snares, tenors, bass drums, and sometimes cymbals march on the field and are generally referred to as the battery, while the pit (or front ensemble) is stationary in the front of the field. Marching steel pans are rarely part of drumlines due to issues with volume and durability. A relatively small number of bands, mostly at the college level, continue to field such traditional marching keyboard instruments however, most bands have phased out their use. In the past, marching timpani were common before the adoption of the front ensemble, as were marching keyboard percussion instruments such as glockenspiels and xylophones. The battery usually consists of snare drums, bass drums, tenor drums, and cymbals. The battery is the drum section that marches on the field as a group.

Drumlines use the term 'battery' to refer to a specific part of the drumline.

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