General Information
Well this week was quite the week! I am sad to have missed B Band this week due to the delay start. Thank you for continuing to be flexible with me as the weather continued to change plans this week. Last week was our first official week with the new practice logs, but since we had all the snow days and the students couldn’t turn them in, we will be counting this week and last week’s times for their forms. They went out in class last Monday and Tuesday, and I will be collecting them next week on the same days. While these are not something I do for a grade, I do hope they help as a way to encourage students to practice. I have a system of reward prizes depending on the cumulated time they practice each week to use a motivator. I had a ton of fun putting it together so I hope the students enjoy it. Everything adds up in the end and I believe they will really start to hear improvements in themselves as this goes along. I also plan to have a prize at the end of the year for the students with the most at the end of the semester. Since I do not submit grades, I thought this method to be the best way to help encourage practice at home. I also ask that parents initial or sign the paper before the students bring them to me just to verify what they wrote down is accurate.
So far I do not have a lot of dates at the bottom for everyone to be aware of. On paper, this semester seems to be easier schedule wise with performances, but things may pop up as we go along so I appreciate your continuous flexibility as things are possibly added. Just like last semester, if students are interested in taking private lessons please feel free to reach out. I am more than willing to help you connect with some of the amazing private instructors here in the area.
Student Recordings: To submit a video or audio recording to me, students should ask to use a parent’s device such as a phone, iPad, computer etc. to record the asked for music. This can then be sent in an email to Miss Beumer.
Announcement: Read about the practice logs this week!
Advanced Band
Practice logs will be tracked from Tuesday-Tuesday. I gave them out next Tuesday and would like it back filled out and signed by the following Tuesday. There is no set minimum expectation, I just want to encourage them to practice.
This week we worked on scales, long tones, and performance music. Zig Zag is coming along quite well already and the students have been working on adding in the dynamics of the piece. They have done a fantastic job learning the tempo changes, now we’re working on adding the parts that make the piece sound even better. We did a full run of the piece this week with no stops and they did an excellent job following along and adjusting as needed. We also worked on Pirates of the Caribbean. This will be one of possibly 3 pieces they play in May and I am very excited to work on it. They are working on the Medallion Calls theme and we also looked at the He’s a Pirate theme. We have been actively playing on page 15 in the books if students wish to continue working on the concepts from class at home. We continued to work on the Ab major scale. This scale is they key that Pirates is in so it is a good warmup to use before practicing that piece. We also briefly looked at C major this week. Bb, Eb, F, and Ab major scales are still open to turn in as well. Students can submit a video by email of the full scale through the thirds to be added to the leaderboard.
Beginning Band
Practice logs will be tracked from Monday-Monday. I gave them out next Monday and would like them back the following Monday. There is no set minimum expectation, I just want to encourage them to practice.
I apologize that we did not get to have class this week! Hopefully everyone found time to practice at home with all the snow we keep getting. Exercises no. 43, 47, and 50 are ones to continue to look at as they serve as a great way to warm up their 8th notes. Long tones also will continue to be a great way to build up their playing muscles when practicing. This is seen in exercise no. 42. Keep encouraging them to clean out their instruments after a practice session. This helps keep their instruments in the best working order. I am working on finalizing music for this group for Grandparent’s Day and Fine Arts Night. If the students look further ahead in their red books for pieces labeled full band, I am picking between a couple of those to play in March. For May, I am planning on giving them an arrangement of Spring by Vivaldi from The Four Seasons. This will be handed out next week.
Upcoming Events
03/14- A AND B BAND- GRANDPARENTS DAY PROGRAM
05/15- A AND B BAND- FINE ARTS NIGHT AT 6:30 PM