General Information
First week back from Spring Break! This week was all about recalling all our skills from before break. Our March Madness is in full swing and we have decided winners from 3 of our 4 major countries. We are now working on our first country vs country voting. I am excited to see which piece wins at the end of the month!
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.
Private lessons: I have had a couple people ask what these are. Private lessons are an excellent way to help support your student’s growth on their instrument. They are an opportunity for them to learn from a licensed teacher of their specific instrument. These teachers are able to meet your student where they are skill wise and provide additional support and techniques to help them improve outside of band. Various music stores offer lessons, my college MidAmerica Nazarene University has a program, and there are various individuals across the metro that teach out of their homes as well. Please let me know if this interests you at all!
Announcement: n/a
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. 30 minutes minimum a week is a place to start.
This week we worked on scales and Fine Art Night music. Down to the River finally came in over spring break so I passed that out on Tuesday. They are sounding great on it already. This piece may not have difficult notes or rhythms, but it works on developing their lyrical sound. As we work on this piece, we will be addressing dynamics, connectivity, and style. We also worked on Pirates of the Caribbean this week. Medallion Calls, He’s a Pirate, and One Last Shot continue to be the sections to look at. One Last Shot has some high range parts for most instruments at measure 87 so having your student go through and write in note names to help take it down an octave if needed can be helpful. We have been actively playing on page 15 in the books if students wish to continue working on the concepts from class at home. Scales are coming along quite nicely in class. Bb, Eb, F, and Ab major scales are still open to turn in and C Major is almost there. 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. 30 minutes minimum a week is a place to start.
This week was all about review and learning new notes. We are working on pages 15 and 16 in their red books. Exercise 56 introduces their most recent new note that we are working on in class. We have worked on breaking it down and finding the pitch of their new note so I would like for them to continue working on this exercise at home. I have not yet decided on an exact piece for them yet for Fine Art Night. It will depend on how far they get in their books. I have a simple arrangement of Spring from The Four Seasons pulled, but I want to make sure they are fully ready for it before I hand it out. 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. This will really help out brass players specifically. They can also practice just sustaining their buzz on a mouthpiece to help maintain their sound.
Upcoming Events
05/15- A AND B BAND- FINE ARTS NIGHT AT 6:30 PM