General Information
Welcome to the first week of band classes!! I am so excited to have all of your students with me this year! I have so many ideas already for what we can do for this school year and I cannot wait to see all the growth in your students. I know not all will love learning an instrument, but my hope is they can at least learn to appreciate music in a new way after taking my class. Advanced band will be meeting before school Monday-Thursday from 7:30-8:15. 4/5 grade band will meet during the school day on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 8:45-9:30. Monday is just 5th grade, Tuesday will just be 4th grade, and then they will be combined on Thursdays for music theory style lessons. More in depth information on what we are doing in each class can be found in the section for each group.
Instruments: If you are new to the band program or a 4th-5th grade parent, your student will need an instrument. The school has a handful of instruments on hand, but not enough for the entirety of both grade levels. If they want to learn percussion, I ask that they have drum sticks and a book only. They will use the school drums. If they want to play a wind instrument, I have a couple clarinets, a few flutes, a couple trombones, and a trumpet. If you are willing to rent an instrument for your student to use, please come to the instrument rental night on August 26th. I plan to have students playing on instruments after Labor Day so they will need something by then.
Announcement: Instrument Rental Night is on August 26th from 6-7pm at Ernie Williamson Music. They will be open later if you cannot make this time frame.
Advanced Band
Welcome back everyone! This week we focused on seeing what we remembered from last year. We will still be using the blue Tradition of Excellence book 2 for class this year. For my new students in this group, reviewing exercises towards the middle or end of their red books will be good help to prepare them for the music in advanced band. Our piece for Veteran’s Day is ordered and I am hoping to have it out next week so we can start working on it. It is called American Declaration. We have also started going through pep band music in preparation for upcoming pep rallies. I also gave them the Armed Forces Salute. Please have your students practice this one over the weekend! I know most played it last year, but there are lots of time signature changes, accidentals, and fun rhythms to play through.
4/5 Grade Band
Welcome to band 4th and 5th grade! This is a new class this year for these grade levels. My goal is to teach them more about how to read music and its history through teaching them how to play an instrument. This week in class we went over my classroom expectations and introduced what instruments they could possibly learn to play. I also gave them a short worksheet (not for a grade) to see where they are at with music reading. This gave me a gauge on what I need to focus on this semester. For these first couple weeks of class, my primary focus is going to be learning to read music notes and the staff itself. After Labor Day, we will switch to applying it to playing an instrument. Grades will be given for this class through a points system. More information on this will be sent home with your students.
Upcoming Events
11/11- VETERANS DAY ASSEMBLY AT 8:30AM- A BAND ONLY
DECEMBER 5-7TH- BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT- A BAND ONLY
DECEMBER 7TH AT 8AM-PRELUDE FOR CHURCH SERVICE- A BAND ONLY
DECEMBER 7TH AT 10:30 AM-PRELUDE FOR CHURCH SERVICE- 4/5 GRADE BAND ONLY
DECEMBER 17TH AT 4PM- PRELUDE FOR CHURCH- A BAND ONLY
DECEMBER 19TH AT 9AM- SCHOOL SING-A-LONG- BOTH GROUPS
DECEMEBER TBD- CROWN CENTER PERFORMANCE- BOTH GROUPS