General Information
Week 2 of band classes is now complete! This week we focused a lot on building up the basics in both groups so we can make sure we are ready for all the music we will be learning as the semester goes on. Instrument rental night was Tuesday night at Ernie Williamson, but if you could not make it, they still have everything there for you to buy. They even have a page on their website where you can fill out all your information in advance and then simply show up to the store to pick up all your supplies.
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 few flutes left and a trumpet. If you are willing to rent an instrument for your student to use, please visit Ernie Williamson Music across the street as they have all the supplies you need on hand to give you. I plan to have students playing on instruments after Labor Day so they will need something by then.
Announcement: PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENT HAS AN INSTRUMENT FOR NEXT WEEK!!
Advanced Band
We are now fully swing into the semester this week and I have passed out all the music they will be playing for Veterans Day. The Armed Forces Salute went out last week and American Declaration went out on Wednesday. We spent a lot of time in class this week working through scales to help build up their muscles again as well as challenge their range on their instruments. We also briefly touched on a minor scale, which is slightly different from our normal major scales. All of these scales are excellent practice materials and in the backs of their blue books. We also did long tone warm ups to challenge them to see how long they can maintain a note. This builds up their breath support they can eventually play for longer stretches of time. 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.
4/5 Grade Band
Week two of class is now complete! This week in class we covered my new star rule magnets on the board that I plan to use for classroom management. These stars help me communicate with the students what my expectations for class are. I remove them from the board after I have given a reminder about a behavior and that removal shows them they need to correct it. Stars can easily be earned back in class if they change their behavior. They also serve as a way for me to show their classroom teachers how they behaved in class. We also continued our work on learning how to read music. We played note reading games in class and I also introduced the basics of rhythms and time signatures in class. These concepts were included in a worksheet we did in class on Thursday. Next week will all be about learning their new instruments so please make sure they have them and the red book when they come to class next week!
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