Back into the Swing

Back into Jazz and Junior Winds

We had great first rehearsals for the Jazz bands and for Junior Winds this week.  Thank you to all students who came out.   Both jazz bands worked a little on the swing style and a little on rock, and Junior Winds did some excellent sight reading of new music.   If there is anyone who would like to be in these groups but was not there, please let us know so we can get music ready.

In Grade 6 Band 

Students continue to learn so many things so quickly.   Our focus this week has been on making sure students understand note names, time signatures, and rhythms.   To do this, we have been using flashcards to reinforce rhythms and doing a lot of note naming.   Students are now using their composition books.   We have started writing music on the musical staff.  We began with a rhythm and placed it on our musical staff.   We used notes that we knew and notes that we did not know yet.  From the notes we did not know, we used our fingering charts on Page 55 to look up the fingering.    Grade 6's also experimented with fermatas this week.   This was an opportunity for many of the Grade 6's to be the conductor.     Students held on to their note until the guest conductor cut them off.  

Breathing is one of the very basics of playing any wind instrument.   We also have been working on some breathing exercises.   Percussionists learned it is extremely important to breathe as well as this is how the band stays together.   They have been working on flams, paradiddles, and beginning to master the note names on the bells. Flutes we are still working on hand position in order to go quickly between D's and C's.   We have also shared with flutes they are allowed to "cheat" a little when we play long tones.    Since the air goes two directions when flute payers play, they lose half their air every time they play a note.   They are allowed to "cheat"  and take an extra breath when we play a long note.     Clarinets are working on covering all of their holes.   As you work your way down the clarinet, the holes get bigger.   Sometimes if we never try the bottom hand we develop some bad habits for hand position.   To help this, we are experimenting with some of those lower notes now.    We will name them later.    Saxophones have been working on tonguing.   Tonging feels rather funny for many saxophone players at the start.  The tongue touches the tip of the reed in order to get different rhythms.    Sometimes it "tickles"   as the students say, and say some students resist tonguing.  We will continue to work at it.

All of the brass players are beginning to work on the basics of lip slurs.   This is where we take one pitch and using the same fingering to go either higher or lower.   Brass players are reminded to always begin with buzzing.   French horn players are reminded they have two pages.    We begin with the low page side.    As well grade 6's this week began figuring out they can come up with familiar melodies on their instruments.  Posture is beginning to become a habit.  Our saying is "Stand to sit or sit to stand."   This reminds students that if they need to stand quickly while they are sitting, generally they are playing with good posture.   Our embouchures are becoming stronger, and we look forward to hearing just how long our long tones will be next week.

We have once again circled in each student's book what to practice.   We look forward to the sounds of Grade 6 next week!

In Grade 7 Band

Students this week had some really great musical moments.   They continue to work at musical balance and blend.  We use a snow man analogy to compare to the sound pyramid.   If the high sounds are the loudest then our snow man is inverted and ends up sinking.   If our low sounds are strong and everyone can hear them, then our snow man stays standing.  

We spent a lot of time last year mastering our first scale - concert Bb.   Now, we are mastering Concert Eb scale.   This has involved some new fingerings for the flute players, low notes for the clarinets, high notes for trumpets, trombones, euphoniums, and tubas.  The french horns are happy, they finally have a scale that is in a really great range for them.   We are focussing on this scale because we have two pieces that have this key signature.   As well as learning this scale on mallets, percussionists have been trying out some of the other percussion instruments.

All grade 7's this week have been reminded what they need to do on their individual instruments to warm up.   Flute players are reminded to start with octaves (low-high), clarinet and saxophone players are reminded to work down their instruments in long notes.    Brass players are reminded to always buzz and play lip slurs, and percussionists are reminded to begin working their way through their rudiment chart.

All students need their composition book and their Measures of Success.   We will be circling what to practice.   Most students are on page 28 of the Blue Measures of Success.    We specifically will be working on measures  1-20 of Incantation and Ritual and measures 31 to the end of Spirit of the Wolf.

We look forward to hearing what the Grade 7's sound like next week!

In Grade 8 Band

Mr. Weist began conducting the Grade 8 band.   He is working on Chant and Tribal Dance.   Students also were given two new pieces this week.  These include African Marching Song and Chesapeake Serenade.   Grade 8's continue to work through the Circle of Fourths.   They will be told specifically what to work on in their sectionals.

Students will also be receiving Consent and Waiver forms for our upcoming retreat with Professor Ghiglione at the U of R on the morning of October 16.  Completed forms should be returned to Mr. Wilkinson at the next full band.

Once again, please check out our Week at a Glance for schedules and our new "You Tube"   links.