Making Practice Routine!

Things to Remember this Week
Clinics with Dr. Lonis
Perry and Grant Road Grade 7's - 9:20-10:20 on Tuesday
Massey, Grant Road, and RCS Grade 7's - 9:30-10:30 on Wednesday
Grade 8's 10:35-11:35 on Wednesday

Congratulations
Congratulations to all students participating in the Regina Public Schools Jr. Select Band this weekend!

In Grade 6 Band
The grade 6's are coming along and there are some very nice sounds!    We began working on the third chapter this week.   At the start of this chapter we reviewed 3/4 time and began to explore 2/4 time.   We will continue to work through our books.  Most students were assigned the last two lines on page 18 and the first line of page 19.

In our sheet music we have made huge improvements.   This week we worked on creating a steady pulse.   There are many tricky parts in our sheet music and sometimes we go at our own pace instead of  the same pulse as the group.  (This meaning, the hard stuff we slow down in, the easier things we try to rush through!)   Students were encouraged to try playing with a metronome or the metronome app.    We got a little stuck still in our "B" section or measure 27-43 in Courtly Dance and Procession.   In Gentle Winds we need to sustain our notes.   It is quite hard to hang on to our notes and move exactly together.   We concentrated on measures 19-end and will work on the opening measures next week.  There really are some nice sounds, we look forward to hearing what next week will sound like!

In Grade 7 Band
We have continued to work our way through the Orange Book.   Students were asked to pay close attention to all the articulations that are marked in the exercises that we have been doing.  We have been  emphasizing subdivisions.      Many students get off in their rhythms because they are not subdividing.  We worked hard on this during this past week.   We will be continuing in the Orange Book on Page 5-6.   Students are encouraged to practice with a metronome or using the metronome app.

In our music we worked on measures 20-end of Cathedral.   We worked on staggered breathing and playing long tones with decrescendos.    In Prelude et Celebration we mainly worked on measures 27-49.   We focused on articulations, and dynamics.   Students are asked to practice 1-49 of Prelude and measures 1-21 of Cathedral.

In Grade 8 Band

Weekly playing tests are continuing.  The next one is on measures 58-74 of Amen.  This is one of the most difficult passages in the entire piece.  All of our students' hard work is starting to pay off.  The piece is really starting to come together.  The key to practicing this next section is to take it REALLY SLOW!  Once the moving parts are correct at a slow tempo then we can start to gradually pick up the tempo.

This next week we get the honour of having Dr. Lonis work with us again.  This is especially good because we get to show him how we improved on what he taught us in the fall when we worked with him.  And we will get to see him again at Optimist so we can take it to another level again!