Saturday 19 September 2015

And We Are Off!

Reminders:
- The band transportation fee should be up and available for payment
- If your child is playing a school instrument, if the online payment has not appeared, it will in the next few weeks.    Please return the rental contract.
- Reminder that jazz band will start this coming up week.  Tuesday or Wednesday (you choose!)  from 4-5p.m.   Students who are coming are asked to meet at the music office.   We will show you where the jazz room is.  

Congratulations!
Congratulations to Hawrylak, Jack Mackenzie, Wilfred Hunt, and Wilfrid Walker Grade 6 Band students on a great headstart clinic.    We are looking forward to a great year with you.  

Congratulations also to the those students who came out to play at Junior Winds!  Excellent sight reading!  You are off to a great start.

Thank you!
Thank you to all the Massey Grade 7 and 8 students who volunteered at the headstart clinic.   Your time and expertise was greatly appreciated.  

This Past Week In Grade 6 Band 
(Massey, McVeety, Grant Road, Perry, and RCS)
This was the first week of having our instruments in band class.   It was quite exciting and energetic!
Students this week were asked to give their instruments a name, find a favourite note, and use their first three notes to write their own composition.   We practiced three different ways to play music - by ear, by note name, and by reading notes.   We practiced writing our first note and when we wrote our composition we did it in the way we were most comfortable.   Students were reminded to use proper posture, proper playing position, lots of air, and lots of focus.   Students were given a specific playing assignment.   We circled their assignment in their book.   Most students are practicing on Page 4 with the note names and trying the beginning of Page 5 with music notes.    Students who master their practice assignment are invited to go ahead.  We had an excellent first full band!   Congratulations Grade 6's!

This Past Week in Grade 7 Band 
(Massey, McVeety, Grant Road, Perry, and RCS)
We are excited to have a very large Grade 7 group.   We have 95 students registered in Grade 7 band and we are still growing!    The Grade 7's did some very nice work this week.    We reviewed the Concert Bb scale, and we worked on the Chromatic Scale.   We discovered that even when we know something there is always a way to make it more challenging.   Students challenged themselves by playing their scales in eighth notes, and sixteenth notes, and some students even tried thirty second notes.   Clarinet players are dealing with crossing the "break" right now.   This is a tricky concept for clarinet players and requires a bit of patience and persistence.    Students are starting to work on The Forge of Vulcan and Sanctus.    Students were asked to work on measures 1-8 of this and 57 to the end.   Students were also asked to practice measures 1 to 27 of Sanctus.  Sanctus is tricky.   It is 3/4 time and has many long tones.   It is a great way to get back into shape.    Massey students also began working on Riders of Stonehenge.   Massey students were asked to practice Riders to Stonehenge.  Nice work Grade 7's!

This Past Week in Grade 8 Band
(Massey, McVeety, Grant Road, Perry)  
The Grade 8's are off to a great start.  They are beginning by learning the Circle of Fourths.   They have several pieces in his folder.   They have begun working on As Winds Dance, Spania, as well as a new Brian Balmages piece called Ripping Watercolours.

This Past Week at Hawrylak, Jack Mackenzie, Wilfred Hunt and Wilfrid Walker
Mr. Adelman has enjoyed getting to know students this week.    We look forward to starting full band this week.    Mr. Adleman will be e-mailing band schedules to parents.    

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