Monday, January 5

Reminders

Solo and Ensemble is this Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00. This affects all Concert Band students and some Symphonic Band students. See the schedule here.

Symphonic Band

I set some high expectations for the Symphonic Band today. We have just under six weeks to finish preparations for our MMEA performance, and there is a lot to be done. It's not that we're in a bad place right now--the group has worked to meet the expectations placed on them so far this year, and it is time to raise the bar where it now needs to be. Every music director wants rehearsal to be packed and relevant to everyone, and part of the expectations I have for the group over these next six weeks are that they will come to every rehearsal knowing their individual parts so that our rehearsals can focus on the aspects of group playing that can only be addressed together.

To help us focus, we are adopting a pattern of rehearsal called "50 Measures a Day," in which we will focus on a section of music intensely, playing small chunks at a time, before moving on to running large sections of other pieces.

Today, rehearsal focused on the first 50 measures of Rhythm Machine. Students did a great job with the pace of the rehearsal and responding to instructions.

Concert Band

Today was devoted to preparations for Solo and Ensemble on Thursday.

5th-Grade Band

Pretty good rehearsal today for the day after a long break. We reviewed pages 17 and 18 in the Essential Elements books and finished class with a rhythm game. Students should be checking off page 17, #84 and pages 42, measures 21-28 with me before the end of the quarter. All exercises after that will go on the third quarter grading period.