by Heide Young on April 16, 2021
Hello band families,
I am thrilled to tell you that a Spring Band
Concert has been approved! It's the date that's
been on the calendar if you've noted it, Friday, May
21st at 6:30pm. We may do a performance during
the day also, not sure yet, but plan on 6:30pm for sure.
I hope you've enjoyed the recordings we've been making this
year--but it will be great to perform in person!
I have finally recieved all
the judges comments and ratings for our 16 performances for Solo &
Ensemble! I'll
be sharing them with the students on Tuesday. They did a
fantastic job!
Remember that assignments
(including SmartMusic assignments) are due each Thursday.
Blessings!
by Heide Young on November 14, 2020
Beginning Band
We keep moving along on
Christmas music. We added a new band arrangement this week
that we've been slowly working through. Remember to practice
often at home!
Concert
Band
It was nice having the
group a part of Veterans Day chapel this week. We continue
moving ahead with our Christmas pieces, sounding better each
day. A reminder to get any late work in this
week.
by Heide Young on October 24, 2020
Beginning Band
I've introduced SmartMusic to
the students. They are able to log in and work towards
earning their WHITE band belt. There are 5 short pieces from
their book that they need to record themselves playing at
home. Please be encouraging your students to be
practicing at home. They have probably moved on from
10 minute practice sessions and can play for 15 minutes 4 times per
week now. They have a few Christmas pieces you might be
hearing at home!
Concert Band
We're starting to work on Christmas
music! The students have some short recordings to
turn in on SmartMusic this week. We have been working through
our music theory packet each week. They have
a review sheet this week and on Thursday we'll have a test on that
material.
Our leadership lesson this week
was about balance, blend and harmony--three goals we strive for in
our music. But
with all these different instruments--woodwinds, brass, percussion;
with different clefs and transpositions and sounds? It's not
easy, but when we work at it, the sound is beautiful. What a
great picture of working together with others in our daily
lives. We're all different, but we all bring the gifts God
has given us as we love and serve others to make something
beautiful. This week, students are to reach out
to someone different than them, who plays a different
part--In band, or in some other aspect of life.
See things from their point of view, or listen to what their
part/life sounds like right now. We are
called to be more than conquerors through Christ
together.
by Heide Young on September 27, 2020
Beginning Band
We're pretty comfortable with our first three notes. This week we
started playing some longer phrases which takes a lot more air and
support! The percussion section is doing a great job keeping
the winds together with their rhythms too. We are now working
through our method book each day.
Students need their Sound Innovations book every band day
. I'll be inviting them to a google classroom for beginning
band this week. There will be some short videos to watch to
review the basics about their individual instrument. Happy
Practicing!
Concert Band
We had a great Tuesday - getting ready to record Holy, Holy, Holy
for a future chapel service on Thursday. Then suddenly we became a
6th and 8th grade band for a short time! So it's fine, we can
roll with it. There's going
to be a different plan for each class this week
. Let's start with our Leadership skill for music and beyond
topic this week, since that's remained
unchanged!
This week we talked about '
the human aspect of leadership
'--the importance of communicating and working with people.
Our conversation centered around a study that Google did of their
employees (Read the whole Washington Post Article
here)
They found that while STEM skills were important to the
success of their employees the top characteristics were
relational/people skills:
"
being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing
insights into others (including others different values and points
of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one's
colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and
being able to make connections across complex ideas.
" So their assignment was to start a conversation
with someone, listen to others, communicate ideas, or talk to
someone new. To think about relating to
others.
7th Grade
: I'll be assigning a brief section of "America"
on SmartMusic this week. It should be up by Monday
morning--I'll send them an email. I managed to get the weekly
assignment to most of them--the others will get it via email.
Should keep them playing this week, yet not be too stressful--I
know they are juggling lots this week being at
home.
6th Grade
: On Thursday we met together and reviewed some of
our basics about scales and walked through America section by
section. The 6th graders have been doing a fantastic job
keeping up with the other classes who have been at their
instruments longer--it was nice to just cover a few things with
them on Thursday.
8th Grade
: On Thursday I gave our 8th grade leaders a group project.
They worked on playing our hymn of the month with just the 4 of
them and recorded it on SmartMusic. They were very pleased to
share it with me at the end of class! It was nice to see them
being independent musicians and working out details together.
They'll have another project this week to stretch them some
more.
Thanks to all the students for their
flexibility! We'll see what 2020 has up for us this
week. Hoping our students all continue making music, learning
and having fun. Thankful that whatever comes that God is in
control and that Together We are More than
Conquerors through Christ!
General Band Safety
Procedures:
-
As students enter in the morning, they will
place their instrument in the shelf spot assigned to them.
Class cohorts have their own designated space.
-
As students enter the band room for class, hand
sanitizer will be available.
-
Each class cohort will have their own seating
space in the room. Students will get their instruments from
the shelf and take it to their seat to
assemble.
-
Chairs will be spaced 6' or more
apart.
-
Students have their own chair and stand.
Chairs and stands will not be shared.
-
Beginning Band students will be
rehearsing in the church balcony, so they are able to have their
own separate space. They will bring their instruments to the
balcony to assemble.
-
Students will be provided a mask for playing
(with a slit in it for their instrument's mouthpiece).
-
Students will be provided and a fabric
instrument cover for the bell of their instrument. (Two
layers, plus a MERV 13 filter between) (Percussion and piano
players will use their normal masks). Instrument covers have
been shown to reduce aerosol dispersal from instruments to the same
levels that masks do from regular breathing.
-
Brass players will be given disposable cloths to
empty any moisture from their instruments.
by Heide Young on August 28, 2020
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school
year!
It has been a long time since we have been able
to make music together, and I am very much looking forward to
it! I have been researching and following the latest
protocols for safe music making and, as in every other class at St.
Paul, we are committed to creating a safe environment for all
students. Although things may look and feel differently for
a while, I am thrilled that we are able to rehearse together with
some minor modifications.
Concert Band
We had a great first day in Concert Band.
The students found their distanced seats in the room and we went
over our safety procedures. We played an ice breaker game
with everyone answering a different random question about
themselves. (which left me at the end of the day wishing for
a brownie sundae...one student's favorite dessert!) They also
took home their first weekly assignment
page. It's very simple this first week, but this
will be the format for weekly assignments. We'll get our band
binders, masks with slits and instrument bell covers in class on
Tuesday and start making some
music!
Beginning Band
Next week the entire 5th grade class will be
continuing to learn about instruments in a combined band/music
class. Recruiting for beginning band was pushed back a bit
with our unique spring semester, but now's the time to sign
up! The 5th graders have had an overview of all the band
instruments this week, and next week will continue learning more
about woodwind instruments on Tuesday and brass instruments on
Thursday. If your student is still interested in joining
band, it's not too late! There are openings
for most instruments (not percussion).
Research shows that students who participate in the arts perform
better in reading and math, score higher test scores, and are more
likely to attend college. The skills students learn in band
such as how to practice, set goals, and work together as an
ensemble will serve them well throughout their
lives.
General Band Safety Procedures:
-
As students enter in the morning, they will
place their instrument in the shelf spot assigned to them.
Class cohorts have their own designated space.
-
As students enter the band room for class, hand
sanitizer will be available.
-
Each class cohort will have their own seating
space in the room. Students will get their instruments from
the shelf and take it to their seat to
assemble.
-
Chairs will be spaced 6' or more
apart.
-
Students have their own chair and stand.
Chairs and stands will not be shared.
-
Beginning Band students will be
rehearsing in the church balcony, so they are able to have their
own separate space. They will bring their instruments to the
balcony to assemble.
-
Students will be provided a mask for playing
(with a slit in it for their instrument's mouthpiece).
-
Students will be provided and a fabric
instrument cover for the bell of their instrument. (Two
layers, plus a MERV 13 filter between) (Percussion and piano
players will use their normal masks). Instrument covers have
been shown to reduce aerosol dispersal from instruments to the same
levels that masks do from regular breathing.
-
Brass players will be given disposable cloths to
empty any moisture from their instruments.
St. Paul Lutheran School