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.
by Heide Young on August 23, 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. Band classes will
begin on Thursday, August 27, but no instruments will be
needed that day. The first day students will bring
instruments to class will be Tuesday, September 1.
General Band Notes:
There will be several safety procedures in place while in the
band room, which I will be sharing and practicing with the
students.
- As students enter in the morning, they will place their
instrument in the 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.
- Students have their own chair and stand. Chairs and
stands will not be shared. Beginning
Band students are going to 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 supplied both with a mask (with a slit in it
for their instrument's mouthpiece) and a fabric instrument cover
for the bell of their instrument. (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.
- Chairs are spaced 6' apart.
Concert Band
Each student will receive a band binder with the music and
materials they need for class. The binder should travel with
them back and forth to school along with their instrument. We
will be practicing together as one group, but with each cohort
seated together.
Beginning Band
We are still accepting members into beginning band. We
plan on beginning to play together on September 1st. If you
would like more information on joining band let me know.
(heide.young@splgrafton.org) I have met with many of the students
and given them some basic information for playing their
instrument. On Thursday, August 27, I will be
meeting with the entire 5th grade class to introduce them to band
instruments -since we were not able to do so last
spring.
St. Paul Lutheran School