Sunday, September 29, 2013

Band Assignment, due 10/3/13

Advanced Band Assignment:

Because of your good preparation, we had a fruitful rehearsal yesterday.

October pass-offs start next week. See below.

Warm-up: Nothing is more important than a good warm-up session before beginning your practice.  Brass should rotate through all the lip flexibility exercises in Hilliard. Katie, regular warm-up. Andrew, continue to rotate through the Chromatic Warm-ups that begin on p14 of Hilliard. Play in whole notes slurring the two notes of each bar and breathing at the bar line. Proper breathing will help all of you increase your lung capacity.

Scales: Your are responsible for learning the GMEA scales for your grade level plus chromatic scale entire range of your instrument. These (major) scales are your October pass-off!  We will have two people a day pass-off their scale sheet beginning October 3. Sign-up for your pass-off date next week at band! Remember if want grading for credit all pass-offs are required.

Link for scales and etudes (print out): http://www.gmea.org.php53-10.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/band/all-state-band/

 Memorize (or review) the order of flats and sharps. Present to class a unique mneumonic device for each, ie, "Better Eat Another Dozen Greasy Chicken Fingers" but make up your own. Be creative! Thanks to Katie for sharing her awesome mneumonic for the order of flats!

Rhythm and Beyond book:  Read and study p10. Complete all written work and exercises.

Sheet music: Hornpipe, Pictures at an Exhibition, Armed Forces, Processional, Korean Folk Rhapsody. Mark phrases with breath marks in your part. We will address breathing issues.

Just for Nate:  Practice rudiments with metronome. Demonstrate 4 rudiments for class next week, your choice. 12 major scales on bells. Your pass-off will include (in addition to scales) 4 rudiments of your choice. Here is a link to a website that has all of the rudiments with video:
 http://www.vicfirth.com/education/rudiments.php
Watch and learn.

We have a concert on November 7th at Iris Place. Top contenders for program are Pictures at an Exhibition and Hornpipe. (Armed Forces is confirmed)


Intermediate Band Assignment, due 10/3/13:

*Hilliard, pp. 18-19 (again) and 33 #1, everyone
*Hilliard, p. 25 #3, flutes and clarinets (flutes, upper octave)
*There will be a pass-off on an eight-measure passage from the "New South Wales"....somewhere from measure 1 through measure 42....be on your toes!
*Essential Elements, p. 182 #36.
*And, keep practicing "Armed Forces on Parade"

Have fun practicing!!


Beginning Band Assignment:

Great work yesterday in working on your Recorder Karate pass-offs!  Please be sure to practice some every day.  There results of diligent practice are amazing for the listener and fun for the performer!

- Always practice good posture and hand position
- Don't forget to avoid squeaks and problems by:
  1) using "steam the window" trick when blowing air into recorder
  2) squeezing fingers to form recorder warts on fingers (make sure pads of fingers are flat on holes)
  3) articulate by saying "tu"
- Practice "It's Raining", "Old MacDonald" and more with CD.  Don't forget to leave the CD at home to use.
- BE SURE TO LEARN YOUR NOTE NAMES AND FINGERINGS THOROUGHLY THROUGH PRACTICE.  We
  will be adding on more new notes next rehearsal.  DON'T GET BEHIND!
- Bring 3 facts about the brass family of instruments to class.  Try to teach me something I don't know.  =-)

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Assignment, due 9/26/13

Beginning Band:
Great rehearsal today!  So proud of the lines passed off and the hours practiced last week!  Keep up the great work!
Mrs. Karen
- Always practice good posture and hand position
- Don't forget to avoid squeaks and problems by:
  1) using "steam the window" trick when blowing air into recorder
  2) squeezing fingers to form recorder warts on fingers (make sure pads of fingers are flat on holes)
  3) articulate by saying "tu"
- Practice "It's Raining", "Old MacDonald" and more with CD.  Don't forget to leave the CD at home to use.
- BE SURE TO LEARN YOUR NOTE NAMES AND FINGERINGS THOROUGHLY THROUGH PRACTICE.  We will be adding on more new notes next rehearsal.  DON'T GET BEHIND!
- Bring 3 facts about the percussion family of instruments to class.  Try to teach me something I don't know.  =-)

Intermediate Band:
Hilliard book: page 25, #3 for EVERYONE
Hilliard book: pages 18-19, all numbers, brass only
"Armed Forces on Parade": work on the six-eight passage...if needed, write your rhythm counts underneath in pencil.
Essential Elements: #122, #124, #126, #129, #131 (beginning on page 24)
Have a great week!!

 
Advanced Band:
You are making good progress! Daily practice is the key to improvement:

Warm-up: Nothing is more important than a good warm-up session before beginning your practice.  Brass should rotate through all the lip flexibility exercises in Hilliard. Katie, regular warm-up. Andrew, continue to rotate through the Chromatic Warm-ups on p14 of Hilliard. Play in whole notes slurring the two notes of each bar and breathing at the bar line.

Scales: Your are responsible for learning the GMEA scales for your grade level plus chromatic scale entire range of your instrument. These (major) scales are your October pass-off!  We will have two people a day pass-off their scale sheet beginning October 3. Sign-up for your pass-off date next week at band! Remember if want grading for credit all pass-offs are required.

Link for scales and etudes (print out): http://www.gmea.org.php53-10.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/band/all-state-band/

New: Memorize (or review) the order of flats and sharps. Present to class a unique mneumonic device for each, ie, "Better Eat Another Dozen Greasy Chicken Fingers" but make up your own. Be creative!

Rhythm and Beyond book:  Read and study p6-9. Complete all written work and exercises.

Sheet music: Hornpipe, Pictures at an Exhibition, Armed Forces, Processional, Korean Folk Rhapsody.

Just for Nate:  Practice all rudiments with metronome. Demonstrate 4 rudiments for class next week, your choice. 12 major scales on bells.

We have a concert on November 7th at Iris Place!

Friday, September 6, 2013

Band Assignment due 9/12/13

Intermediate Band:
B flat scale
Essential Elements: #103, page 20 and #106 and #109 (both lines) page 21.
Hilliard: page 24, #1 and page 33, #1
"Armed Forces on Parade": Letter B to Letter C and Letter E to the six-eight section.
Happy practicing!!


Advanced Band:
I'm honored to be your instructor for this semester!  I hope to challenge and inspire you to new musical heights. Ms. Rachel

A friendly reminder: As a member of this group, you've committed to practicing a minimum of 45 minutes per day, 6 days per week.

Warm-up: Nothing is more important than a good warm-up session. Brass should rotate through the lip flexibility exercises in Hilliard. Katie, you should play your regular warm-up from lessons. Andrew, rotate through the Chromatic Warm-ups beginning on p. 14 of Hilliard. Play slowly and slur each interval.

Scales: You are responsible for learning the GMEA scales for your grade level. By the end of this semester, you will know all 12 major scales. Use Hilliard book as a reference for scales. Chromatic scale entire range of your instrument.

Rhythm and Beyond book: We will review simple rhythms. Read p. 6 and 7. We will discuss this material so be prepared to answer questions from these pages. Write beats in Exercises 2, 4, and 6. Complete rhythm review matching on bottom of p. 7.  Yes, this should be super easy for you but I have a purpose for this! Trust me.

Pass-off: As discussed in class, play a familiar hymn by ear for the class.

Sheet music:
Processional
Hornpipe

Lots of new music coming next week.  Thanks for a great sight-reading session yesterday. Have a great week and practice!