Friday 28 November 2014

Concert Week!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the concerts this week!  

This is a quick run down of this week's schedule:


Mon. Dec. 1 (Day 1) - All Band Classes are Regular, however there is no curiosity club

Tues. Dec. 2 (Day 2) - no Grade 7 and 8 band.   Grade 6's will have dress rehearsal from 9:30-10:30 at Campbell.  (This is not a regular Grade 6 day and so students are asked to make sure instruments are at school.) Massey students will walk over, all other schools will be bused over to Campbell for this.   There will be no jazz band after school.  Students do not need to wear their band t-shirt at their dress rehearsal.  Massey Grade 6 students will have sectionals in the afternoon.   

Tues. Dec. 2 CONCERT- All Grade 6 and Junior Winds Students will need to meet at Campbell at 6:30p.m.  We will meet in the band room.  Students are asked to be in uniform.   Uniform is their band t-shirt, dark pants, dark shoes and dark socks.    Parents are invited to go to the auditorium.   There will be a silver collection a the door.  

Wed. Dec. 3 (Day 3)- Grade 7's will have dress rehearsal at Campbell 9:30-10:30.  Grade 8's will have dress rehearsal from 10:35-11:35 at Campbell.   (This is not a regular band day, students are asked to make sure instruments are at school.)  Massey students will walk over, all other students will be bused over.  There will be no jazz band after school.  Students do not need to wear their band t-shirt at dress rehearsal.  There will be no Grant Road Grade 7 sectionals. 

Wed. Dec. 3 CONCERT - Grade 7 and 8's will meet at Campbell at 6:30p.m.  Grade 7's will go to the band room, Grade 8's will go to the lunch room area.   Students are asked to be in uniform.  Uniform is band t-shirts, dark pants, dark shoes, and dark socks.  Parents are invited to go to the auditorium.   There will be a silver collection at the door.   

Thurs. Dec. 4 (Day 4) SCHOOL TOUR- No Junior Winds.   Grade 8's will perform at Campbell for Massey students at 10:30.  Grade 8's are asked to make sure they wear their band uniform (band t-shirt, dark pants, dark shoes, and dark socks) and have their instrument at school.    Massey students will walk over, all other students will be bused.   There will be no morning band classes.  Afternoon band classes are regular.   

 Fri. Dec. 5 (Day 5) SCHOOL TOUR- Grade 7's will perform at McVeety School at 9:45.   McVeety students will meet us at McVeety, all other students will be bused.   Grade 7's are asked to make sure they have their instrument at school and are wearing their band t-shirt, black pants and shoes.  There will be no morning band classes.   Afternoon band classes (Perry Grade 6's) will be regular.   

Friday 21 November 2014

Reminders:
-Concerts are quickly approaching!
Dec. 2- Grade 6 and Junior Winds - 7:00p.m. at Campbell
Dec. 3 - Grade 7 and Grade 8 - 7:00p.m. at Campbell

Grade 6 Band
In Grade 6 Band we are putting the final touches on our concert material.   We learned a little bit about musical form this week as we read Beethoven's Ninth.   We pulled out all the similar parts of this piece and after we did that we found that this piece was quite a bit easier to put together.  Students were asked about speaking at concerts and those who would like to play solos.   All students who are interested in "showing something off" at our concert are asked to make sure they have signed up.  This week students are asked to practice Beethoven's Ninth (measures 33-end and 13-21), Let's Go Band (measures 17-25) and First Concert Parade (measures 29-37)

Grade 7 Band
Grade 7's are putting the final touches on their concert music.   We are continuing to work on breathing and phrasing.   We experimented quite a bit with our soft playing.  They are asked to work on Frosty measures 15-31 as well as In the Court of the King beginning to 33.    Percussionists are asked to work on Dance Celebration.    

Grade 8 Band
Grade 8's are also busy getting ready for our concert on the 3rd.  Joy, Shadows Unleashed, Furioso, and Sleigh Ride are the pieces we are getting ready.  Students should be practicing their parts slowly and then increasing the tempo.  Practicing with the recordings is also recommended.

Friday 14 November 2014

Short Week

Reminders:
-Concerts are quickly approaching.   Please make sure concert dates and times are marked on your calendar.
Dec. 2- 7:00p.m. at Campbell - Grade 6 and Junior Winds
Dec. 3 - 7:00p.m. at Campbell - Grade 7 and 8 Bands
-We still have a few t-shirt forms out.  Please return these right away.

Grade 6 Band
The Grade 6's are demonstrating many great things.   This week we went beginning to end of some of our sheet music.   The Grade 6's quickly discovered that one of the challenges of sheet music is the length of time we are playing.  At first it is quite draining on our lips!    Students were asked to practice First Concert Parade, Let's Go Band, and Jingle Bells.   We will be performing all of these at our upcoming concert.  

Grade 7 Band
With the short week we did not have any full band rehearsals.    For those students we saw in sectionals we continued to work on subdividing rhythms, and our concert pieces.    We will be performing Frosty, Largo, Dance Celebration, Bunyip and In the Court of the King.   Students were asked to put practice priority on Frosty and In the Court of the King.

Grade 8 Band
As we prepare for our concert, we are putting the finishing touches on our 4 pieces.  We will be getting another piece at full band next week so that will make 5 pieces for our concert!  We've also just begun using our orange books for the Bach chorale on page 2.



Mon. Day 1 - Nov. 17
7:30 - Junior Winds
9:30 - Massey 7's
10:35 - Massey 8's
12:45 - McVeety Grade 8's
1:30 - McVeety Grade 7's
2:30 - McVeety Grade 6's
3:45-4:30 - Curiosity Club

Tues Day 2 - Nov.18
9:30 -10:30 - Perry, Grant Road, and McVeety Grade 8's
10:35-11:35 - Grant Road, Perry, and McVeety Grade 7's 
12:45 - Massey Grade 6 flutes, clarinets, french horns, and alto saxophones
2:15 -  - Massey Grade 6 trumpets, low brass, and percussion
3:45 -5:00 -  Jazz Band 


Wed.  Day 3 - Nov. 19

9:30 - Grant Road and Perry Grade 6 
10:35 - Massey, McVeety, RCS Grade 6
1:15 - Grant Road Grade 8 Percussion
1:30 - Grant Road Grade 7 Mr. Benjamin and Ms. Sklar
2:30- Grant Road Grade 7 Mr. Sweeney
3:45 - Jazz Band

Thurs. Day 4 Nov. 20
7:30 - 8:30 - Jr. Winds
9:00 - Grade 7 percussion, tuba, euphonium, horn, trombone, Grade 8 flutes and clarinets
9:45 Grade 7 saxophones and trumpet, Grade 8 percussion, alto, tenor saxophones and french horns
10:30- Grade 7 clarinets and flute, Grade 8 bari sax, bass clarinets, tuba. euphoniums, trombone, trumpets
12:45 - Grant Road Grade 6 woodwinds
1:30 - Grant Road Grade 6 french horns and trumpets

2:30- Grant Road Grade 6 low brass

Fri. Nov. 21-  Day 5 - 
9:00 - Perry Grade 7's and 8

9:45 - Perry 8's
10:00 - RCS Grade 6's
10:45 - RCS 7's
10:45 - Grant Road Grade 8's
12:45 - Perry Grade 6 clarinets
1:30 - -  Perry 6  brass and percussion 
2:30 -  Perry 6 flutes and saxophones 


Friday 7 November 2014

Keeping the snow at bay!

Reminders
-We still have some students who have not given us their t-shirt orders.  Please return those this week
-Concerts are quickly approaching.   Students are reminded to take instruments home and to practice

December Concerts
Dec. 2 - Grade 6 and Junior Winds - 7:00p.m. at Campbell
Dec. 3 - Grade 7 and Grade 8 - 7:00p.m. at Campbell

Congratulations!
Congratulations to all Junior Winds Students and all Jazz Band students on a really nice concert on Thursday night.   Thank you to all who came to listen and for the very tasty treats!

In Grade 6 Band
This week in Grade 6 band we started our first sheet music.    This was quite exciting and for some a little stressful.   Students soon realized that sheet music is the similar to putting two or three lines in our book together.   The hard part is not everyone has the same thing at the same time.    In full band we experimented with Our First Concert Parade a little bit.   This piece is a combination of several different folk songs.   The newest concept for us in this piece was the long rest.   Some students are still a little confused with this and we will work at it some more next week.    Students were given the sheet music to Beethoven's Ninth and to Let's Go Band.

Grade 6's also learned three new notes this week.   Two of these are found on Page 11 of our book.  The third is for Let's Go Band.   For most students this involves a sharp note (#).   We described this kind of note as being a little higher than our 4rth note, and a little lower than our 5th note.  We described the "in between" notes as being the sharps and the flats.    We circled in books practice assignments.   For most students this included a couple of lines on Page 12.

In Grade 7 Band
There are many really nice things happening in Grade 7 Band, and students are continuing to keep working at details.   We have warned Grade 7's that we will be checking music to make sure they are writing in the details they are supposed to remember.   Some of these details include breath marks, and dynamic changes as well as writing in the name of the instruments that have melody in particular sections.   This is meant to make sure they know who they are to listen to.

Grade 7's are also reviewing rhythms and rhythm readings.   We are asking students to make sure they are counting and subdividing their music.   We used the rhythms on Page 52 to practice this.   Grade 7's also received the music for Frosty the Snowman this week.    We will be performing this on Dec. 2 and so they are asked to take a look at this.    They were also asked to practice In the Court of the King paying particular attention to their articulations.  



In Grade 8 Band

This week in grade 8 band, we worked on Country Wildflowers and the middle section of Joy.  We are now able to read through all four pieces that we play and are in the midst of getting ready for our Winter concert on Wednesday, December 3rd.  Students should continue to work on Country Wildflowers and Joy for next week.  There is no full band next week.  Our next full band is on Monday, November 17 and Tuesday, November 18.


Wed.  Day 3 - Nov. 12
9:30 - Grant Road and Perry Grade 6 
10:35 - Massey, McVeety, RCS Grade 6
1:15 - Grant Road Grade 8 Percussion
1:30 - Grant Road Grade 7 Mr. Benjamin and Ms. Sklar
2:30- Grant Road Grade 7 Mr. Sweeney
3:45 - Jazz Band

Thurs. Day 4 Nov. 13 
7:30 - 8:30 - Jr. Winds
9:00 Grade 7 saxophones and trumpet, Grade 8 percussion, alto, tenor saxophones and french horns
10:30- Grade 7 clarinets and flute, Grade 8 bari sax, bass clarinets, tuba. euphoniums, trombone, trumpets

10:45 - Grade 7 percussion, tuba, euphonium, horn, trombone, Grade 8 flutes and clarinets
12:45 - Grant Road Grade 6 french horns and trumpets
1:30- Grant Road Grade 6 low brass
2:30 - Grant Road Grade 6 woodwinds

Fri. Nov. 14 -  Day 5 - 
9:00 - Perry Grade 7's and 8
9:45 - Perry 8's
10:00 - RCS Grade 6's
10:45 - RCS 7's
10:45 - Grant Road Grade 8's
12:45 -  Perry 6  brass and percussion 
1:30 -  Perry 6 flutes and saxophones 
2:30 - Perry Grade 6 clarinets