A reminder of the upcoming Winter Concerts (Everyone): Thursday Dec 10 (7-8pm), Friday Dec 11 (block 1 for school).
For the evening concert, performers should be ready in the warmup room
no later than 6:45pm. I suggest arriving early and taking some time to
find a nice seat and families can peruse the craft fair while the bands
warm up.
All students should be wearing their band uniform:
Grade 6: black pants/skirt with black tights, black shoes, and band shirt (shirts are supplied by the band department)
Grade 7&8: black pants/skirt with tights, black shoes, and
black/white collared shirt, and a band tie (ties are supplied by the
band department).
What music should my child be able to play?
Grade 7's are preparing three pieces : Sleigh Ride, Little Star, We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Sound files are available to listen to, and practice with here: /course/view.php?id=150
As a concert finale, the grade 6, 7, and 8 bands will play a
"showstopper" piece entitled "Holiday Singalong". Students will be
receiving this music in class this week or next week. Each grade will
play a small section of the piece and then end the piece playing
together as a 210+ member band! It will be spectacular to hear the music
as the skill level progresses and we end as a massive band! We will be
spending alot of time going over it in class prior to the Winter
Concert.
What about practicing? My child is nervous about the concert...
Students
should be practicing these pieces regularly at home to feel confident
for their concert. To make practicing more enjoyable, I encourage
students to play along with the accompaniment soundfiles (mentioned above), and/or invite a band friend over to practice and
play together. Feeling nervous about a performance is a normal and
natural feeling performers experience. To overcome this nervousness,
musicians should regularly perform for audiences at home. Start with an
impromptu mini-performance of a favourite song out of the band book.
Introduce yourself, instrument, and what piece you will play. After
performing the family/friends audience will applaud and the performer
will take a bow. It'll feel wonderful to overcome the nervous energy and
feel a sense of accomplishment!