What should Grade 7 Band students be practicing?
Grade 7's should practice their warm up sheet (Concert Bb Scale, thirds, arpeggios, etc). After about 30 minutes of playing their mouth will begin to feel fatigued and that is a good time to clean/dry the inside of the instrument (please do not use water on instruments...use the swab and cleaning kit). As a reminder "Happy Birthday" notation is due on the first band class of the following week.
How frequently should my child be practicing?
Approx 4 times per week outside of class time. More frequently is better...daily is best! The band room is open at lunch from 12:30-12:55 pm for students to practice alone or with friends (more fun).
What supplies should my child have for at-home practice?
Instrument, band book, pencil, music stand, comfortable-sturdy chair (or they can practice while standing), cleaning kit, and access to a computer/dvd/cd player. Our band book has a great dvd videos to show students how to assemble their instrument, hold it properly, form an embouchure, and has a play-along track to each exercise. Those families still needing to purchase the TOE Book 2, please send $15 payment to the school asap so that we can get moving ahead with our musical journey.
Weekly Update:
This week we learned what is mentioned above, and also began to review the language of music notation. Terminology and symbols including: Staff, rhythm, key signature, time signature, breath marks, fermata, barlines, double barline, stem direction, clef, and composer/arranger.
Next week is a PE week, with instrumental masterclasses as follows (during silent reading):
Monday: Saxes
Tuesday: Brass
Wednesday: Grade 8 Band
Thursday: Flutes and Mallet percussion
Friday: Clarinet and Bass Clarinet
Students must attend masterclass with their instrument, band book, and pencil.
Thank you to the great work of our Grade 7 Band mentors as they began to share their musical expertise with the Grade 6 Beginning Band students during masterclass this week.