April 18, 2008 blog

The Sixth Grade Band is preparing for our Spring Concert and Assembly in late April.

Our Spring Concert will be held on Wednesday evening April 29th as part of Spring Concert 1. The concert will take place at 7:30pm at West Rocks MS. The 6th Grade Concert Band, 6th Grade Chorus and 6th Grade Orchestra will take part in this annual event.

If any parent is unable to attend the evening performance, they are reminded that the same program will be presented the day before on Tuesday for a portion of the school.

The concert dress for both the assembly and the evening performance will be the same. Students are required to wear a white-collar shirt, black pants and shoes. Boys wear a necktie.

April 5, 2008

Awesome! That would be the word I would use to describe last Wednesday night's Sixth Grade Band Concert. As I said that night, the concert is my favorite of all concerts that I'm a part of at West Rocks. It is so rewarding as a teacher to see the progress the students have made in such a short period of time. It's also fun to see the reaction of the kids when performing in front of people (even if it's family) for the first time. The jitters seem to disappear as soon as the first notes of the warm-up have been performed.

I would like to thank everyone for making the night such a great success. Thank you for baking, bringing in beverages, ice, paper products, setting up, cleaning up. Most of all, I would like to thank you for the words of praise and encouragement after the concert. The heart felt compliments are greatly appreciated.

The Sixth Grade Band now prepares for our Spring Assembly and Concert at West Rocks on April 29th and 30th at West Rocks. The kids need to wear concert attire, (white collar shirt or blouse, black slacks, dark socks and shoes, and boys a tie).

See you there.

March 15, 2007

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The long awaited sixth grade band concert is approaching. The concert is schedules for Wednesday, April 2nd at 7:00pm in the West Rocks Auditorium.

This week, I am giving the students their final 2 band pieces, “America” which we will perform at Norwalk’s Annual Memorial Day Parade on May 26th as well as at our band concert. The second piece is a rock piece called “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”. It will feature a terrific sixth grade drummer named Chris on drum set.

During the concert on April 2nd, the sixth grade band will be performing 6 pieces altogether. In addition, each instrument in the band family will perform a piece which is specifically chosen for them. There will be a short reception immediately following the program. This is a great opportunity for me to meet parents, and put a name with a voice that I might have spoken with on the telephone.

Your child has worked very hard since the beginning of the school year, and I hope you will be able to join us. I know you will be as proud of them as I am.

We’re off and running!

I’m very excited about this year’s sixth grade concert band. We have graduated from doing nothing but working out of our method book the entire time, to sprinkling in some band pieces to reinforce what they have learned in their books.

We are approaching page 20 in our book, and on Friday began working on our third band piece. The piece, entitled “The Tempest” is an energetic piece written by Robert W. Smith. The work is more challenging and demanding than the other we have been working on, but I feel the sixth grade band is definitely up to the task.

Sixth Grade Band Receives First Band Piece

On Friday, December 14th, the sixth grade band received their first full band arrangement. The piece, written by Robert Sheldon, is called “Coldwater Creek”. It features our clarinet section, but every instrument in the band has a nice part to play.

The sixth grade students have been working very hard since September, and have earned the right to receive their first piece. We are now approaching page 19 in our method book. It is at this point that the students have learned enough fundamentals to understand the writings in this band work. It also reinforces what I have been stressing since day one, which is Band is a team! We could not have had the success that we all felt on Friday if the following we not true: We must have strong, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, french horns, baritone horns, trombones, tubas, and percussion players to make our team successful. We have that!

After we can run through the entire piece of “Coldwater Creek”, I will give the students another piece. There will be six pieces in all, (including America, the piece we will be performing at this year’s Memorial Day Parade) before we perform our first concert scheduled for April 2nd at 7:00pm in the West Rocks auditorium.

No one likes to practice every day, 2 hours per week, sometimes you’re too tired, or you don’t think you’re getting anywhere. Keep practicing, good things will happen. I’m very excited about this group.

September 15, 2007:

The sixth grade band is now fully underway. There are 70 musicians in the sixth grade band. There is solid instrumentation, with each person doing his/her part to make the group successful.

Just some reminders from me:

I ask each member of the band to practice 2 hours per week. That's 20 minutes a night with one day off. Practicing a couple of hours per week isn't a lot, and it's all it takes to be successful.

Record your practice time each week by using the practice card. Before each lesson have mom or dad sign the card. It tells mom and dad, Mr. B and the student himself just how much practice has been done on the instrument. Remember the card is worth 10% of your quarterly grade.

Important, before each lesson report to your regularly scheduled class to pick up your homework. The core teachers make it very clear that they are happy to let you attend a lesson, however, you are responsible for anything that goes on during class. Don't blow the privilege, get your homework first.

Be sure to pick up your instrument at the end of the school day. Remember, if something happens to your instrument in the evening while it is in the cage, it is your responsibility. Oh yeah, if it's in the cage then you can't practice it !!!!

Don't be afraid to approach me with a comment or question. I want your band experience to be successful as well. The better musician you become, the better concert we will have in April.

-PRIOR YEAR 6TH GRADE BAND BLOG

Bring your camera, your gradma, your brothers and sisters because it is now offical. The long awaited Sixth Grade Band Concert will take place on Wednesday, April 4th. We are currently putting the finishing touches on our 6th band piece and are very excited about the sound. Don't worry about seeing your child if he or she is a drummer or trumpet player and sits in the rear of the band. Another feature of the concert gives each lesson group the opportunity to shine as they perform up close and personal a piece which was chosen exclusively for their instrument.

I hope you plan on attending the reception which immediately follows the concert. The kids receive a well-deserved reward, and I have a chance to meet parents. An entertaining night of music is guaranteed.

December 11, 2006

The 6th grade band continues to improve each and every week. The group has graduated from doing only method book 24/7 to sprinkling in some concert band pieces. Using the band pieces is an interesting and fun way to reinforce some of the band concepts the kids have learned. The concert band piece that we are working on was written by Robert Sheldon and is called "Coldwater Creek". The melody of the piece is found in the clarinet but each section of the band has some interesting parts to play.

Using the band pieces reinforces something that I have told the kids from day 1 and that is "Band is a Team"! In order for the band to be successful we need strong musicians on each instrument.

Just 5 more pieces and we'll be ready for our first concert. Keep the daily practice going and call me if you have any questions.