Practice...Practice...Practice!
The Thomas Jefferson bands have the potential to be excellent. Some of the students are working hard and playing very well. Others are not practicing and are struggling to keep up. Practicing at home allows the students time to experiment and find out how to improve their technique and the quality of their sound. It helps build muscle memory to support proper playing skills. It allows students to take the music at a speed that works for them so they can perfect challenging sections of the music that may be too hard at the speed we play it in class. If you need some suggestions for improving home practice sessions, please see the "Practice Makes Perfect" links in the right column of this web page. Practice is a critical element which can make the difference between success and failure in any performance based group.
Practice sheets will go from Friday through Thursday. Parents should sign them Thursday night or Friday morning and the sheets should be turned in on Friday. Friday night they will start a new one. The practice sheet shows lines for 2 weeks. You may either turn them in every 2 weeks, or every week. Your choice. The practice sheets will be available at school or at the link below on this web page.
After we get into the playing test process each trimester, selected students in periods 5 & 6 who are doing a great job on playing tests can be excused from turning in practice sheets as long as their playing tests stay at a high level. This will include the scheduled weekly tests and pop quizzes. Wind Ensemble students must complete all 12 major scales and the chromatic scale in order to be excused from turning in the practice sheets.
Some of the students still don't have the Accent on Achievement books we use almost daily in class. This is making it difficult for them to practice what we are playing in class and to do the weekly playing tests. If you don't already have one, please get your book as soon as possible. Get Book 1 for periods 2 and 7, Book 2 for period 5, and Book 3 for period 6. If you can't afford to buy the book, please let me know so we can find funding to provide one. I know that times are hard for many during this economic downturn and finances should not deny any student the opportunity to take band and to have required equipment.
SmartMusic is an excellent practice tool. It can help make practice more fun and give instant feedback for which notes are correct and which notes are wrong in books 1 and 2 for Accent on Achievement. If you would like to explore the potential for this, please visit the SmartMusic link provided under "Practice Tools" in the right column of this web page. Since our school has an initial license for this program, you can purchase this for a year for the group rate.
If you have questions, please send them to me via the e-mail link at the top of the page.
Assignments
WASHINGTON STATE ARTS INFORMATION
