First, I'd like thank you all for such reliable and punctual attendance so far. It makes a big difference!
This morning we got up and running pretty quickly. They've made good strides in everything we set out to learn this week. Please continue to encourage regular practice and good posture. They know how to do it!
We were all able to play our first three notes together as a band, and use them in some of the exercises on page 6.
Next week, our goal is to be able to play exercises together from pages 6 and 7. This means that they will need to be aware of whole notes, whole rests, half notes, and half rests. They will also need to review our first three notes, and be sure that they can identify them by note name, position on the musical staff, and their fingerings (or position on the bell set for percussion).
I am aware that our 5th grade members will be off at Outdoor Ed. 4th graders will meet as scheduled and we will see what we can accomplish. I will update you all via e-mail to let you know what has been done, and see what we can do to have the 5th graders prepare to move on. I absolutely understand that Outdoor Ed. Will mean a suspension of practice for a few days. We will all be back on track and on the same page in no time.
In case this is helpful, some band instruments 'transpose", meaning that their note names calibrate up or down the scale from standard of "concert" pitch names. The notes we are learning this week are concert D, C, and B-flat. (That is E, D, and C for clarinet and trumpet; B, A, and G for alto sax; A, G, and F for French horn, and D, C, and B-flat [concert pitch] for flute, oboe, trombone, and percussion. I would be happy to bore you with an explanation of why this us upon request. We will work up to that with the kids.
Everyone is off to a good start. You will be recognizing melodies before you know it! Thank you for your patience and encouragement at home. Looking forward to next Wednesday morning!
All the best,
Joe Wright
Bancroft Band
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