Dear Sanborn Band Parents:
We are up and running!
Thank you for all you have done so far to get us off to a good start.
Just to make sure that you all know how things work. I am giving you a little bit of a description of what Tuesday mornings look like, and how things went this morning.
ADVANCED BAND: 7:30 – 8:10
There are five members of the fifth grade with one year of Bancroft Band under their belts. They meet at 7:30, and are continuing their progression as musicians. They are working out of Standard of Excellence, Book 2 (the blue book), and will be completing weekly assignments out of that. They have all been invited to be “mentors” in the Beginning Band, and were a tremendous help for me this morning. Mentors will be dismissed from beginning band in time to get to their classrooms by 7:45.
BEGINNING BAND: 8:10 – 8:50
At this time, there are nine members of the Beginning Band. Fourteen members total for the Sanborn Band is a good number! Yesterday morning, we learned about how everything will work, about how to sit, about how to assemble and disassemble this instruments, and we all made our first band sound. It took us a little too long to pack up and clean up, but we’ll get that machine running smoothly in no time.
WHERE DO WE KEEP THE INSTRUMENTS?
Mrs. Waddell and I have safe space for folks to keep their instruments during that day on Mondays in the vestibule of the music room, and then toward the end of the day, they can come get it to take it home. We want to discourage the practice of leaving them at school overnight. They are safer in your possession, and they aren’t getting practiced if they aren’t at home.
PARENT PRESENCE IN BAND
Parents are always welcome to attend band class. I have always said (maybe joking, maybe not) that behavior and work quality is always better when parents are in the room, not just the kids, but mine too.
PUNCTUALITY AND RELIABILITY
A huge part of the success for individuals and for the group is that we are all there every week and on time. Thank you in advance for everything you do to this end. I am the father of a young musician and am all too aware of the challenges of this, but I assure you there is a great dividend when we all pull it off!
COMMUNICATIONS
Each week, at my first opportunity, you will receive and e-mail with a quick summary of that week’s class, and an assignment for next time. I would be grateful if you could help our musicians keep on top of this.
I also post all communications on this site, so that you can easily find them without digging through e-mail accounts. I encourage you to bookmark it for easy access.
THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENTS:
Advanced Band: Book 2: Page 3-4. Please get comfortable with all exercises. Play with a beautiful sound!
Beginning Band: Book 1: Page 2-5. Please read, and try the first three notes. Be sure you practice in a good chair that lets you sit right up and breath correctly. Percussionist, practice standing up!
TROMBONES????
If there is anyone in the beginning group who is possible interested in considering a switch before we get to into it, we have need for trombones across the district. There is a very large number of saxophones and clarinets, and an opportunity to make an important impact for anyone who might want to give trombone a try. It looks big, but actually weighs less than a saxophone, is less expensive, and is a lot of fun. A fourth grader may not be quite big enough to get all the way out to “seventh position”, but by the time one really needs it, that eventual growth spirt will likely have happened!
Again, thank you, and I very much look forward to a great year!
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