Holten Richmond Middle School Bands

So two big events are coming up: the IAJE jazz festival on May 6th, and the MICCA solo and ensemble festival on May 10th.  For those of you who will be in jazz band, you might understand the pressures these bands are feeling, as well as the excitement of playing for kids from other schools and judges who will declare how we did!  Those who are interested in playing in small groups should know about the solo & ensemble event.  This year we're taking a flute quartet (4 flutes) who are pretty much self-motivated kids and they love to play.  This event will put them before a judge—a music teacher who gets paid to help students improve and give comments and an award—and then wait for results.  In both cases students listen to others performing on their instruments, and usually find out that, as much as we love our own school, we're not the only music program around, and there are actually some really good musicians out there!  So get out there and listen to someone else, or form a small group and play some chamber music (music played by a small ensemble of 2, 3, 4, or up to 12 students).  If you need some help figuring out what to play, come see me for ideas, or go to a music store and check for books with the instruments you want.  Another great source is http://jwpepper.com for searches of any instrumentation you can think of.  Go ahead and give it a try!

So the new website has this place for a blog.  Does the band need a blog?  Probably not.  Could it help?  Perhaps.  Send your comments and I'll see what I can do.  Maybe we'll like having this blog space.  Got something to say?  Let me know, and maybe we can put it up here!  Hey, did you listen to the newest podcast?  I did, and loved it!

Sitting here, in the chorus room on conference day.  Waited the first hour for anyone to come in, probably because everyone goes to their team classes first, to see the paper portfolio.  Suddenly we were swamped!  It's great to have parents come in and be interested in what's happening in ALL the classes!  I find out things that don't always come out in class, such as "she" or "he" is planning to be in the HS band for the Rose Parade!  Well, how cool is that?  "She" or "he" is practicing regularly (or not, in some cases) and getting a great grade. 

Some thoughts on practice: we practice because we love our instrument and music!  We practice to get better at playing, so that we don't sound like the younger kids, and so we can keep up with older brothers or sisters, or even mom and dad, and make music together!  We write it down on a card to keep track of it, but that's incidental to playing what we love!  We buy books of movie themes, Disney songs, songs we love and play all those at home.  The practice card is simply a record of playing what we love.  Just think about it a little.

I love meeting parents here, and will answer questions via e-mail or phone!  Mr. C