Monocacy Middle School :: Mustang Band Home Page

Mustang Band :: Home Page

Winter Concert a Hit!

Monocacy Middle students once again made us proud by showing off what they are capable of on the Winter Concert last December. There were some challenging pieces on the program that required students to raise their ability level. Impressive to say the least! Join us for the Spring affair on May 13 at Frederick Community College.

No more fundraisers

Thank you parents for the generous donations you have made to the band and orchestra this year. You have contributed more than $700.00! We have already been able to purchase all the music for this year. Without your support there would be no new music.

Hershey Trip Is On

The annual trip to Hersheypark is back on! 7th & 8th grade band and orchestra students are eligible for this trip on May 22 . More detailed information will come home in the future.

Jazz Band

Monocacy will have a Jazz Band for the second half of the year. It will meet on Thursday afternoons until 4:30.

Parent Band?

Dust off that old instrument and play on the concert with your kid(s). Any interest in forming a parent band? We would meet a few times in the evening before the May concert. No worries - middle school level music. Let me know if you are interested. - charles.berry@fcps.org

What Research Says

Music and visual arts involvement allows kids to achieve at higher levels in many areas. This short artical is chock full of statistics about grades, standardized tests, dropping out in high school, behavior, and tv watching.

Click on the links below to see some of the previous information posted here.

Check out these new TV ad's by Disney that promote having kids involved in the arts . Americans For The Arts is a group that advocates for the arts. Parents overwhelmingly understand the importance of the arts, but most children in American schools do not receive enough "arts nutrition". The website wll explain more about this.

View this short PowerPoint presentation to see some of the latest research about music and learning, and music and life. A list of ten eye opening findings about music and kids. Top Ten List.

"Can Music Make Us More Intelligent?" show's how music makes us smarter. This article appeared in the Septemper 20,2006 Washington Post: Music Benefits kids' Brains

SmartMusic

SmartMusic is a computer program that has hundreds of solos for your son or daughter to play along with, as well as several of the pieces we will learn in class year. Also on Smartmusic is a high quality tuner, and a metronome. Both of those alone make the $30.00 price well worth it. Most of the playing tests your child will have in band will be on SmartMusic. If he or she has it at home, they can be downloaded from this website SmartMusic, practiced, performed, and the grade can be sent back to Mr. Berry. SmartMusic has recently been upgraded to allow percussionists to benefit from this incredible computer program. See this letter for more information SmartMusic letter

Sincerely,

Charles Berry
Director of Bands