ACS Band Newsletter – 3/9

This Week – Guest Performance (3/11) & No School (3/13)

On Wednesday, March 11th, middle school students will enjoy a special performance by Trio Azura! You can read more about them here: https://bellinghamfestival.org/outreach/play-it-forward-residency/

We will not have class on Friday, March 13th.

It is vital students practice at home this week to offset not having instruction.

Student Practice List:

Metronome marking for this week – 100 bpm

Online Metronome: https://www.metronomeonline.com/

Salt and Spray Measures 48 – 56
Salt and Spray Measures 15 – 23
Salt and Spray Measures 7 – 15

Review – At Home Practice

In a nutshell, for at-home practice, students should:

Clear their space of distractions
Rinse their mouth before playing AND do not consume anything but water until after they are finished practicing
Start with the fundamentals like breathing, long tones, etc. (i.e. in our class “Foundation Fundamentals” or “Framework Fundamentals”)
With a metronome (check the links section below for an online metronome), practice the assigned measures OR measures the student knows to be difficult slowly.
If a mistake is made, stop, go back, and play it slower.
Practice something fun! YouTube has wealth of resources to help students learn songs they find “fun” or “catchy.” Parental supervision is encouraged, of course. Amazon and Bellingham Wind Works also have physical music books that cover a wide variety of genres: pop music, movie music, jazz, classical, you name it!

10-15 minutes of practice a day is ideal; students should not be “cramming” an hour or so of practice the night before class. We are training our ears and muscles to play music, and proper practice stretched out over the course of a few days can and will make a world of difference.

Thank You / Links

If you made it this far, thank you! I love making music with the kids, as they are a very energetic group! Below, you will find a list of links including an online metronome, tuner, and several practice videos.

Salt and Spray – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzyL8Z9Le40&list=RDJzyL8Z9Le40&start_radio=1

Metronome – https://share.google/FLbha6AifSJpX7dpA

Tuner – https://share.google/0bt2ghcuq3T3jM4af

For Fun!

Theme from “Bluey”

Flute – https://youtu.be/6awzCOLi2bQ?si=sELekmMs25Cu2Iat

Clarinet – https://youtu.be/OhDi6QiG0Y0?si=KVzNQtPICQkBG9ze

Movie Studio Themes

Trumpet – https://youtu.be/KHWHQBbEz7E?si=KLG-RpwSY2aFdjq_

Never Gonna Give You Up (Yes, the “Rick Roll” Song)

Trombone – https://youtu.be/5k5cVZv3Enw?si=L9Cnc4x3nJCVht3R

OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars”