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WAYLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL BANDS
Current Assignments
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Included on this page are:
Term 1 Requirements
In order to improve, the young musician must be practicing.
I recommend at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
These times do not include the time you are in private lessons or rehearsal.
To really make progress, students should be practicing 30 minutes every day.
In reality, that kind of schedule is almost impossible for many of us;
on busy days, practice some tough spots for 5 minutes and put it away.
150 minutes a week is the goal; more than that can count as enrichment --
turn in practice charts for enrichment .
Enrichment is encouraged and can count for up to 10 points. It is difficult to get an A without enrichment points.
(No one can get an A or A- without completing the term requirements.)
See
the Grading Triangle for more info on how you earn your grade in band.
Enrichment is needed in order to get an A. You may receive up to 10 enrichment points per term. Get enrichment done early, too, then you don't have to think about it. Need ideas? You can always do extra scales (worth 2 points) or skill licks (4 points), or mini-projects or go to concerts (extra points for a writeup). Your private lessons count (any instrument or voice) as do dance classes, ensembles, recital, etc. Follow the link for ideas.
CONCERTS:
Concerts are a important part of our curriculum and are not optional (besides, who'd want to miss the moment all the hard work comes together!!). Follow the link for more info and our concert dates, concert dress, etc.
If you miss a concert...
Ideally the student attends all concerts, but
there are occasions where the musician must miss the concert
(sickness, a death in the family or other unavoidable
circumstances). If the absence is an excused absence, the
student may do the concert make-up assignment and receive
full credit for the concert and be eligible for the year end
awards. (If it is an unexcused absence -- he had to go
shopping or she forgot -- the student may do the make up and
earn the points toward the grade, but will not be eligible
for a year end responsibility award.)
For most concerts, the make-up assignment is twofold:
- First, make a recording of yourself playing the
pieces that we played on the concert.
- Second, interview three other people & write a
review of the concert. (Don't just turn in the interview
notes, write a review!)
Before you start the interview, be sure to pick up
the instructions because there are some specific
requirements. See MsM.
MARCHING BAND!
We march for the Wayland Memorial Day Parade on Memorial Day (this counts as one of the concerts). Call time is 10:00 at the middle school and the step-off is 11:00.
For the parade, we put both Concert Band and Symphonic Band together to create one big marching band of 100+ members! We work hard to have nice straight lines, play our music well and look sharp (and we usually really do look and sound great!)
Rehearsals happen during flex as usual, except there will be one full rehearsal of the entire band on a Wednesday after school (usually a week and a half before Memorial Day - check the workshop schedule as we get closer). We need everyone to attend this rehearsal if at all possible - yes, I know some of you will have to rearrange lessons and other schedule things, but it make a huge difference to our performance (THANKS!).
PARADE MAKEUP
Sometimes students have family commitments on Memorial Day; as long as I know ahead of time, you will have an excused absense. The makeup is a bit different than the concert makeups; our participation in the Memorial Day parade is a community service, so the makeup also involves community service:
- Do one hour of community service
- Make a recording of yourself playing the piece we are marching to - play it once standing still and once marking time.
Be sure to pick up an assignment sheet to get the full information.
(Students should come to all marching rehearsals and workshops, even if not attending the parade, to get the learning and experience.)
EXAMS (Playing tests)
All good programs have students prepare and play assignments for the teacher! No different than math class or World Language class! For us, it happens informally each term, but more formally twice a year as "Exams".
Mid-year exams begin in January and include scales, a prepared selection of
music assigned from our concert music that we are preparing
for the band fest, and a sight-reading based on rhythms that
we have been working on in workshops.
Year end exams will
begin in May. Requirements are a bit different than the
midyear and eighth graders will be doing their final
sight-reading / rhythm reading assessment. The results of
this assessment will be sent to Mr. O so he has some idea of
your reading skills.
For all exams:
- Chromatic
scale (memorized) is a definite part of the exam;
keep it under your fingers!
- All assessment forms & requirement sheets are
available on the stage.
- Included on the exam pages are copies of the
assessment forms - students should look them over to
better know how to prepare for the performance. Mid-term
exam sheets are different than final sheets.
- And then there is the question, "Why
Band Exams??"
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