WAYLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL BANDS

Last updated 04/26/2008

Welcome to the Wayland Middle School Band Web Site!!!

Check this space frequently for timely announcements.

WMS Bands - Memorial Day, 2004 - nice straight lines!

End of year playing tests (band exams) begin soon (May 12). The spring exams are a bit different in that students may choose what music to play, or even whether or not to do a preformance! (Of course, you get more points if you do a performance.) Scales and sight-reading are required for 6&7th grade, and 8th graders have a comprehensive rhythm sight-reading that must be done. Signups will be posted this week (April 28). I am looking forward to hearing each student and being able to send them off into the summer with some big compliments and some things to work on! Follow the link for the requirements, hints for preparation and links to the assessment sheets. (Please remember, if a student feels the assignment is too hard, I will always come up with an assignment that seems the right level to the student -- no lost points. I want the student to be able to show off, not panic.)

Our SPRING CONCERT is right after April vacation, Wednesday, April 30. Wow - the days move so fast! Wind Ensemble has been wonderful this year. We have one rehearsal left and then we play at the spring concert! Stage Band, too, has been lots of fun; we have only two rehearsals left for the year and we also play at the spring concert.

On to the last term of the year! Wow, hard to believe. Workshop Schedule - The term requirements are the same (2 scales & one skill lick for winds; 1 rudiment, 1 scale, 1 drum skill lick, 1 mallet skill lick for percussion) and there will be an end of year playing exam in May. We have started our last series of workshops and many students in symphonic band have already done all of their gradeouts for the term! They can relax now!! REQUIRED WORKSHOPS ARE: 1 regular workshop, 1 concert workshop, 2 Sousa workshops. There are two weeks of makeups.

Jazz Band to IAJE (International Association of Jazz Educators) Festival. Be aware that the date on the school calendar and in the recent newsletter was incorrect. The actual date is the one I have sent home, Tuesday, May 13. Times will be out soon; I do know that we play at 6:30, so there will be after school homework time. More later...

PRACTICE: Early in term three we did a workshop on Practice Practicing. Efficient practice is a skill and it needs to be practiced, so that isn't as silly as it sounds. Students should be filling out a "Practice Practicing" sheet that was passed out at the workshop and it is due this week. Sheets may also be done for enrichment.

Students should be practicing every day, even on band and lesson days. BUT... I tell them if it is a really busy day (soccer practice, religious ed, dance lesson and tons of homework!), just play for 5 minutes. It helps keep the practice habit going. Practice sheets are optional, but every 10 minutes over 150 minutes in a week counts for a point of enrichment (10 points max) and I love to see what the students are doing for their practice, even if it isn't for enrichment points. New practice record sheets are available in the band room or printed from the website (follow link).

The Jazz Band & Stage Band rehearsal schedule is posted.

Thinking about private lessons? It is a GREAT idea for all students! Advanced students, behind students and average students all benefit. Follow the link for a list of teachers in the area. In 99% of cases, middle school students should be working with an adult and not with one of the high school tutors. Talk to me if you are unsure...

Continuing Announcements

Looking to purchase some music? Good music stores are hard to find these days and I, personally, really miss being able to walk into a store and browse for things.. There are a couple of really good on-line stores -- Sheet Music Plus and JW Pepper are two of them. If you access Sheet Music Plus through this link, I get an 8% rebate from your purchase, which I will be putting into our instrument fund* at school. I haven't used Sheet Music Plus enough to personally know that it is a good source, but it was recommended by MENC (our music teachers national association), so I have trust in the site. JW Pepper is where I purchase our band music.

*What is the instrument fund? I used this fund for many things: to purchase a percussion instrument or music that we need midyear after the budget money is gone, to purchase an instrument we need, but can't afford in the budget (our new drumset, a piccolo...), to purchase the year-end awards, to give a deserving student a scholarship for private lessons for the summer, to purchase supplies for the digital recording team's work, and to fund other things that come up. This year, I hope to purchase a trophy case for our awards and pictures; we used to have one, but it got literally covered up by wall board as the new theatre was being built!

Be sure my email addresses are in your address book so that your spam programs don't kick out my messages! Home: muffitt@bandnotes.info - and during the daytime, School: muffitt@wayland.k12.ma.us

Thinking about Private Lessons? Follow the link to a list of teachers in the area. If you know of other great teachers that should be on the list - let me know. By the time students are in middle school, they should be studying with an adult teacher who really knows how to teach and knows pitfalls to watch for and knows ways to help solve problems. Our high school tutor program is fantastic for motivating the young player, but in middle school, it is time to move to an adult. Email/call me if you have questions.

Looking for practice charts? Follow the link. Be sure to fill out EVERYTHING (times, what was practiced, signatures, name...). Practice charts are not required, but I do like to see how much students are practicing and any practice over 150 minutes a week counts as enrichment points toward the student's grade.

Practicing... sometimes fun, sometimes a chore. Parents, you children do need you to nag because there are often days when other things would be more fun, but the practice must be done. MINIMUM is 5 days a week for 20 minutes -- more if the student wants to progress and become a really fine player. Rehearsals and lessons do NOT count as practice. On a busy day, have the student do 5 minutes, just to keep in the habit.

Practice is not just running over pieces, it is working carefully and slowly over small sections of the music, over and over and over again. For suggestions on efficient practice see the section, Practice Practicing. Even if you are not a musician, you can help your child by asking him/her to play for you and encouraging working on tough spots.

MusicTheory.net - this site helps you learn almost everything there is to know about reading music! Need help learning to read the note names? Want to learn more about advanced chords? Want to learn to compose with minor scales? It's all here for you

High School Pages -- info (Jr. & Sr. District, All-State, links) for our HS students.

How about a music/arts camp for this summer! Check our listing and maybe go visit -- it's funny, I created this camp page years ago for Wayland kids and it still turns up at the top of the pile when searching for music camps! I get requests at least once a month for me to add some place to the list, so it is quite extensive!

There are some interesting concerts coming up; see below for more info

These were Summer suggestions:, but they are worth looking at all year!

• A few weeks of private lessons are best (follow link for a list of teachers)! Summer is such a good time for lessons, because the student can really focus on learning skills instead of preparing performance music.
• Some of our other private teachers offer jazz ensemble coaching, theory, composition, etc. Check the ensemble coaching / theory & composition section of the private lesson page.
• Go over to one of the music stores (Liberty, Sudbury Music, online at Sheet Music Plus or JWPepper.com) and buy some of the easy movie theme books or pop tunes books for messing around. Some come with CDs for accompaniment. Follow the link for a starting list of fun song books suggestions
• Suggest that friends come over and that they play together. Perhaps even find some easy duet books. (Arrange for ensemble coaching in your house)
• Suggest that he/she play through old music or practice sight-reading by playing through old lesson book exercises that haven't been played in a while.
• Work through the lessons in the lesson book that haven't yet been done, as if a teacher had assigned them. Practice them for a week before moving on. (This isn't as good as having a teacher because no one is checking to see that new things are done correctly, but at least it provides some structure!)
• Remind him/her to practice the chromatic scale at every practice session!!
• Purchase some music software to mess with (some need midi keyboards, some don't - check specs!)
  • Music Lessons helps students get better at note reading & learning key signatures, and teaches about more advanced theory like creating chords & some ear training
  • Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory for the serious musician
  • Smart Music Studio has computer accompaniments to solos that actually follow the student's tempos!
  • Band-In-A-Box is great for practicing jazz improvisation with a backup band
  • Making Music & Making More Music for messing around with composing for students who haven't done any composing (see my comments below)
  • Music Ace & Professor Piccolo are both for the younger set, but I find that middle school kids enjoy and learn from them, too.

I like my band students to intellectualize about a piece before they play it. Sometimes we focus on "hearing with our eyes", but as we (Symphonic Band) began the piece, Tame the Savage Sea by Elliot Del Borgo, I asked the students to write a paragraph about what would this piece sound like if YOU were the composer. I asked them to think about a story line and talk about instruments and musical techniques that they might use. What I got back tells me that they are truly beginning to understand how music works! This is only a small sampling of wonderful work I got from the kids; there are at least 25 others that I would be equally glad to post here -- the choosing was a bit random.

WGBH has a wonderful webpage demonstrating five instruments from Japan; you can click on their pictures individually to hear the sound, or put more than one together to create a larger composition. Try starting with one or two and adding others after a few measures, then deleting some, etc. See what you come up with! While looking at instruments and music from other countries, check out our pages on "Music From Where?" It includes Chinese music, traditional Jewish music & Klezmer, Latin American Music and music from India.

Private lessons really help you improve - they are good for all levels of students. Beginners and those a bit behind can catch up, intermediate students can become our better players and advanced players can become our superstars! See the Private Lesson Teacher List on the website for suggestions. Middle school students should have adult teachers, not the high school students. The high school tutor program is great for increasing the interest level of the elementary students, but the high school students do not have the expertise to actually teach.

A lot of people have been sending me concert announcements, so I have created a new concert announcement section on this page.

Some interesting pages on our website that relate to what we have studied recently are:

• Brian Kay's Trombone Pages -- many of our students study with Brian and his website offers a lot of info for beginning and advanced trombonists! Check it out. Two links to check out - one for how to clean a trombone slide: brassstages.com/resource/slidecare.html, and the other, also aimed primarily at trombonists, but also contains fun music for young trombone or brass players: brassstages.com/resource/funmusiclist.html. Both of these are pages from Brian Kay's website - I strongly recommend all brass players check out his information.
• Other instrumentalists? Check out our Music Links page for LOTS of interesting webpages!
• Marching Bands -why, what is the difference between street marching and field shows, what about corp marching and military marching?
• The Wayland Historical Society has a wonderful picture of a Wayland Military Band from around the1890s. With the Society's permission, I have posted this wonderful picture! Check it out!
• "PDQ Bach" (the "last and least of J.S. Bach's children" - and totally fictitious!)
• THE MUSIC MAN - a web page for our symphonic band members to learn more about the musical. Most of the research was done by Monika Bernotas for her mini-project - thanks, Monika!!
• Just what is a CRUMHORN???? or what about a SERPENT or a SACBUTT (trombone players should know this one!) Visit our Renaissance Music and Instruments Tidbits page and find out this and more.
• Go to the TIDBITS index for more interesting pages like the history of instruments, Shakespeare and jazz, circus bands, Asian music, "Where is that Music From?", building scales, etc.

Looking for music supplies?? See our list of local music stores.
Buying a new instrument?? Don't just buy off the shelf! Get help from your child's private teacher or band director; you don't want to end up with one of the "Band Quitter Models" - see below for more info.

Rhythm Reading - Thoughts about why it is important, how to get better at it and some practice sheets with MIDI files & a sheet of correct counting. Test yourself!

Also posted here are: private lesson teacher list, Practice charts, Practice Practicing sheets and many other useful info. Go to WMS Band Info for a more detailed listing.

CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Click here for a listing of on-going concert series 

CONTINUING ANNOUNCEMENTS & INFORMATION

Return to top of page Announcements+++Continuing Announcements & Information+++Table of Contents WMS Band Info +++ General Info & Links +++ Tidbits+++ Info from WMS Band Manual High School Pages+++ Non-Band Members+++Website Purpose+++Camps

Looking for a new instrument?? The School Band & Orchestra Magazine has created a website with information that might be useful to you when embarking upon the fairly difficult task of purchasing a new instrument. http://www.sbomagazine.com/howtobuy.html  -- PLEASE beware of instruments that have a cheaper sticker price -- they look great, but there is a reason that they don't cost as much, and usually they develop major wear problems very quickly (we sometimes call them "Band Quitter Models"). Ask a private teacher or your band director about the brand you are considering. Don't just buy off the shelf! I would say never buy from a discount store, and I would be cautious about buying from a store that seems to deal primarily in guitars, keyboards, drumset, etc. I have found that even though they look like they have a band/orchestra instrument department, they often don't have people who really know the instruments and the instruments are often not good quality. Even some of the beginning drum kits that come from these stores are often not worth the money - I had a terrible time trying to adjust an elementary student's drum at the spring concert (I never did get it to sound right). When I asked, he said it came from a local store that really deals mostly with guitars. Follow link for more info on cheap instruments and why it is a waste of money to buy them.

The composer, Morton Subotnick, has created an interesting website with some musical puzzles & beginning composing games. He also has some GREAT composing software - one aimed at ages 5 and up - MAKING MUSIC, and the other for older kids (better for middle school) - MAKING MORE MUSIC. Both treat composing music like finger-painting and make the creative process fun and easy. I hope to have Making More Music on my computer at school soon. http://www.creatingmusic.com/ NUCLEAR WHALES SAXOPHONE ORCHESTRA is an interesting group... on their website they say, "The entire "Family of Saxophones" is featured - the tiny sopranino, the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass and the rare and monstrous 6'8" contrabass (described by The Los Angeles Times as "...an instrument with the stature of a power forward in the NBA and a pitch that makes a foghorn sound effeminate.") Together they create incredibly innovative music with a rich ensemble sound covering an amazing range of over six octaves." Click on the the contrabass sax below to go to their website (how does anyone have enough air to fill that thing????)  From the Top. What an awesome radio program and website for young musicians!! I just ran across the website this summer & it has wonderful information for young musicians - especially those who are serious about their art. There are answers to questions you might have, interviews with "pre-collegiate" musicians who have been on the radio program (including Alex Rabin, a Wayland High School student & pianist!). The radio program, From the Top, is aired on WGBH Sundays at 6:00. It is performances of pre-collegiate musicians from all over the world and includes some interviews and information about the person and music. Check it out! Parents - there is also a lot of wonderful info for parents of musicians. You will find music terminology for nonmusical parents of musical kids. You will find questions to lots of other questions you might have like, what age is best for starting an instrument, practicing music vs. sports, supporting advanced musicians, waning interest, etc. (08-13-01) Here are some fun games to test your skills. Alfred's Fun Zone You'll find The Copycat Game - teaches basic ear training skills Games that test musical knowledge Guitropolis Squares (a cyber tic-tac-toe game) Musical Darts The Essentials of Music Theory Crossword Puzzle tests your knowledge of basic terms The Music for Little Mozarts Memory Game tests concentration skills and piano note recognition   Alfred Publishing Company puts out a lot of really great music theory books & software and "How-to-Play" books and software.  Finale NotePad is a basic music note writing program for both Macs & Windows and is downloadable for FREE!!! (Of course they are hoping you will upgrade to one of their other more powerful products at some point.) Coda Music puts out Finale which is the standard in music writing programs - most professional musicians use it. They also have another program called PrintMusic which is more flexible and powerful than NotePad. Then they have the intermediate level, Allegro and the pro, Finale. If you have been wanting to mess around with writing music on your computer, I strongly recommend NotePad. I just printed the CB exam sight-reading exercise on it -- yes it would have been quicker & a bit easier with Finale, but it was just fine!  Download for Free at: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad  Practice charts may be found here and printed out. (Practice charts are not required, but may be used as enrichment if the student practices more than the expected 2 1/2 hours a week. (The 2 1/2 hours does not include rehearsals, lessons or band workshops.)  Our private lesson teacher list includes piano, strings, guitar and voice teachers. Is your teacher on the list?? If not, let me know who it is & I will call and see if he/she would like to be on our web page.  High school musicians pages including Sr. District and All-State audition links.  What is here for the person who is not a Wayland Middle School Band Member?? Follow this link to check it out. Includes info for WHS students, adults, pianists, string players, singers & those who love classical music & jazz.

Return to top of page Announcements+++Continuing Announcements & Information+++Table of Contents WMS Band Info +++ General Info & Links +++ Tidbits+++ Info from WMS Band Manual High School Pages+++ Non-Band Members+++Website Purpose+++Camps

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I have reorganized the index page in hopes that it will let this first page load faster. The tables of contents have been moved to separate pages (does it help? suggestions??): Information specifically for WMS band members (schedules, assignments, permission slips, forms...) The on-line copy of the Band Manual (practice charts, grading / exam info, enrichment ideas...) General Information & useful links (private teachers, buying a new instrument, CAPA instrument exchange, summer arts camps, listening suggestions...) TIDBITS - pages of musical information that are sometimes related to what we are studying in band and sometimes just interesting tidbits of musical information. (How to create scales, Circus Bands, history of instruments, PDQ Bach, Renaissance music, the musical Oklahoma!, and more!) High School Pages - once my student, always my student! These pages are for the musicians who have moved on to the HS - includes Sr. District & All-State info, college music programs, and some of the other links that I think will interest the HS musician. Information of interest to those who are not in the WMS bands, but enjoy music

Return to top of page
Announcements+++Continuing Announcements+++Table of Contents
WMS Band Info +++ General Info & Links +++ Tidbits+++ Info from WMS Band Manual
High School Pages+++ Non-Band Members+++Website Purpose+++Camps

College / University Music Education students, click here...

WMS Band Website Purpose  The purpose of this website is so that you, parents & students & the general music lover, can have band information and some general music information just a mouse click away. In this site you will find: pages to help you find a private teacher, a list of upcoming concerts at the middle school, explanations of our band grading system, year end awards requirements, assignments for exams, copies of worksheets and forms the student may have forgotten to bring home, term requirements and other information that hopefully will help you through the year. Much of this information is also in the band manual that you read in the first week of school.  You will also find tons of other information for middle school students, high school students and adult musicians! Specifically, check out the Tidbits section.

As always, I welcome your feedback. Please contact me with thoughts about the site & thoughts of what else we should add, or contact me with any concerns or questions about band this year. Diane Muffitt: muffitt@bandnotes.info

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	Visit the Wayland Public Schools site http://www.wayland.k12.ma.us	Go to WMS Band introduction page
MS Band Workshop schedule Concert Dates Tidbits Current assignments
Enrichment ideas WMS bands intro A suggested recording list Awards Camps
Announcements Ensemble Information Music Links Forms Jr. District
High School pages Local Concerts Grading Policies Private teachers Jazz Grps
Wayland Middle School Bands, Wayland, MA muffitt@bandnotes.info

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