- Southwest Guilford Middle School
- Homepage
Band update all classes 3/6/2020
Posted by Stephanie Linville on 3/6/2020
Parents,
See below for specific updates
Jazz Band
Jazz Band will not meet next week. Jazz Ensemble will meet on Wednesday AND Thursday morning. We are having a guest clinician come to our rehearsal Thursday morning to give us some critiques and suggestions as we prepare for Jazz Ensemble Festival in April. Therefore, I am calling an extra Ensemble only rehearsal on Wednesday so that we can be better prepared for Thursday. Both rehearsals will be at 7:45 am. And as a reminder, Jazz Ensemble Festival is on April 24 at Middle Creek High School in Cary. I have also signed both groups up to participate in the GCS Middle School Jazz Festival on April 17 at Smith High School. More info on these as we get closer.
Festival students
We are getting down to the wire with our Festival preparations. We will be having rehearsal on Monday and Thursday afternoon next week, and I need any and all eighth-graders who can attend to come to these rehearsals. I know we are getting into the spring sports season, and I'm working with coaches to keep kids a little while on these days without it interfering in their sports practices, and I'm very pleased that the coaches are working with us on this. Festival is on March 24 and Northwest Guilford High School. I'll be sending out a detailed letter and itinerary next week.
Jazz Drum Set
Attention all current Jazz Band/Jazz Ensemble and any sixth-grade percussionist who might be interested in doing Jazz Band next year: I have secured a drum set instructor who will be able to come out to school every Thursday afternoon in March and April starting next Thursday to work with our students on how to play drum set. I will be here in the afternoons with them and learning some things myself! If you are interested, please let me know. This is basically a chance for free drum set lessons, so please don't pass up this opportunity if you're interested. Pickup on those days will be at 5 pm. This is only for current percussionists, not for just anyone who would like to learn drums. Again, please let me know if you're interested.
Seventh Grade Band
We will be starting to work on Book Three (Essential Technique for Band) on MONDAY next week. Several students have already gotten this book, and I really appreciate that! PLEASE make every effort to get this book for your child before Monday. You can call Music and Arts on Lawndale or Moore Music on Market Street to see if they have them in stock, or you can use the link below. Just make sure you order the book that is appropriate to your child's instruments since the link is to the clarinet book only. Once we begin that book, they will be expected to be practicing out of it each night and will be having playing tests out of it soon. I have only a handful of extras of this book on hand and may not be able to loan books to students, so please try to get this book for your child by Monday. Here's a link to the clarinet book so you can see what it looks like. Make sure to get the one that is appropriate for your child.
Sixth Grade Band
We are having a playing test today on #132 in the book. We will finish this test on Monday, so if your child did not take his or her test today, they should be ready for it on Monday. We are making excellent progress in the book and I am very pleased with how well our students are playing, especially our clarinets. Please, if your child is a clarinet player, encourage them at home to work on the high notes we are learning in class. This can be a very frustrating time for them, as playing high notes is VERY challenging. Some students get to this point and just throw in the towel because of the frustration. I have told them that it will get better with more and more practice. Please encourage them and keep them working at home. Also, our brass students are working on higher notes as well, and that can get extremely frustrating for them as well. Again, listen to them, encourage them, and keep them focused on practicing at home. They will get better, but the next few weeks are an uphill battle. It is super important that they work through these challenges and keep trying. I ALWAYS appreciate the effort more than talent, because talent is a lot of simple luck, effort and hard work always pay off in the end.
Band Pictures for the Yearbook
We are shooting for next Wednesday to do band group pictures for the yearbook, so students will need to wear polos to school that day. They can wear jeans/tennis shoes with them, but they need to have on band polos/black polos/black shirt for the picture. They can change afterward because the picture will be done during the first core. If this changes again, I'll let you know. Thanks for your patience!
