_ FMI Band Notes _
St. Joseph School - February 2008
SAVE THE DATES
FMI All-State Concert: Saturday, March 29th, 2 p.m., CCSU
Spring Concert invitation: Thursday evening, April 24 (at Corpus Christi School) WELCOME!
Welcome to our new student musicians: Abigail J. and Corinne P., flutes; Cody P., clarinet; Tyler G. and Tommy M. percussion. We are excited to bring more young musicians into our class and eagerly anticipate your contributions to our band program. This year’s Cadet Band is now up to 16 students! Students wishing to learn the flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, bells (and drums) simply contact Mrs. Brown at school.
FMI ALL-STATE BAND NEWS
Three of our band members auditioned for and will represent our school in the FMI All-State Band program. Auditions were held at St. James School, Manchester in January. Students were placed into one of two bands based on their audition scores. Laurel D. (clarinet) was accepted into the Concert Band. Theresa P. (flute) and Philip A. (first chair percussion) were accepted into the Symphonic Band. These students will perform their concert at Central Connecticut State University on March 29th. They will also perform concerts on the plaza at Lincoln Center in New York City on May 5th and at the Old State House in Hartford on May 23rd. Congratulations to these student musicians who, due to their hard work and dedication, are very deserving of this honor!
FMI ALL-STATE GALA BAND
This band is chosen by teacher nomination. Scott D. (trumpet) and Jonathan H. (alto saxophone) will represent St. Joseph School in the FMI Gala Band at the All- State Concert at Central Connecticut State University on Saturday, March 29th.
EQUIPMENT CHECK
This is a good time of year to take instruments in to the repair shop for a checkup or routine maintenance. Also, mid-year is a good time to re-evaluate your child’s equipment and accessories. If your child appears to be lacking a necessary item, you will receive a note.
Clarinet and saxophone students should be using #2 ½ strength reeds if first year, #3 if second year, a #3 or #3 ½ if third year or beyond. The best quality reeds are Rico “Royal” or Vandoren for saxophone, Rico “Grand Concert Select” or Vandoren for clarinet. Any parent who would like guidance in upgrading mouthpieces or instruments, feel free to send in a note to Mrs. Brown. Remember to keep instruments at a moderate temperature. Any instrument can be damaged by being left in a cold vehicle or by being left near a heater.
CURRICULUM -“How (and why) to practice”
During January and February, with no immediate concerts to prepare, we are able to spend a little more time on the fundamentals of instrumental performance. We focus on tone building and embouchure strengthening through emphasis on proper breathing, posture, long tones and lip slurs. For first year students, this also means mouthpiece practice. We hone our technique through attention to hand position and memorized scales. Percussion students do technique building warmups in the form of stick control exercises, rolls and various rudiments. Correct posture and hand position is important for all wind and percussion players. We will also spend more time in February improving reading skills through rhythm charts and music theory. When listening to your child practice at home, you should hear them working first on warmups, secondly on lesson book assignments and thirdly on their concert music. The most important thing to remember is that we learn by doing. Practice is repetition. Many students overlook the most important aspect of playing, which is to work on tone quality and expression. The goal is to come to every lesson and band rehearsal prepared to perform the music through with no mistakes and with good musicality. For wind players, this means to play with a full expressive tone at the correct tempo, using proper phrasing, dynamics and articulations. For percussionists, this means to play with a pleasant tone quality (controlled sound) with correct sticking and dynamics in a steady, correct tempo.
SPRING CONCERTS
Our St. Joseph’s band musicians are invited to join Mrs. Brown’s Corpus Christi School (Wethersfield) students for a Spring Concert on Thursday evening, April 24th. This is an opportunity for our student musicians to perform in a band with full instrumentation. Having all of the parts covered enables us to perform more music at a higher level of difficulty than that which we can do with fewer performers, resulting in a more educational and fulfilling experience for the students. Another date later in the school year will be selected for an in-school concert at St. Joseph School for the student body.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” - Plato
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Band Notes
