Home

First days...2011-12 School Year

First day with instruments will be Thursday September 8, 2011.

All students will need their book: Technic Today Book 3 available at Port Huron Music Center

  I will be after school on Monday and Thursdays if students would like individual help with their music.   

These are the 1st 3 playing tests for the school year:

Etude 1

Etude 10

Etude 16   

The final testing will be  the scales from memory both written and performed. This test MUST be done in class. All Makeup tests MUST be completed before November 1, 2011.

 The supplementary material may be etudes #6 #8, #15, and #20 if needed. Decision regarding supplemental material will be on an individual basis.

Scales, are the final playing test for the year, and will determine final seats.  Please remember students must also be able to correctly write your scales from memory on manuscript paper.

There is a rather new protocol for playing tests the last few years.  It has worked quite well and we will be continuing the process with the changes incorporated last year. The students will be encouraged to do their tests at home and bring in an uncut unedited video recording.  Please be sure the video is playable on a PC computer and verify that by placing it in another computer other than the one you made the CD or DVD in. The medium must be a CD or DVD in any format that most PC computers are capable of playing.  Students that are able to accomplish this at home are free to record as many times as they wish and turn in only the final recording. If students do make a mistake, I encourage them to redo it as many times as they need to.  I will need a parent to certify that the recording is the student that it states on the cover of the recording and that the recording had NOT been edited, each redo must be in its entirety.  The students will be required to bring in the parent certified recording by a specific date usually the Monday of the playing test (announced in class). Students without the ability to record at home will record their performance in class on video tape as in the past. Monday and Thursday after school recording in the band room are allowed prior to the turn in date for students without the technical ability to record at home.  The advantage of coming after school is virtually unlimited tries at their performance test. This option is NOT available after the announced date except as a makeup. For example, if the turn in date for recordings is Monday, students cannot stay after school on Monday to record their performance; they will be required to play for their grade in class on Monday.  However, they are welcome to come after school on Monday for added instruction or help and after their test is graded and posted, they can come in any Monday or Thursday to make up a playing test for a higher grade.  If a child is suspended from school during a week of performance testing, parents or another student may bring in the video recording within that week so as not to hold up the seating scores of the full band. Please contact me by email immediately if video recording cannot be an option for a suspended student.

Please see the calendar online for playing test schedules.  All 7th and 8th grade students will be tested on their ability to perform the lessons we learn in class. Students will be expected to perform on video tape, CD, or DVD at home or at school.  The videotaped assessments, I will evaluate after school and on weekends, scores may take 1-2 weeks for results to be posted.

I am also available after school to assist any student that feels they might need extra help.

Students are encouraged to redo playing tests on etudes for a higher grade. The only restrictions on retakes; it must be made up before the last week of the first nine week marking period. Before November 1, 2011.

The 7^th and 8^th grade students must have an average test grade of at least 70% for the extra credit to count. I am confident every member of our bands can perform at that level with a minimum of effort. Please see the paragraph on extra credit for the opportunities available.
 

Concert Performances

All performances are mandatory. Each is worth 100 points. Our band is a team and we need the full team to play. We rehearse together for balance and tonality and to achieve a solid polished performance. Every child is equally important and to miss the sounds of one or more, will hamper the final outcome of the performance for every child in the band.

Concerts are comparable to a final exam in an academic classroom. They learn the notes, fingerings, nuances, and phrases. They learn the melodic fragments and progressions.  They learn to balance the melodies with the harmonies.  The emotions and feelings the music is able to bring to our thoughts allow us to experience the music.  We use musical structure, style and even form to make sense of the musical ideas the composers were trying to help us to portray. They will have learned and understood how to evoke an appropriate response in an audience through their... at times minute and subtle articulations and/or dynamics, as well as phrasing. In short, they learn to make music.

Music is much more than just playing the notes and knowing their own parts. Every child is a star and every child is important!

Unavoidable absences do happen, and if there is prior knowledge, I do expect the students to make up the lost points. However, in case of illness or tragic family situations there will be no penalty, and extra credit will only be required if time permits.  Reward trips are a reward to compensate the young musician for work well done.  Absences at a performance may jeopardize the status of a student's "member in good standing" that is required for traveling with Fort Gratiot Bands. All decisions are final and up to the discretion of the director of the band in question. Please give the director as much advance notice in writing as possible, when unavoidable absences must take place. However, keep in mind, a student that misses a performance for any reason other than personal illness or tragic family situations, will NOT receive an “A” in band that marking period.

Christmas Dec 13, 2011 and Spring Concerts May 31, 2012

Generally, we perform at McMorran Auditorium. There will be rehearsals during the very early morning  (6:00AM) and the students will return that evening for their performance. Our concerts are approximately one hour long and the students are expected to stay for the duration.

The Chicago Trip  -This trip is filled, only a waiting list is available at this time.

The annual trip is currently being planned—dates March 22, 23, & 24, 2012. A parent meeting was planned for Tuesday  October 18, 2011 at 7:00PM  in the band room to answer your questions and explain the trip in more detail.  We have decided to do this trip, there was a substantially large deposit required ($250.00) to alleviate the added expenses we encountered several years ago due to last minute cancellations.  We love to have parents travel with us, and I am sure you are looking forward to spending a long weekend with our seventy two 13 to 14 year old eighth grade band members in the Windy city of Chicago .  It really is a great trip and one parents and students alike enjoy. The costs will be approximately $549 per student and nearly$100 more for adults. Fundraisers will help to defray the personal cost. To assure the safety of our students, parents wishing to travel with us will be required to pass a background check to be kept on file with the school district.

Expectations and Opportunities

I will expect all students to come to class prepared. All band performances are mandatory. These are the typical performances and times during the school year. Any student that misses a mandatory concert will NOT receive an “A” in band that marking period regardless of the extra credit opportunities. With extra credit, it may be possible to receive a grade of a “B”, but not an “A”.

 Mandatory performance  are:

Performance opportunities not mandatory are:

Fun activities:

Grading

All students in band class are graded by their ability to come to class prepared and pay attention, as well as their ability to perform on their instrument, the lesson assigned. I believe every child will learn at their own pace, given the right instruction. Therefore, I will be available to help those not performing at the expected rate, after school on Monday or Thursdays. Every child is expected to practice 30 minutes daily, five days a week.  

Beginning with the 2nd Marking period, each child is asked on Monday if they have completed the required practicing the prior week.   This is an honor system.  If a child is not improving, and they are practicing daily, it is time for some one on one after school on Mondays or Thursdays.  Please feel free to have your child stay for some added instruction.  The required practice is 30 minutes each day there is school.  This MUST be five different days, if there are 5 days of school. Increments of 10 minutes may count as a day, and then make up the rest of the required minutes on a different day.  If a child is home ill, they are excused from that day's practice. If there are only 2 days of school that week,  they are only required to practice 2 days.  I also know there are rare situations that interfere with daily home practice and for that reason, we have one week of forgiveness for every 3 weeks of completed practice. Learning to be a musician requires regular consistence practice at home. This is how students learn to develop their beautiful sound and to know they are playing it right.  In a classroom of several students it is not always possible for them to hear themselves.

Golden Chair Award - Beginning with the 2nd Marking Period (November 7)

This award is given to a student in each class, each week after the first marking period.  The student with the most minutes of practice, shown on a practice record, turned in on Monday, dated, and signed by a parent to verify those minutes, will be awarded our “Golden Chair Award.”  Records will be kept and a special recognition for these students will be made at the Spring Concert in May.   

200 Club Award Party - Beginning with the 2nd Marking Period (November 7)  

 The 200 club is no longer available for 7th and 8th grade students. This has now become only a 6th grade opportunity.

Extra credit points: All concert attendance and individual performance dates must be during the same 9 week marking period that extra credit is expected to be credited.  Please send in a written note signed by a parent stating the date and activity you attended or performed in. Write your name and class hour on the extra credit and place it in the extra credit box in the front of the band room before the end of the marking period.  I usually announce in class, the cutoff date for extra credit turn in, usually it is the Tuesday before the end of the Marking Period. Extra credit is not evaluated or credited before the end of the marking period

 Extra-credit  
Extra-credit is available for students that forget their materials, those with playing test scores over 70% but less than 90%, or anyone that may have missed a performance

What Do I Need?

This will depend on the instrument your child will be playing. Each instrument has its own set of requirements. I encourage every child to have access to a music stand for home practice and following is a list of  required as well as optional, however very valuable materials.

Reed players:
Cork Grease, swabs, and a reed saver big enough for 4 reeds
Clarinets - four - #3 Mitchell Laurie reeds
Saxes  -four- 4 # 2 1/2  - 3 Van Doran reeds
Oboe  -two- Jones red M soft – medium hard reed or other high quality brand
Brass Players:
Valve oil and slide grease
Trombones- water bottle and slide cream (not oil)
Mouth pieces:
Trumpets 7C; Baritone and Trombones 12C
Percussionists:
Mallets and 2B snare sticks, metronome (not optional)

1.      Metronome

2.      Chromatic tuner

3.      Begin to collect a music library of fun music as well as appropriate solos

4.      Private lessons

          For Any Questions, Comments, or General Communication:
I am always available after school for anything you might need. However, voice mail sometimes takes a backseat. I have almost 300 students this year and I do get overwhelmed at times with phone calls. Please feel free to come in any time; I have an open door policy. I love parents in the classroom and you're welcome to see firsthand how we do things. Hand written notes are an effective way of communication, however the best way to contact me would be email. carmstrong@port-huron.k12.mi.us  or carmstr835@sbcglobal.net 

Band Music

1.       All music passed out in class is the responsibility of the student to keep their music in their music folder.
2.       All music must be kept in excellent condition; erasable pencil marks are appropriate and encouraged.
3.       If a student is absent, it is part of their responsibilities to have another student in class collect their music. If a student is missing music there is a charge of $1.00 per page and incase of a book, the  replacement cost of the book (most books cost about $6.00, however most likely it is out of print and losing it is devastating to the program.)
4.       Lost music is located near the door in the cubbies; please check before you ask for a new copy.