Canfield Bands

Welcome to the

 Canfield Middle School

5th Grade Band

6/8/10  

DON'T JUST GO THROUGH BAND,

 GROW THROUGH BAND

 

Dear Fifth Grade Band Parent,

 

            Wow! What a great year we had in fifth grade band.  These kids have come a long way.  We have learned many new note names and fingerings, new rhythms, and a chromatic scale using our fingering chart.  Now comes three months of not playing in school.  This letter is going to give you some tips to have your child keep playing during the summer months so they don’t forget everything they’ve learned.  Please sit down and read over this letter with your child so they know what we expect over the summer.

          If they wish to pick up in September where they are leaving off in May, they need to practice 4 or 5 days a week for 20 minutes each time.  Anything less than this will result in them forgetting over 75% of what they learned this year.  Each practice session should start with 3 - 4 minutes of slow long tone playing to develop the embouchure muscles and work on a clear steady tone.  Next should come 12 -13 minutes of practicing new material.  Again, go slow and be accurate with notes and rhythm.  Sometimes they will have to observe articulations and dynamics.  Next will be 11 -12 minutes of practicing something that they have been working on a while.  Consider this part of practicing review work.  This would be things they can play perfectly or almost perfectly.  Here they can work on playing a little faster to develop some speed.  However, remember that accuracy of notes, rhythms and articulation is most important.

            Summer is a great time for private lessons.  If your child took lessons during the school year, keep them going over the summer.  Even with family vacations and teacher vacations, some are better than none.  If you did not take lessons, now is a great time to start.  You don’t have other homework or school so you can really spend some quality time practicing your instrument.

            We have been using the Ed Sueta Band Method Book 1 all school year.  We have learned Lessons 1 - 19 this year.  Your child should review these lessons and work to increase the speed while maintaining the accuracy of the notes, rhythms and articulations. They should try to move ahead in the book as well.  See if they can work through Lessons 20 -25.  This will keep them prepared to hit the ground running in September. 

            Lastly, sometime during the summer, you should have your child’s instrument looked at by a repair technician.  Brass instruments need to be checked to make sure all slides and valves are moving freely, no stuck slides.  Trombone slides have to be moving freely.  Check all corks and braces.  Woodwinds need to be checked for leaks and replace any worn pads or corks.  We suggest you take it to Motter’s Music unless you are renting from another store.  If you have any questions, please contact us at the middle school.  Have a great summer and see you in September.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mr. Volenik

                                                           

Mr. Pupino

 

 

Practice sessions should now increase to 25 minutes daily for the last grading period of the year. The first 5 minutes should be slow long tone playing. Keep the air and tone steady, no wobbles.  The next 12 minutes should be working on the current lesson in the method book.  Practice the songs that are most difficult first. The last 8 minutes should be reviewing previous lessons and playing through things that the student can do well.  Finishing the practice session playing a familiar tune well will encourage your child to want to practice again tomorrow.

Parents, please listen to your child once a week.  Encourage them to practice daily so they improve.  If you are interested in lessons, please email Mr. Pupino or Mr. Volenik and we will give you a list of highly qualified recommended teachers.

If you have any questions at any time, please call us at 330-533-5544 x5 or email jvolenik@canfieldschools.net or mpupino@canfieldschools.net 

                                                                                                

Parents you can help a great deal right now by establishing regular practice habits.  Try to practice at the same time each day.  This helps them "get in the groove" of practicing.  Practice should be in a quiet room with no distractions.  sit on a hard chair with good posture that we talk about in school.  Always use a folding wire music stand to practice so we encourage good posture.  Go over each exercise many many times just as a ball player goes over the same drills time and time again.  REMEMBER, you will only get out of it what you put into it when it comes to playing an instrument.  If something is not working on your child's instrument,  please do not try and fix it.  Bring it to school and one of the teachers will look at it.

 Every concept we teach in band is done orally.  Your child MUST LISTEN and PAY ATTENTION in class in order to know what to practice at home.  They must learn to play correctly now or it will be uphill to fix. 

Keep encouraging your budding musician to practice slowly and carefully every day.