Week #12

This Friday will be our third in a series of section concerts. The Saxophone section will be performing at 5:00pm in the band hall after school, and the concert will finish by 5:30pm. We would love to have all parents of our saxophone players and any other interested audience members join us to hear the progress these young men and women have made.

This is the final week of the second six weeks grading period. All students should be keeping up with their homework every day. Please reiterate to them that failure to return even one homework assignment can have a catastrophic impact on their grades. If you have any concerns or if there is any way that we can help, please email us at joel.wagner@sfdr-cisd.org or daniel.white@sfdr-cisd.org and we will gladly do whatever we can.

Finally, there are a few events of note next week. We have previously announced a Trumpet and Horn section concert on Thursday November 9th. We have been presented with an opportunity to have members of the SFMMS Band perform for the school’s Ribbon-Cutting and Recognition of War Veterans ceremonies. The Ribbon-Cutting will be on Monday November 6th and the Recognition Ceremony will be on Wednesday November 8th. We are asking that all clarinet players be there to perform for these ceremonies. More details will come as soon as they are made available to us. All other band students who would like to come and help out with the ceremony are invited. All band students should wear their blue band shirts, blue jeans, and nice shoes unless they are otherwise involved in the ceremony (student council, etc.).

Week #10

The San Felipe Memorial Middle School Band is continuing to improve with each passing day. In order to be constantly improving, all of the students should be practicing their instrument each day. Below are some keys to listen for in the practice time. But first, there are a couple of events to bring to your attention that are coming up next week.

On Wednesday October 25th, the truck will be arriving to deliver our fundraising order. Please ensure that arrangements are made to transport these items home after school on Wednesday. The other event next week is a Flute Section Concert on Friday October 27th. The concert will begin at 5:00pm and will be completed by 5:30. All flute students will stay after school and practice. There will be a break from 4:00 to 4:45. During that break, pizza and drinks will be provided.

Future Section Concert dates are Saxophones on Friday November 3rd, Trumpets and Horns on Thursday November 9th, and Trombones/Euphoniums/Tubas on Thursday November 16th. The schedule for those will be approximately the same with the concert beginning after school at 5:00 and ending around 5:30.

Practice Concerns

Some keys to listen and watch for during practice are:

· Steady Tempo – the speed of the music should not fluctuate, but should be constant; most students try to play faster than their brains and fingers work

· Good Tone – all woodwind and brass players should have very relaxed sounds; if the sound is stuffy, teeth or throat may be too tight or closed; the solution is to relax muscles more

· Right Notes – if the music sounds wrong, it probably is; brass players may be too high or too low, trombone slides may be in the wrong place, and all other woodwind and brass players may be pushing wrong buttons

· Extra Notes – these can happen when students move their valves, keys, or slides at a different time than they move their tongue; another cause might be changing fingerings while playing a note

· Percussion Concerns – all percussionists should be practicing both their bells and their practice pad; hands should remain relaxed while playing with elbow movement at a very minimum

Practice Planners should be filled out by students each day and signed by a parent each week. Additional copies may be printed from the SFMMS Band Website. The goal of practice should be to fix problems. When students play what they already know how to play, they are often not fixing problems and so most practice time should not necessarily sound good as students are focusing on those areas that they do not do well. If you don’t hear any wrong notes, encourage them to work on something that is more challenging for them. All woodwind and brass players should be able to play all of the notes up through Line 39. Flutes and clarinets have learned all of the notes necessary to play through Line 118.

As always, thank you so much for everything that you do for your children. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without your support and help!

Week#9 Update

Throughout the year, we will be having occasional informal section concerts to allow parents to come and hear the progress of our students. This Friday will be the first one, featuring the clarinet section. The clarinet players will come to the band hall after school, play a little bit, have some pizza, and then begin their performance at 5:00pm. The whole presentation should be over by 5:30pm. More details will be discussed during the 3^rd period class, and information will be sent home with clarinet players this week.

Also on Friday evening, the Del Rio High School Mighty Ram Band will be presenting a post-game performance of this year’s UIL Marching competition show. Any students or parents who are at the game on Friday are encouraged to stay and see the show.

People have been asking us when the fundraising items will be delivered. The delivery should come in by the end of this month. More details will follow as they are known.

Once again, thank you for everything that you do to support the education of your students. As always, if you have any questions, comments, complaints, or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or email us here at the school.