ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCERTS

Concerts starting this week. Stressful, but I enjoy them. This week about 80 kids, two groups and then next week about the same. I hope the kids don't freak out, though they usually do. It seems like no matter how prepared they are, and know what's going on, they STILL have a thousand questions.

ODD TIME

Facebook is great. Some discussions in my PROG-ROCK group have made me start thinking. People want to know things like , what's my favorite group? what's my favorite epic tune? what's my favorite odd-time piece? I need to go through my itunes songs.... Here's a start of a list:

Alan Parson's Project - "The Turn Of A Friendly Card (The Ace Of Swords)" - 7/4
I don't really think of them as prog-rock, but sometimes it works, I guess. They were just too mellow, or pop-oriented, or just something about them.

Christopher Squire -"Silently Falling" - lots of 7/4
This song is PROG-ROCK at its best. Odd time, lots of orchestra parts, keyboard solo, great bass sound. Yeah.

Dream Theater -
"Erotomania" - Part A in 5/4, Part B alternating 11/8 & 10/8
Good, heavy instrumental. One could make an argument that they're playing in 21/8, but if I was writing out their part I'd alternate between 11/8 & 10/8. These time signatures don't sound forced at all, either.

"Learning to Live" - all over the place
LOTS of different time signatures!

Genesis -
"Dance on a Volcano" - 7/8, 7/4
"Battle of Epping Forest" - 7/4
"Cinema Show" - 7/8

Gentle Giant -
"Raconteur, Troubadour" - 11/8 (through the singing parts)

Jethro Tull -
"Sossity" - 8/8 (3+3+2)
Not technically odd time, but the guitar makes you think it's in a triple meter, when it really is not.
"Living in the Past" - 5/4

King Crimson
"Lark's Tongues in Aspic, Part 2" - Part A alt. 5/4 & 4/4, Part B 5/4

Rush -
"Freewill" - lots of odd time

This is a start - I need to work on some other stuff!

Black Tide

One of my sons downloaded Black Tide from iTunes. I like it - it's kind of the the heavy metal I used to listen to in the 80's like Ratt or Dokken, maybe. Really good guitarists & drummers, with good singing. Not commercial, though certainly not progressive metal, either. They look really young to me! If you like metal, check them out. http://www.blacktidemusic.com/.

Tonguing

Tonguing is SO important, though it's difficult to make beginners understand that. Brass players and flutists need to say "too" with every note. Flute players are good at faking tonguing, up until they have to play quick notes. Some reed players have a much tougher time, getting squeaks if they keep the tongue on the reed too long or put too much of their tongue on the reed. I really think this is good for kids with speech problems (though I have no proof), as it makes them think about using their tongue. Students who have a good base in recorder tonguing pick it up MUCH faster.

HEARING

I take it for granted SO much. Got my ears cleaned out today. It's so gross, but all of a sudden I could hear my clothes rustling, my feet shuffling, doorknobs turning, papers crinkling, keys clicking. Instruments sound brighter, stereo sounds crisper. It's easier to tune kids, too. With my ears mostly plugged it's like i can tell that they're out of tune, but it's so hard to tune them. What a relief!

PRACTICING

Some of my students had a revelation today: practicing helps! They could do everything I asked, they could remember notes, their tone was clear, they didn't get lost! However, a few kids blew me off today...... But I won't think about them, just the practicers! Perhaps when I have more time for a blog I'll detail HOW one should practice.

Led Zep & disco!?

I've been a Led Zeppelin fan for a long time. I have all of their cd's except CODA. I think my favorite cd is Physical Graffiti, but I enjoy them all. I didn't know about Led Zep's existence as a kid, since by the time I was born the band had existed for two years. A friend of mine who is about 12 years older than me was a huge fan. As the band became more popular, however, he liked them less. He felt like they moved away from their roots, and caved in to popular demand, and when you listen to their music after the 4th CD (the one with Stairway), you can hear how some of the beats are more dance-able, almost disco-ish. I know disco had affected other bands, like Kiss and even the Rolling Stones, but it was so obvious with them. I'll try to find some specific samples, but listen to Houses of the Holy & Physical Graffiti - I'm sure you'll find a dance beat.

Not a great week

Two ADVANCED kids quit today, and a third told me he was quitting. One of them really surprised me. It wouldn't bother me if he could just give me a reason. But nothing. The other two aren't surprising. Still a bit annoying, though since they never really tried it this year - rarely brought their instruments to school, almost never practiced. Oh well, at least they tried it last year.

Both my schools' jazz bands began this week. Successful at the first one, but at the other school most kids forgot to bring notes home, so they didn't have rides and could stay. Only having two clarinets & two drummers makes for a difficult (at best) rehearsal.

At least the week was a short one.

Summer Band 2008

Summer Band met once each week for an hour. The first week we could barely play 5 songs, and by the end we played 8 songs with time to spare! The kids just did great, and were so good, and fun to conduct. Unfortunately we had to cancel the final outdoor concert - ugh. Rain, rain, go away!

NO MORE GUITAR

So I am trying to teach guitar on a trial basis this summer. This shows me just why I don't want to teach guitar. Although there are so many kids who want to take guitar lessons, I just don't feel right teaching an instrument on which I've had NO lessons. I know I "cheat" when I play, and I don't want to teach wrong techniques. Plus, it takes SO much prep work, since I don't really have any curriculum. I'll stick to band instruments and electric bass from here out.

Honored

It makes me feel good to know that I made a difference in a student's life that carried all the way through high school!

Winding down

BAND is just about done for the year. I'm getting ready for Summer Band now. I enjoy Summer Band because it brings together kids from all over the area, and ends with a nice outdoor concert. I'm looking forward to accompanying a tenor saxophonist for a song at her 6th grade celebration tomorrow, too.

PARADE

I'm so proud of my bands, coming together and marching in the parade today. They stayed together well, listened to each other, and didn't go too fast! I have to admit I was disappointed that the man in charge of the parade didn't know that we would be there, despite my having spoken to someone I thought was in charge (because he called me)! The Newport group has been at the parade for years and years and year - I even marched in it when I was at the school. Also, I ran out of berets because so many kids forgot them!

Next year, I'll count way ahead of time and plan. I need to get an aluminum pole to go with Newport's banner, so it doesn't bend so much. Will the majorettes march with us next year?