HOLIDAY Teaching BLUES

So I've had ONE lesson today. Grrr. I have new music I want to pass out and stuff I want to get accomplished but most students are checked out already. If my back hadn't been so sore I would have been able to do this stuff last week & then I'd be more relaxed.

BUT it's been worth it for the one student, who is definitely my most improved. Last year she never practiced her clarinet and usually either forgot the instrument at home or forgot her lesson. This year she's practicing and has come a very long way. Today I gave her festival music to start working on because she has made such a huge turnaround. Good stuff.

December Concerts

Another great concert season is over! It began for me with a band concert that went really well. Other than two sick kids, I had 100% attendance, which hasn't happened at that school in a LONG time. Very cool. The beginning band played as well as is expected, and the advanced group was right on as well. One issue we did have was that the beginning players decided they could move around, sit where they want, and even talk during the advanced band. NOPE! After the first advanced song, I went over and rearranged them. It's only like 15 minutes that they need to sit there - come on! The Advanced Band played First Rockin Christmas, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Anasazi, and Tidings of Joy. The Beginning Band played two pieces I wrote - Beginning Band Piece No.1 & 2, then Hot Cross Buns, Au Claire de la Lune, Merrily We Roll Along, Good King Wenceslas, and Jingle Bells.
Anyhow, my next concert went well, too. Actually it was great. The dress rehearsal had to be on Monday even though the concert was on Tuesday. That made me nervous, as well as the fact that all of my fifth graders were skiing all day Tuesday! They really pulled through, though. The beginning band and advanced band were both very strong. The Advanced Band played Christmas Parade, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Concerto for Sleigh Bells, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas (with the chorus). I really feel like we can tackle tougher music there because we meet twice a week, with fewer interruptions in the fall. The Beginning Band played the same pieces and had a few of the same problems, notably in Au Claire. Many started with wrong tempos or rhythms, and each group needed to be re-started almost immediately. Odd.
The high school concert was great. My favorite was "Troika" from Lieutenant Kije, by Prokofiev. The jr high band played the same piece, though arranged differently, and did a nice job as well (except for the trumpets missing their cue in a big way!). The jr high played an African version of the Ukrainian Bell Carol that was great, and the high school did a fantastic transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.
Thoroughly enjoyable concert season!

Music programs

So Lake Region High School board wants to cut their music program. This scares me. They have a teacher there who has been teaching for a VERY long time, and is well-respected and well-liked. How can they possibly think that cutting a program that many kids need will improve their odds to pass the school budget? This job is simply impossible to do at 50%. The music program at LR is chorus, select chorus, band, jazz band, and music theory & appreciation. The program will be DECIMATED with this cut.

The Lake Region Union High School Board of Directors will hold their next meeting Thursday, December 3rd, at 6:30 PM at Lake Region Union High School. As stated in this week's issue of the Chronicle, the Board has proposed a 50% reduction in Peter Gage's position as Music Director at Lake Region. Please come to the meeting to show your support. Call your town's School Board Members. Encourage friends to call and write letters.

Please show your support by attending the next school board meeting this Thursday. You should arrive between 6:00 and 6:15 PM.

Let the decision makers know what a positive force Mr. Gage has been in your life as a music teacher and mentor, and how essential he is and the music program is to the educational offerings at Lake Region.

You can make a difference. Spread the word and please let your voices be heard.

FACEBOOK EVENT

busy & tired

I'm itching to write some new music, and continue on some good ideas, but don't have much time yet. Next week I'll be working on it! I need to start playing some bass again, as well as other instruments. Haven't touched my bass in months - football has consumed my time. Actually, I need to work on that now.....

Fantastic clarinets

WOW - had a lesson this morning with some clarinetists that was incredible. 5th graders playing confidently above the break. Great way to start the day.

Beginning Band

Beginning Band is starting off GREAT. I had a much higher percentage of parents remember to come to the instrument night, probably because I called every family. It took a lot of time, but it was worth it, and I'll do that every year now. The kids I had so far this morning are so enthusiastic and well-behaved. Some are obviously very talented too, but it's a little hard to see that with many kids after a first lesson. Today we're pretty much just getting a sound, and some kids will put together their instruments. What a great day!

Instrument night

This was the best instrument night!

COMPOSITION NOTES

Last week I attended part of the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival - it was truly inspiring, and in just a few hours I learned many things, and was reminded of some things I'd forgotten.

Paul Brust was the composer/conductor working with me. My original music sounded great, BUT....

• it was almost all diatonic - using more tones would add SO much flavor (tension is good)
  
• repeats should never be exact - if it repeats, then something needs to change
  
  • dynamics, rhythms, pitches, move the melody to another instrument, etc.
• phrases - one way to help make longer phrases is to avoid the tonic
• the melody should move around to different instruments, and can be harmonized differently
• if there's a solo in a part later, make sure someone else gets the melody part earlier - this will create more variety

When we had a group lesson, we got more general advice on composing:

• set aside time to write every day
  
• keep a different folder for each piece of music
• write every idea down on paper, with very specific notes
  
  • articulations, dynamics, phrasing, etc.
• sketch out the entire piece -
  
  • how long will it be? 8 minutes?
    
  • what type of piece - melodic? spacey? virtuosic? melancholy?
    
  • first 3 min: loud; next 2 min: soft; last 3 min loud again
    
• when working on a piece, go through the whole thing objectively every time you start - some things may need changing
• motivic development (I remembered this from college, but have gotten away from it)
  
  • a motif can be any set of notes to be developed
  • development can be:
    
    • fragment
    • inversion
    • reversal
    • etc
• Andrew List had great inspirational advice about composition
  
  • he said it took 40 years before he was really writing pieces he felt were successful
  • if you write a piece for a specific group, they should agree to at least 3 or 4 performances of it
  • he finds many groups to write for on MySpace
  • we heard Sonatine for Bassoon Qtet, Halcyon Quintet, and Noa Noa: A Gauguin Tableau

These guys were so positive and inspiring. I worked on music today. So much of what they told me makes me realize that I need to take my time, be persistent, and keep writing. I don't have to be the performer, so the music doesn't have to be playable by me. The musicians who played this stuff could play anything I can write. They were really incredible.

Here are the two pieces:

Music

WOW - having my music played today was incredible! The musicians literally could have played anything. It makes me wonder how Zappa wrote music that wasn't possible to be played by humans. More to follow........

Memorial Day parade

The Memorial Day Parade was great this year! The kids knew the song better than ever. Well, overall, that is..... Some kids didn't know the song at all, while others knew bits and pieces. Some knew the whole song, and others made up parts that sounded decent. And three kids forgot their instruments. But it really did go well. I have to remember to set park in the right place (UCA's parking lot next year), and work on learning the song sooner so more kids do get it, but I'm very happy with the bands.

FRUSTRATING

This is the most frustrating time of the year. I'm competing for kids' attention with the weather. On nice days I have to practically drag the kids to band. AND when we get a performance opportunity, they just groan! They don't want to put any time into memorizing a march, so I have to walk them through it, bit by bit or else the song will completely fall apart during the parade. Plus, they could play a fun little thing at the end of the year, and there's almost no interest - they just don't want to do anything! Arrrgh. Unfortunately, the few who do work at it end up being short-changed by the majority who won't do anything. Arrrgh.

CONCERTS!

Woohoo! Great performances the past few weeks. I always get nervous when our dress rehearsals go well, because the formula seems to be: Good dress rehearsal = bad evening concert. This year, though that doesn't apply. Both of my schools had good dress rehearsals and performances. At DES, Basses Are Aces featured a strong trombone & bass clarinet, and Sabre Dance turned out to be SO good. At NCES, we were missing a featured sax player (poor girl - she was sick!) so we played something we hadn't played in weeks, Sousa's Stars & Stripes Forever, and the crowd loved it! Both Beginning Bands watch me better than any group I've had, so they were VERY together. I have to figure out how to compress the videos better, then I'll get them posted to TeacherTube.

AND THEN, the jazz bands went to the JSC Middle School Jazz Festival yesterday. It was a great experience for us. Because of absences, I combined the two jazz band, to great effect. We played for two judges, who gave us great comments afterwards. Very good stuff!

DES Spring Band Concert

What a great show tonight! Jazz Band played - I get to play my bass with them, and not just conduct. I love doing that; the kids play so independently. The Beginning Band was great, too - they watch me SO well. Whenever they have a longer note, or feel "uncomfortable" with the beat they look up to get back on track. I don't think I've ever had a group that watched me so well. And the Advanced Band is so strong. They played with power and confidence, even on very exposed parts, like bell solos and low section solis. I loved some of the music they played, like a theme from Dvorak's New World Symphony and Katchaturian's Sabre Dance. Weird notes, eighth rests, and alternate fingerings galore, and they got most of it!

NCUHS Concert

I enjoyed tonight's high school concert, especially Rockabye River, a Duke Ellington piece, Epitaph for Moonlight, Go Lassie Go, The Boys of Wexford and Spitfire. Russ did a great job writing an energetic & fun cadence for his section.

COMPOSING inspiration

Being able to post my music online lately is really inspiring. Unfortunately, I can't easily multi-track record like I used to, since my studio is now a bedroom. I'll have to figure something out with that, and I'll have to make sure I keep posting more music online, as well as recording live stuff. There was recently a performance that included a piece of mine called "Taming the Festival Monster." Keep in mind that was recorded by elementary school students, so there are a few inaccuracies. Possibly. My music can also be heard at http://pruestudios.wikispaces.com/ and http://www.reverbnation.com/wdprue