SUMMER

School in-service has been done for about a week, and I'm starting to get into the swing of summer again. The cold I had certainly slowed me down, but today I went back to school and got Summer Band music together. Eleven songs or so, and they'll be fun. I also grabbed books so my summer private lessons can play duets. I think they'll like that, and duets are really good to play. Kids have to listen to the other part and keep track of their own part, too. Lessons start tomorrow, and Summer Band begins next week.

GRADING SEASON

End of the year grades are upon me. They take up a lot of time, and there's other paperwork that must be done too. This is when I really wonder, "does anyone even LOOK at these?" I hope so.... My grading reports are pretty detailed, and take up TIME.

Why am I wasting time writing this when I could be grading? Writing out all these reports gets REALLY OLD. Back to the grind.....

PARADE SEASON... continued

So our first parade of the season was cancelled, but there’s another one! Our 2nd parade will be Monday, May 31, on Main St. in Newport. It will begin at 10:00.

This is a fun parade because there's a BIG audience, and we get to play the song ("Stars & Stripes") a lot. We start up near the Family Dollar and march down to the Causeway bridge near Gardner Park. We don't march into the park, though, and we don't take part in the ceremonies there. I always hope that my more mature students will stay for them, but I don't force them to stay. There's one sharp corner, right at the beginning, but other than that it's a real easy route, too. After that, I walk back up to get my car. It's usually a really good day, and hopefully it doesn't rain - we don't march in the rain!

PARADE SEASON!

First parade of the season today! And it rained..... Parade cancelled. On the up side, though, kids were very disappointed. They really wanted to march. Love to see the enthusiasm. I'm not sure we were really ready for it, but at least the kids would have known what it was like and what they needed to work on (though it's pretty obvious, they need to memorize the music!)

CONCERTS

This was the first time in my career that 100% of my healthy students attended both concerts at my schools!  Kids were right into the concerts, and were really ready.

In Derby the Advanced Band had some trouble during the dress rehearsal- we actually had to stop briefly during Manchester March and regroup.  The Beginning Band had a student drop their instrument, and although it was still playable he was understandably upset.  In the evening, everyone from both groups really watched me well.  I missed a cue for the Jazz Band when I started enjoying playing my bass a bit too much!

In Newport we had a strange day that began with no dress rehearsal.  I do wish I had another chance to conduct the concert.  I missed several cues, and didn’t exaggerate the dynamics as I would have liked.  I felt like my head wasn’t in it 100%.

Next year I think I’d like both concerts to be before April vacation.  The Newport kids have one week to have Stars & Stripes memorized.  Of course, they’ve had the music for quite a while but very few have worked on memorizing.  Next year we should also play Stars & Stripes WAY WAY earlier.

SUPPORT!

I am so lucky to have the support of the teachers and the administrations at my schools. When there was an interruption to the regular schedule, teachers went out of their way to get me a band rehearsal, and even suggested an extra one, since the concert is next week. What a great bunch of people!

There is at least one nearby school that allows NO rehearsal time for the band. They have lessons, but cannot play together. And yet, the administration there wonders why they have a hard time with band concerts! Needless to say, that teacher is now looking for a position elsewhere. The system is just fostering failure.

At least partly because of their support, I really feel like this was one of the best concerts ever. The kids had some mistakes during the afternoon assembly, but they fixed them in the evening. Good stuff.

Music Furniture

I'm hoping to get some new & very useful music furniture at school next year! This stand will hold my music keyboard, laptop, and speakers. This way I can more easily use playalong CD's with students, as well as letting them hear themselves on recordings more easily.This whiteboard will be really handy too, because I can use it in lessons and completely prepare for Band, wheeling it out to the band room when it's time for band.
Hopefully I'll have these in the fall!