One Quarter (1/4)

It seems hard to believe, but today is the last day of the first quarter.  It also means the school year is 1/4 done.  There have been days that have flown by and days that have crawled, but that is the way it always is.  It seems like most students have finally figured out the ways that band in junior high is different from band in elementary, and a bunch of students have been completing make up practice logs and lessons.  Hopefully, now that they understand the system they will stay on task and not get behind in quarter two!

Our first performance of the year is next Tuesday, November 16th.  This 7:30 p.m. performance will feature all the bands in grades 7-12 and the junior high jazz ensemble.  It should be a great way to showcase the work the students have done so far.  I hope you can make it! 

Off and running

We have successfully gotten the 2010-2011 school year off and running.  We are doing a lot of procedural stuff in rehearsals right now as it takes a while for the students (and instructors) to adjust to the schedule and each other.  It is a learning process for sure.  The students have great enthusiasm and the 7th grade band sounds pretty good as we sightread music for our November concert.  We will have our first jazz rehearsal next Friday morning and had over 40 interested students sign up!  It will be interesting to see how many show up next Friday at 7:30! 

Parents and students are invited to scroll though this blog and answer the poll question, check out the weekly schedule, and take advantage of the listening/practice links for each ensemble.  There is a lot of info on this blog! 

Have a great weekend and thank you for some super first days of the school year!

Waiting for music to happen

That title phrase "waiting for music to happen" describes me right now!  I am super excited to see everyone at school on Thursday and start a year of wonderful education and music making with you.  We have a lot in store for you this year - this will be our first full year with the benefit of having a Smartboard in the rehearsal room.  Over the summer the music commons was painted and it looks great!  We are expecting new music stands to be delivered soon.  All of you will have instrument storage cubbies waiting for you on Thursday.  Inside each cubbie will be your new folder with color-coded fingering charts, warm ups and various other sheets.  Also in the folder will be the junior high band handbook and goal form that will need to be taken home, read, filled out, signed, and returned. 

It was great seeing so many of you at our orientation/open house night!  I have never had so many parents ask about jazz band before school starts - that makes me think we are going to have another outstanding jazz band this year.  I hope you will be involved!

I have wonder music selected for us.  It will challenge you, teach you, move you, and hopefully inspire you.  I will give you my very best, and I hope that you will give your very best back to me in all aspects of your playing, rehearsing, and actions as a member of our music performance groups!

Check us out and sign up to be a member of our groups through Facebook and Twitter:  You can find us on Facebook by searching for "Mankato East Jr. High Jazz" and "Mankato East Junior High Bands."  On Twitter we can be found at "KatoEastJHBands"  In any case, we want you to stay informed!

Time to close this post out - it is getting too long.  I look forward to an awesome year - see you next week!

Middle Level Bands in Concert

The bands from East Junior High School and Franklin Elementary School will come together for a concert on Tuesday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the East Auditorium.  The concert will feature performances from the Franklin Sixth Grade Concert Band under the direction of Edwin Stock, the Seventh Grade Concert Band and Junior High Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Jay Eichhorst, and the Eighth Grade Concert Band under the direction of Craig Kopetzki.  The concert is free and open to the public! 

"Playing it Forward"

Our KEYC-TV story on the "Playing it Forward" campaign sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio!
http://keyc.tv/node/36180

Trying to get "Smart"

Recently the band rehearsal room received a significant technology update.  In early February we received a SMARTboard! The board was mounted in the front of the room and has been in use daily since it was hooked up.  Most people have heard of SMARTboards by now.  But it is much more than the "interactive whiteboard" that it is often described as.  In a large room with classes our size it is a wonderful tool to be able to project images, video clips, large copies of documents, etc. on a board large enough for all students to see.  It would have been invaluable during general music classes as we would have used the board for many purposes.  Currently I use the board at the beginning to each rehearsal to scroll a powerpoint of that day's rehearsal activities for the students to see as they assemble their instruments.

Perhaps the most exciting application we have so far is the addition of SMARTMusic.  SMARTMusic is an incredible program that allows students to "see" their progress as they work on music.  In our application, by using the SMARTboard with the SMARTMusic, students can play right from the board and this allows a number of students to use the system at a time.  We will be using it for lessons as well as the students will be working on solos.

I am also in the process of teaching students how to use the board and the SMARTMusic program without our supervision.  When they can work alone, then we have truly used the tool for its intended purpose.  Students can even purchase the system at home for $30 a year.  A great investment!

Time flies

Wow!  Time flies and then you don't realize how long it has been since the band blog was updated!  There has been and is  lot of stuff going on and I will fill you in very soon on some of the happenings of the band world at Mankato East.  First though I have to concentrate my efforts as this Saturday is the South Central Minnesota Band Directors Association regional honor bands at Mankato West High School.  And I am in charge of making it all come off without a hitch.  So I have a lot to do - I will take the time to say this first: Congratulations to Katilyn H., Collin M., Carlee S., and Chandra B., for being named to the 6-8 honor band!  

Have a great week everyone and I will update you more next week!