It has been a while since we have sent anything out to our band parents. We have a lot of busy students who are working on becoming good musicians! Can you believe it is less than a month to our Christmas Concert (Tuesday, December 7 at 6:30)? We are looking forward to seeing all of you there and I hope you will be impressed by the improvement in all 3 Bands!
PLEASE make sure your students is practicing 15 minutes or so 5 days a week. The Bandroom is open each morning at around 7:20 AM and is also open until busses leave every afternoon to help students that have a problem taking the instrument home. There are a number of students that I see practicing a little each day and it is no wonder that make a lot of fast progress. It really does not take much time and it makes playing the instrument more fun!
On December 1, we will kick off our final fundraiser of the year. It is a Book and Magazine sale. This sale is great in that it does not require delivery and a good deal of it can be accomplished through internet link. You just have friends and relatives renew subscriptions and the Bragg Band gets the credit. We did this project last year and it was very successful.
Beginning Band
Our beginners are doing well. Please get them to practice 4-5 days a week, even if only for a short time! Skill building takes daily repetition. We are listening to each student individually as often as possible. If you hear something that might not be just right in their sound, then I will be glad to come up here in the evening sometime and meet with you and your student and help solve the problem. We are making progress through the book, but we also have an individualized “Passoff System” where the faster students can move on ahead. Ask your student where they are in the book!
Advanced and Intermediate Bands
We have a good number of Advanced Band students that were selected for the UAB Honor Band in December. They should send their confirmation in by next week. Please check with me if you have any questions.
There are a large number of students working on the All-State/All-District auditions in January. This is great as there is not much more that I can recommend that can aid in a student’s musical growth and helping improve the band! Mrs. Towns and I will be available during class and during their reading time to help with these students. Please encourage them to work hard at this goal.
Our Competition Trip is planned for March 26. We will be competing early in the morning and going to 6 Flags the rest of the day. The cost will be around 95.00, but we have a project planned to help students earn part of the cost. We need all students to attend since it is an important competition!
Basketball Pep Band (Advanced and Intermediate Bands)
We will be performing at two Ball games: December 13 and January 13. Students will be assigned and required to perform at one game, but can play at both if they like. More on this later.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement of your students!
Dr. Min and Mrs. Towns
