Sallas’ Music Notes

Congratulations on a fantastic performance last night at Georgia Music Educator’s District Festival! You made straight Superior Ratings in performance and in sight reading!

Monday after spring break, we will have a chair test over your chromatic scale for woodwinds and brass-from as low as you can go to as high as you go and back down. Tone quality in all registers and accuracy is the key! Percussion you will have chair tests over your Single & Double Paradiddles-(fast-not slow)

HAVE A FANTASTIC SPRING BREAK!!!!!!

All students have been instructed to take home instruments Wednesday and leave them home. No instruments will be needed Thursday & Friday, just paper and a pencil. We will be taking the 8th grade band students to Disney World. All band classes will meet in the Auditorium.

THIS SUNDAY:  March 25-Report in Concert Dress(Black dress pants, black dress shoes, black socks and white band polo shirt or a plain white polo shirt) ready to warm-up in the band room at 2:30 p.m.

We will be performing 25 or 6 to 4, Georgia On My Mind, Ben’s Blues & Boiling Point at the school’s Dedication Ceremony.  A reception will be held after the ceremony.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A SLIGHT ADJUSTMENT IN OUR PERFORMANCE TIME AT KELL HIGH SCHOOL.  We will warm-up at 5:05p.m., perform at 5:45 p.m., have our clinic at 6:10 p.m. and sight-read at 6:35 p.m.  Due to a later performance time, we will provide pizza to the students instead of a "snack" prior to our departure.   Return time to McClure will be around 7:30 p.m.

Students: practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practice……did I mention practice?   Just checking……………

Wasn’t Mr. Hermenson GREAT yesterday as a clinician? I especially loved that deeeeeep voice…….Remember his advice and suggestions to push us into the next level of performance.  We have moments of GREATNESS and then moments of Dude-what was that?  CONSISTENCY is what we need.  Individual responsibility to the group is paramount. Please practice ALOT this weekend! EVERY INDIVIDUAL IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ENSEMBLE’S PERFORMANCE!

Honor Roll March:  Eighth notes need to be shorter especially from the clarinets, trumpets and alto saxophones.  Need a wider dynamic range from all instruments!  Please practice at MM 112.  (That’s the tempo Mr. Hermenson took!)  Percussion work on keeping a consistent tempo!  Don’t drag.

Serengeti Dreams;  Work on your crescendos’ zooming!  Non accented quarter notes half the volume as the accented notes.  Don’t breath after your crescendos.  Any time that you have 2 quarter notes that are accented put space and separation between them with a TAH articulation.  Trumpets buzz your part with the recording, concentrate on meas. 50-66.  Measure 68 to the end low brass work dynamics and precision.  Everyone needs to work on shaping your phrases.  Percussion please work on understanding your set-up and what is needed prior to playing this song.  Crash cymbal part needs work.  Percussion work on consistent tempo-don’t drag and more dynamic contrast.  Breath before attacks just like the winds.

Ancient Moon Please practice the beginning to meas. 17 at MM 72.  Meas. 18-End at MM 140. Everyone needs to work on a wider dynamic contrast and correct style.  Make sure all of you accented quarter notes are the exact same note length.  Trumpets work with a tuner when your mute is in. Low brass & low reeds we still don’t have ALL the correct notes!  Percussion-CONFIDENCE! 

EVERYONE SHOULD BE LISTENING TO THE RECORDINGS!!!!!

Please return your permission form as SOON as possible! If you’ve lost yours-clink on the attachment.Download 71_62_festival_band_permission_form.doc

Reminder: There is a mandatory meeting for students and parents Tuesday March 27th @ 7pm in the orchestra room.

Congratulations to the 7-2 & 8th Grade Band for an incredible performance at the Large Group Performance Evaluation. They received all Superior ratings on stage and a Superior in sightreading!!! I am incredibly proud of all the students who participated in this journey and of the giant musical step they took this week.
One judge wrote ” McClure Middle School, your first festival performance; What an incredible success it was!”
I couldn’t agree more!
Special Thanks to all the parents who chaperoned the trip and all the parents who were there supporting and cheering us on. Your support is essential to the success of this program. Thanks

Remember-no rehearsal Tuesday-March 20th, we shifted that rehearsal to Wednesday. This week we will rehearse Wednesday & Thursday morning.

This Sunday, March 25th is the school dedication which will begin at 3:00 p.m. Jazz Band members need to report at 2:40 p.m. ready to warm-up in the band room in concert dress: White band polo shirt, black dress pants, black dress shoes, and black socks.

The magic tempo for Honor Roll March is MM 104. We will finish passing off individually in class tomorrow measures 17-40. Everyone needs to work bopping with the metronome!

Same tempos for the other music. Practice, practice, practice, did I mention practice? Just checking………

Thursday’s pass-off is on Concert F Scale and Arpeggio in quarter notes.