Mr. Kemp's
Early Band Tips

Notes we know:

Flutes and Trombones:  Bb, C, D, Eb, F
Clarinets and Trumpets:  C, D, E, F, G, A
Saxophones: G, A, B, C, D, E
Percussionists:  Quarter notes, Quarter rests, Eight Notes

At this point students should be practicing about 20 minutes 7 days
a week.  It is better to practice for a few minutes every day than to
try to "make up" the missed time by practicing for a long time one
day a week.  The reasons for this are that playing an instrument
requires both muscle strength and muscle memory.  Daily practice
helps students to strengthen the muscles required to play the instrument,
as well as to help their fingers remember which keys to push for each
note.  Infrequent practice sessions, no matter how intense, will not be as
effective in helping students to remember what they are supposed to do
on their instrument. See tips below.

***Also - Parents please check the band folders regularly as practice
updates and notices are sent home via the band folders.

Here are some things students should be working on during their daily
practice at this point in the year:

1. Play every note you know the name of and the fingering for.
Play these notes for as long as you can on one breath.  Look at a
clock to time yourself.  See if you can increase how long you can
hold the note by 1 second every few days.  This will help you
when the band songs get longer.  It will also help your "tone" (the
sound you make on your instrument). Percussionists should be
playing their "finger-wrist exercises" slowly as a warm-up. Think
of this a stretching before you practice a team sport or at the start
of dance class.

2. For every song assigned in your book:

---First, count the rhythms
---Next, say the note names in rhythm
---Next, say the note names in rhythm and finger
the notes (do not play yet)
---Once you can do all of the above, play the song.
If you have practiced the first 3 steps correctly you
should play the song correctly the first time.

3. You will be given a playing assessment on almost every
page of the Standard of Excellence book.  The playing assessment
songs are the ones with the picture of the medal after the song
title.  Page 47 in your book has a list of each assessment and the expectations for that assessment.