Flutes, Baritones, and Trombones: Bb Major Scale
Clarinets and Trumpets: C Major Scale
Saxophones: G Major Scale
Percussionists: Quarter notes, Quarter rests, Half Notes, 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 be sure to sign your child's practice card
the night before their music lesson
.
***IMPORTANT - Band is now every Wednesday. In addition to your
regular
lesson day, all players must also now bring their instrument to
school every Wednesday.
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).2. For every song assigned in your book:
---First, say the rhythms
---Next, say the note names in rhythm
---Next, say the note names in rhythm and finger
the notes on your instrument (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.
If it is a hard song, work on just 2 measures at a time!
A baseball player practices baseball.
A soccer player practices soccer.
A basketball player practices basketball.
A dancer practices dance..............................(you get the idea!)
I understand 4th graders are very busy people. They are
baseball
players, soccer players, basketball, football, dance,
Karate, and
much more. PLUS, they are students, they have
friends, they have families.
If you are a Flute Player, you practice your Flute every day.
If you are not practicing every day, you are not really a Flute Player.
Of course the same is true for ALL the Band instruments!
STRIVE for practicing every day. (That means try very hard.)
If you miss once in a while, it's OK! We know you are
very busy people.