Please note that on the letter sent home the date for the music in the parks trip is for band is incorrect. The date is Saturday, May 26th, not May 28th as posted in the letter!

Here's a link to an article on the practice habits of some St. Louis Symphony musicians. Take a look.
www.playbillarts.com/features/article/8639.html

Incoming 6th graders and advanced band members will need to purchase Essential Elements 2000, book 1, for their specific instrument.  The book is available at Nick Rail music for about $8.00.

At the beginning of each school week daily practice logs are due. This assignment is worth 5 points per day practice for a total of 25 points per week. Students should be practicing their instrument at home regularly. Writing it down on the practice log is a way for the student to track their progress and monitor their practice. Be sure to turn them in!

If you are in need of repairs to your instrument contact Mr. Ellis Olson His number is 792-3139.
Ellis has been repairing instruments for years and charges reasonable rates.

Please e-mail any pictures you may have of the concert, festivals or any other performances or activities this year. I want to update our picture section on the website.

For a musician, practicing should be treated as homework, just like any other subject like math or science. Set aside time each day for practicing your instrument. A good rule also is to practice at the same time every day, just as you plan out homework for your other subjects. Some of the practice logs that I received state the student practiced one scale for 30 minutes. That's probably not a good use of practice time. The practice logs should be more detailed, with specific measures (targets) listed. Scale practice is important, but a daily practice routine should include more than just scale practice. Technical exercises and concentrated work on musical passages should be the major focus in a practice session. Use scale practice as a warm-up. Spending most of the practice time playing through music that the student already knows is also not a good use of practice time. Students should be finding passages in their music that they CAN'’T play and focusing on those. In other words, practice what you don't know! An easy test for the parents is, if it sounds good, they're not practicing! Here's a sample practice routine with "TARGETS:"

10 min: warm-up--—Breathing, long tones, Eb Maj scale 2 octaves, Bb maj. scale, 2 octaves
15 min: Concert Music, Distant voices, M 35-40. Beethoven, M12-18; last 4 measures
5 min: Playing music the student enjoys (Star Wars)

In practicing this way, the students will maximize their practice time. When practice time is scheduled out this way, the time flies by. Also scheduling practice time is helpful when there isn'’t much time available for practicing. The time can also be split into 2 sessions. Fill out the practice log before each practice session and meet your goals for that day. Try using a kitchen timer. Set the timer to go off at a specific time, like 10 min. for warm ups. When the timer goes off, its time to move on to the next task on the practice log. If at the end of the practice session, you haven't met your goals, you can always practice longer, or make that goal a priority for tomorrow's practice session. Remember:

ALWAYS PRACTICE SLOWLY,
NEVER PRACTICE WRONG NOTES
NEVER PRACTICE WITH BAD TONE, BREATHING, OR POSTURE
ALWAYS PRACTICE AND PLAY IN TUNE.
USE A METRONOME AND A TUNER

Tips for parents:
Practicing can be tedious and frustrating for any musician at any level. If your child is sounding good, they may not be practicing appropriately. Listen for repetition of short passages. a good rule of thumb is 10 times perfectly, without a mistake. If your student sounds as if they're playing a whole song, THEY'RE NOT PRACTICING! students should be practicing in little bits, not the whole piece at one time. make sure they're practicing the parts that THEY DON'T KNOW AND CAN'T PLAY, not the parts that they can play. If they are making mistakes, they are practicing TOO FAST! SLOW DOWN!
scroll down to the links section of the page and take a moment to read the link on practice tips.
http://www.banddirector.com/article/thoughts_on_practicing.
This article will let you know more about how to practice correctly. For parents, it will give you a better idea of what you can be listening for when your child practices at home--that is what they should be doing when their during their daily practice routine. I you have to ask your child, "can't you practice anything else?" They're probably practicing correctly

Basic musicianship and other helpfull articles that will help you become a better player.

Students are required to practice at least 5 days each week and document their practicing on the practice log. Each practice log is worth 25 points with each day practiced worth 5 points. Extra credit will be given for days practiced beyond the required 5. A minimum of 20 minutes per day is required for credit. Practice logs are due at the beginning of each school week.

This form letter can be used as a template when soliciting donations for our program. It contains our non-profit tax ID number which many businesses that we do fundraising with like to have.