Volunteerism:
We are currently in need of volunteers for our Solo and Ensemble Festival on Thursday, February 11th. Please click the link below in order to get signed up!
https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/785327232092/false#/invitation
Thank you! We appreciate your help and support!
Solo/Ensemble Festivals:
– Urbandale Solo Festival: February 11
– Perry Band Olympics: VIRTUAL – A video from the Urbandale performance will be submitted to this event.
The performance schedule for Feb. 11th is posted here.
Reminder – Solo/Ensemble To Do List:
These tasks should be completed by now!
• Students should have their own original copy of the music
• Music can be ordered through Reiman’s Music, JW Pepper (online), or other music outlet
• Students should be rehearsing with their accompanist (scheduled on Sundays)
• Room assignments and performance times are posted here.
Jazz Band Summit:
We are looking forward to our first jazz band performance on Saturday, February 20th!
The UMS jazz bands will perform at 10:00 AM and the UHS jazz bands will perform at 12:00 PM. A student itinerary can be found here. Both performances will be streamed at https://www.j-hawks.com/live.
Admission is $5 for adults and students. Special thanks to Rosemary Stice for coordinating student lunches at this event.
Concert Band Performance:
Friday, March 5 2021
Time – TBD
This concert will feature all three UHS Concert Bands. The exact performance time will be released in the coming weeks.
2021-22 Band Placements
Band placements for the 2021-2022 concert bands will take place shortly after spring break. Students will be assessed on the following skills:
Music reading – sight-reading via the “sightreadingfactory.com”
Technique development – Major scales and chromatic scale
Tone quality
History: attendance habits, quality of participation, and attitude.
Student will showcase their best if they are building skills over time rather than attempting to cram their progress at the last minute.
Strategic Practice:
While in the phase of learning new music for band, preparing solos and small ensembles, jazz band music, etc.. this is the perfect time for students to employ mature, effective practice strategies in their personal practice. Practice:
- Slowly (very slowly; unrecognizably slowly)
- in chunks – and then the chunks in even smaller chunks
- with a few seconds in between repetitions to focus on what to improve (error recovery).
This strategy is explored in detail in Daniel Coyle’s book, The Talent Code. He explores several locations across the world where an extraordinary number of highly “talented” individuals have grown up – so called “talent hot beds” (in many fields: sports, music, dance, etc.). He discovered the individuals were not more talented on average than at any other place across the world. Instead, what these “talent hot beds” have in common is how they practice: slowly, in chunks, and with reflection between each repetition. His eloquent research and writing is great news because it supports the notion that practice is the real ingredient to success – and anyone willing to put forth the effort over a period of time can achieve high levels of success.
We are using these strategies in rehearsal, however it’s most effective place is in personal practice.
A humorous take on practice: