6th-Grade Band Information
Welcome to 6th-Grade Band!
I'm looking foward to 6th-Grade Band! If you haven't yet signed up but would like to participate, just send me an email: jtwernbold@isd465.org
You'll also need an instrument! Many families rent an instrument from Eckroth Music. You can order online: http://www.eckroth.com/aeRntSchoolSelect.aspx
Another option is to buy a used instrument. Check out our list of local families with used instruments for sale: http://litchfieldband.com/5.html#forsale
We also have a small number of school-owned instruments available. Contact me for more info!
6th-Grade Band Lessons
Check out the band lesson schedule:
Lesson 1, September 12-16: CLICK HERE
6th Grade Lesson Groups - CLICK HERE
Practice Calendar: CLICK HERE
Each student will come in for a weekly 25-minute lesson. Students are organized into lesson groups, and each lesson group comes in the same day each week. For example, if you're in the "Trumpet Monday" group, your lesson is every Monday. If you're in the "Trumpet Wednesday" group, your lesson is every Wednesday.
We don't want students to miss the same class, so the time rotates to a different period each week. For example, during the first week ("Week A"), the Clarinet Monday group meets on Monday at the beginning of Period 2. The next week ("Week B", the Clarinet Monday group meets on Monday at the beginning of Period 3, and so on. The weekly schedule and the list of lessons groups are available at Mr. T's Lesson Page. Printed copies are also posted in the LMS Band Room, and in the window of the 6th-Grade pod.
Lesson procedures
On the day of your lesson, come into the MS Band Room before school with your instrument and book. Place your instrument on a shelf, and your book in the rack. Then head back to your morning Advisory room.
A few minutes before your lesson is to begin, quietly ask your teacher if you may go to your lesson. Come down to the MS Band Room, grab your instrument and book, and we'll play for 25 minutes. I'll also check your Practice Calendar to see that it's been filled out. If the previous week is filled out and totalled up, and SIGNED by a parent, you get an A for the lesson!
After your lesson is over you'll return to your classroom, quietly slip back into the room, and quietly find out from a nearby student what you missed while you were gone. At the end of the day, come back to the MS Band Room to pick up your instrument and book.
Percussion Auditions: Wednesday-Thursday, September 7-8
Band music is typically only written for 5-6 percussionists, and thus we need to limit the number of players. If there are too many percussionists, some would have to sit out and not participate, and that isn't fun or educational for the students. Another challenge with percussion is that it includes so many different types of instruments. We want beginning percussionists to be successful even though they have so much to learn, so we require piano proficiency for this one section of the band.
To help us find the 5-6 percussionists for next year's 6th Grade Band, we ask that any interested students come in and demonstrate their musical skills. If you are interested in auditioning for Percussion, please sign up for a day and time below. If the form doesn't appear on your browser, you can instead go directly to the form by clicking on this link: http://goo.gl/UKfX7Q
More songs!
Want more songs? Try these! Each file contains songs using just 3, 4, 5, or 6 notes:
Flute: 3-Note Songs 4-Note Songs 5-Note Songs 6-Note Songs
Clarinet: 3-Note Songs 4-Note Songs 5-Note Songs 6-Note Songs
Trumpet: 3-Note Songs 4-Note Songs 5-Note Songs 6-Note Songs
Trombone: 3-Note Songs 4-Note Songs 5-Note Songs 6-Note Songs
Baritone: 3-Note Songs 4-Note Songs 5-Note Songs 6-Note Songs
Band Karate
Show off your skill by earning Band Karate belts! Here's how it works:
- To earn a belt, you must play the three required pieces perfectly. Each belt must be earned in the order listed below (e.g. White belt first, then Yellow, then Orange), but you can play the three songs for each belt in any order, or even on different days.
- Belt tests can be taken before school / after school, or by appointment.
- If you do not pass a song for a belt test, you must wait at least one day before trying again.
The list of Band Karate Belts (in order), with the three songs required for each:
- White Belt: #5 Moving Around, #7 Deep Breaths, #9 Half Note Rock
- Yellow Belt: #17 Rain, Rain, #18 In a Minor Mood, #25 A La Rueda
- Orange Belt: #34 The Frog's Song, #38 Shoo Fly, #46 Processional Dance
- Green Belt: #50 Mahnomen Harvest, #54 Rio Con Brio, #63 A Simple Waltz
- Blue Belt: #64 Theme from "Cambridge Overture", #71 Donkey Riding, #72 Theme from "The Nutcracker"
- Purple Belt: #76 Baroque March, #82 Theme from "Orpheus in the Underworld", #91 Boogie Blues
- Red Belt: #97 Musette, #104 Alouette, #115 In the Bleak Midwinter
- Brown Belt: #116 Theme from "Symphony No 9", #127 Theme from "Sleeping Beauty", #128 Amazing Grace
- Black Belt: #138 Shepherd's Hey, #139 The Yellow Rose of Texas, #140 Manhattan Beach March
Concerns? Questions? Let us know!