Have all notes and rhythms for Critical Mass and Africa learned for next rehearsal.

Use the A-ccompany app! It is the best way for you to gain confidence in your part and sound your best! Take one measure at a time and work on it until you are confident, then move on to the next measure…then put a small section of measures together, and so forth until you know the entire tune!

To build muscle memory, small doses of practice each day are more effective than one marathon session per week.

Thursday 11/12 from 2-3pm is our next rehearsal. Practice your music so you are confident in all of the notes and rhythms, then we can have fun putting it together!

This year our band students have the opportunity to work with a new online rehearsal platform called Upbeat. Last week, our WE students finished their first project, the YHS fight song “Stand up and Cheer.” It is attached. Hope our music brightens your day! More to come.

To all of our students – thank you for your patience as we deal with the learning curves that music technology (and technology in general) presents. To be successful, here is what students will need:

1.     A device with working audio and video (so Ms. Kluga can hear them when they play and see their posture and finger/stick technique).

2.     Headphones

3.     Power cable

Friday 11/6 is the last day of Quarter #1.

Below is a list of this week’s sessions. Huge thanks to our awesome upperclassmen leaders for hosting! For this quarter our YHS Band students, grades 9-12, have clocked a total of 111 periods of guided practice so far!

• Monday 11/2, p.9: Jazz Saxophone with Swaroop, Jazz Trombone with Colin, Saxophone with Alissa
• Wednesday 11/5, p.9: Trumpet with Michael
• Thursday 11/5, p.9: Clarinet with Sarah
• Friday 11/6, p.9: Flute with Chinmay, Horn with Alicia, Jazz Trumpet with Michael

Due to the updated YCSD calendar, Ms. Kluga needed to make some lesson changes for November. The updated lesson calendar is available on Dashboard.

Nice job at rehearsal this week! It was so much fun to see you all having fun together!

Please plan on attending your sectional this week – check your e-mail for the link. Have your notes and rhythms ready to work on Critical Mass.

Thursday 11/5 from 2-3pm is our next rehearsal. Practice your music so you are confident, then we can have fun putting it together!

Band students have had 7 lessons so far this quarter, each one building on skills from the previous, and this week’s lesson was particularly challenging.  Young musicians need to work repetitively to build muscle memory – which doesn’t always sound like music at first. As our students practice at home, with other family members at home too, here is a reminder of how you can help support them 🙂

Our 17^th annual costume contest will take place in class on Thursday 10/30 and Friday 10/31.  Extra points if your costume is home-made, or in any way musical.  Looking forward to celebrating this fun holiday with you!

Is posted on Dashboard. Click on Documents, and then on Lesson Calendars.

Students can earn extra credit by attending a guided practice session with an upper-classman, or an extra help appointment with Ms. Kluga. Availability is announced daily in class. Ms. Kluga is always available for extra help by appointment.

Here are the rest of this week’s guided practice session offerings. Zoom links were sent via e-mail.

Wednesday: Horn, Flute, Clarinet, Jazz Band Trumpet

Friday: Clarinet, Trumpet

Thank you to our awesome upperclassmen for your time and leadership!

We will meet Thursday 10/29 from 2-3. Ms. Kluga will make a call regarding the weather during the day on Thursday. Please arrive early so that we can begin promptly at 2.

This week we tried out the UpBeat app (which combines the social meeting platform of Zoom with the recording capabilities of Acapella) during our virtual rehearsals and band lessons. Students started by clapping a simple rhythm exercise, and once that was successful, went on to perform a more complex rhythm with instruments. A sample video of this project is attached. 

Ms. Kluga is really excited about the musical possibilities Upbeat offers our students! More to come.