BAND CAMP DAY 1
August 7, 2017
I can't believe it . . . band camp is here. For me, this is multi-faceted feelings as this means:
1. My personal life is over for the next three months.
2. Summer is over.
3. Marching Band season means new opportunities for growth.
I enjoy the natural "reset" that a new school year provides. I love that band camp begins the year as it provides a great time to focus on fundamentals and organization. The bonus two weeks I get with my students is special.
Today was a MESS. Rain all day and no facilities to rehearse in.
I can't believe it . . . band camp is here. For me, this is multi-faceted feelings as this means:
1. My personal life is over for the next three months.
2. Summer is over.
3. Marching Band season means new opportunities for growth.
I enjoy the natural "reset" that a new school year provides. I love that band camp begins the year as it provides a great time to focus on fundamentals and organization. The bonus two weeks I get with my students is special.
Today was a MESS. Rain all day and no facilities to rehearse in.
I thought I'd share with you what my areas of focus are during this band camp. I have a genuine belief that fundamentals and training are the most important aspect of the marching band season. As I approached this year, I found I was most disappointed with my students' breathing (and how it affected our playing). Breathing affects tone, tempo, and tuning.
We have always utilized the great work of the Breathing Gym . The exercises are great. Where I found a need for growth is that translation of these exercises into practice. We did a VERY good job at the exercises but not in context of playing. Therefore, as the band got better, our entrances did not. I also found that notes did not "resonate" fully at the onset of notes instead leading to a muffled entrance. (In my younger days, I misdiagnosed this as musicians being "late" and telling them to play faster).
Today, we did a ton of work on breathing in tempo of our show. I would alternate together and having students experiment on their own. I had students breathe with eyes closed so they could feel and hear the pulse of the breath. We were giving them the mechanics via breathing gym exercises and then the feel of it in context.
Essential Musicianship for Band also provides some great talking points for breathing! I referenced those too!
We have always utilized the great work of the Breathing Gym . The exercises are great. Where I found a need for growth is that translation of these exercises into practice. We did a VERY good job at the exercises but not in context of playing. Therefore, as the band got better, our entrances did not. I also found that notes did not "resonate" fully at the onset of notes instead leading to a muffled entrance. (In my younger days, I misdiagnosed this as musicians being "late" and telling them to play faster).
Today, we did a ton of work on breathing in tempo of our show. I would alternate together and having students experiment on their own. I had students breathe with eyes closed so they could feel and hear the pulse of the breath. We were giving them the mechanics via breathing gym exercises and then the feel of it in context.
Essential Musicianship for Band also provides some great talking points for breathing! I referenced those too!
I utilized some differentiation within the sight reading process today too. I gave students the "opportunity" to play or not dependent on their comfort level. The first day of band camp is equal fun and overwhelming. (My new students are usually unprepared for the playing level as per earlier posts). A few times in reading our warm up/chorale exercises, I would offer students the ability to play if they felt 100% confident in their performance. It allowed for a "I play/you play" format between students. This helped get the understanding of the material. I will use this again.
My third objective for band camp is what I describe as students listening and not just hearing. We operate in a good enough sphere that if breathing and playing in time, we can make some great sounds. Sometimes, I feel that although my students hear each other, they don't "listen." We began a number of exercises that will encourage students to listen.
For example, with my woodwinds, I had them play specific note lengths to a metronome. The objectives difficulty was in forcing the students to subdivide. Although the objective was binary in nature, it created a great opportunity for students to listen. (I also utilized my Essential Musicianship talking points to make sure the tonal energy was both consistent, even, and matched).
From there, we utilized the same tempo to learn a melodic line. In this instance, I used "Chorale Melody on Chester" from Foundations for a Superior Performance. These exercises are cool because they have a written line, a subdivided line, and a bopped line. As the students utilized the metronome to air play the notes, they could subdivide similar to the previous exercises. I had students model the line using the above differentiation.
Once models had played, students added in. We used the "bop" line to isolate note length. The modeling and matching of bopping created an opportunity to match note length and relate attacks to tempo. All in all, it was a successful session.
Ok . . . . I'm really tired! Band Camp, Day 2, tomorrow!
My third objective for band camp is what I describe as students listening and not just hearing. We operate in a good enough sphere that if breathing and playing in time, we can make some great sounds. Sometimes, I feel that although my students hear each other, they don't "listen." We began a number of exercises that will encourage students to listen.
For example, with my woodwinds, I had them play specific note lengths to a metronome. The objectives difficulty was in forcing the students to subdivide. Although the objective was binary in nature, it created a great opportunity for students to listen. (I also utilized my Essential Musicianship talking points to make sure the tonal energy was both consistent, even, and matched).
From there, we utilized the same tempo to learn a melodic line. In this instance, I used "Chorale Melody on Chester" from Foundations for a Superior Performance. These exercises are cool because they have a written line, a subdivided line, and a bopped line. As the students utilized the metronome to air play the notes, they could subdivide similar to the previous exercises. I had students model the line using the above differentiation.
Once models had played, students added in. We used the "bop" line to isolate note length. The modeling and matching of bopping created an opportunity to match note length and relate attacks to tempo. All in all, it was a successful session.
Ok . . . . I'm really tired! Band Camp, Day 2, tomorrow!
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