5th grade band stars perform matinees!

The 5th grade band stars performed their matinees for their campuses this week!  All of the bands did an outstanding job of performing for their peers.  I am so proud of the time and effort that the students are putting into learning to play their instruments.  They have had a very busy week with their concert on Monday evening and matinee performances throughout the week.  Please continue to encourage your child to practice over the holiday break as I am excited to begin working on more challenging music for the rest of the year!

5th Grade band stars SHINE at Holiday Concert!

Congratulations to the Brandon Valley 5th Grade Band on their outstanding performance at our Holiday Concert last night!  Your attention to dynamics, tempo, fermatas, fingerings and rhythms created an exciting showcase of your talents and abilities for our appreciative audience!  Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to our instrumental program and I look forward to moving on to even 'bigger and better' things for this coming semester.  You guys and girls ROCK!

Mr. Hubers

Holiday Concert Matinee Schedule

The Holiday Concert Matinee schedule is as follows:

RBE:  Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 8:30am

BE:  Thursday, Dec. 17 @ 1:30pm

FAE:  Friday, Dec. 18 @ 8:30am

Please feel free to invite any parents, grandparents, etc, to these matinee performances of our district elementary band and orchestra!

Countdown to the Holiday Concert!

Wow - it is December already!  The days are going by so quickly as we are making our final preparations for the Holiday Concert.  Most of the students have been working very diligently preparing for the performance.  Thanks for continuing to encourage their practice time at home - it truly makes a difference during our full band rehearsals and their small group lessons. All of the band students received an information sheet/reminder regarding the concert during rehearsal this week.  All of the information has also been posted on the blog earlier and was placed in the Brandon Bugle, Bennis Buzz and Assam Anchor.  All students are expected to participate in our performances as 'Performance' is part of the District/State Standards for Instrumental Music.  The band and I are looking forward to performing for you.  As soon as the dates for the matinees are set, I will post them also!  See you at the concert!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Wow!  It is hard to believe that it is Thanksgiving already next week!  The band students will be receiving another packet of music soon!  This packet will contain 'Jolly Old St. Nick', 'Up on the Housetop', 'Angels We Have Heard on High', and 'Deck the Halls'.  These packets are not for our holiday concert - they are just 'fun' songs that they can play for themselves, parents, grandparents, etc. or who ever will listen to them.  All of the student packets are just the melody line - no accompaniment parts.  I hope the band students enjoy playing these songs for you!

Standard of Excellence - 1st Performance Book

Parents, please make sure that your band child has the '1st Performance' book!  This book has many longer pieces in it which correspond with the skills and concepts presented in our 'Standard of Excellence'.  We will be performing one selection out of this book for our Holiday Concert and other selections from the book at our Spring performance.  A number of you have already purchased the book as it was listed on the letter regarding summer band camp and necessary materials that was sent home at the end of the school year this past May.  If you have not already purchased it, please do so as soon as you are able as we are busily preparing for the Holiday Concert!  Thank you so much for you cooperation in this matter!

HOLIDAY CONCERT NOTES!

Preparations are well under way for our annual Holiday Band and Orchestra concert.  The band students have been busily preparing some familiar holiday/Christmas selections as well as some other tunes appropriate for the season.  Please continue to encourage the practice time at home.  This practice time is essential for reinforcing all of the musical concepts that the students are introduced to during our full band rehearsals and small-group lessons.  I have also been reminding all of the students that we are not going to spend the 20 minute lesson time doing their individual practicing.  They are to come to their lessons prepared to play their assignments from the previous week.  Some students have been coming to lessons expecting me to guide them through their practice - this is not fair to the other students in their lesson group who have been practicing and are ready to progress on to the new material.  Please put the date for the concert on your calendar as all students are expected to be at our performance - Monday, Dec. 14.  Also, please note the time change from previous years - the band and orchestra concert will begin at 6:30pm in the Performing Arts Center.

Excellent Performance on Progress Reports!

Although rather hectic, the past few weeks were spent listening to the band students perform individually during their lessons. If your child was absent this past week, I will listen to them during their lesson next time I see them!  Most of the students came very well-prepared and I am excited to begin working on our pieces for our Holiday Concert!  Many of the students are moving quite rapidly through their lesson books and making exceptional progress.  Ask your son/daughter to play some of their holiday tunes for you!  In a few weeks, I will also be handing out some holiday melodies that all of the kids can play for grandpa and grandma, holiday get-togethers, at church, etc.  Everyone has the melody on these pieces so all of the kids can play them regardless of what instrument they play!  Please continue to encourage their practice time at home as this is necessary to continue making progress on their instrument!  Until next time...

Instrumental Progress Resports Update!!

I am still hoping to complete as much testing of the 5th graders as possible during this week and next week.  I realize that a number of students have been out of school due to illness last week and this week.  If your child has missed a lesson due to illness, just have him/her practice whatever was assigned at their last lesson for their playing/testing pieces at their next lesson.  If they are absent for their lesson during the week of testing, I will listen to them the next time I see them.  I understand that many are quite concerned about this and we will all just have to be as flexible as possible during the next few weeks!  Hopefully all will return to normal soon! 

Instrumental Performance Quizzes

I will begin testing the band students during their lessons next week, Oct. 19-23.  Students will be given their assigned playing exercises this week during their lesson/band.  Most of the students will be performing exercises on pp. 13-14 in the Standard of Excellence book.  These selections will focus on counting and playing 8th notes correctly.  Other skills that I will be listening for include tone production, correct fingerings, correct posture/playing position, music reading skills, rhythmic precision and tonguing.  I will also be checking the students' written assignments and practice charts.   I will be sending the progress reports home with their report cards.  Please encourage your child to continue with his/her practicing as this is very necessary at the beginner level to master the concepts needed to be excellent musicians!

Conference Notes

Thank you to all of the parents who stopped  by to visit during conferences!  I enjoy meeting the parents of my new band students and appreciate your concern for your child's musical development.  If you were not able to meet with me during conferences, please feel free to drop me an email with any concerns or questions that you may have regarding the beginning instrumental program and your child's progress.  My email at school is:  Del.Hubers@k12.sd.us  Please do not hesitate to contact me throughout the year!

Reminders to the Band Students

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and don't forget to record it in the front cover of your band book. YOUR GOAL IS 90 MINUTES A WEEK!

REMEMBER YOUR PENCILS AND FOLDERS FOR REHEARSAL from now on as we will begin working on sheet music for our holiday performance soon!

REMEMBER LESSON TIME!  Most of you are doing a super job of remembering when to come down for your lesson - keep up the good work and effort!

CHECK OUT THE WEB-SITES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG for some fun theory games!

Progress Reports for 5th Grade Band

Within the next few weeks, I will begin filling out progress reports for the 5th grade band students.  The band members will be playing assigned exercises during their small group lesson time.  I will let them know next week which pages/exercises they will be playing for me.  I will give them a 'rating' on a variety of different aspects of playing their instrument.  The rating is as follows: 

 1 - 'does this well'

 2 - 'is working to achieve this'

 3 - 'needs improvement'

4 - 'needs immediate attention'.

  I will be giving them a rating in the following categories:  posture, tone production, music reading skills, rhythm skills and lesson preparation, as well as giving written comments.  These progress reports will be sent home with their report cards.  These reports should help give you an accurate assessment of your what your child is doing really well at and which aspects need attention.

Conference Schedule

My conference schedule on October 6 is as follows:

Brandon Elementary:  1:30 - 3:30

Robert Bennis Elementary:  3:30 - 5:30

Fred Assam Elementary:  6:30 - 9:00

Please feel free to see me at any one of the campuses regarding your child's progress on their band instrument!  I look forward to meeting as many parents as I can!

5th Grade Band to Appear with the High School Marching Lynx!!

The 5th grade band members will be marching with the Brandon Valley Marching Lynx prior to the football game on Friday, October 16.  The band students will need to be in the High School Commons area by 6:45 that evening and will march with the high school band at 7:00pm.  The band members are to wear 'Lynx' colors for this event.  After putting their instruments away, they are allowed to go back into the game for free.  Please mark your calendars for this fun event - we would like to see as many of the 'future' marching Lynx join us as possible!

Welcome to 5th Grade Band!

Welcome to the Brandon Valley 5th Grade Band! We are in for an exciting year as we work together to develop the skills and talents necessary to achieve our goals as young musicians!