Student Corner

All-District Solos         Metronome          VT Music Dictionary

Scroll below for Music Links and Extra Credit Opportunities!
*NEW* Jazz, 7th Grade, & 8th Grade Listening!


Listening Corner


6th Grade
Star Wars
Farewell at Dawn
Infinity
Dragonfire
7th Grade
A Prehistoric Suite
New World Breakdown: Track Only
New World Breakdown: With Band
Conflict
Drive

8th Grade
Lord of the Rings
On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss
Arabian Fire Dance
Ghost in the Attic
Castles and Dragons
Celtic Air and Dance
Jazz Band/Pep Band
American Patrol
Manteca
What a Wonderful World
James Bond
Thriller
Dynamite
Don't Stop Believing
Superstition

Click here for additional listening, or browse thousands of titles at JWPEPPER.com!

PRACTICE TIME!

It's a new year! Time for new music and new goals! I have great expectations for our bands this year, but it's up to you! Our practice records show how long we've practice, but HOW can we make our practice time more productive? Remember, simply playing music you already know may be fun, but is not helping you advance into more difficult music! Following these simple guidelines will help you to practice SMARTER so you can get MORE done in LESS time!

Before you practice:

• Make a weekly practice schedule
• Set goals (both short and long term)
• Clear all distractions during your practice time

Try the following for a great 20 minute practice session:

• Warm-up: 2 minutes
• Focus on tone production with long tones and lip slurs
• Technique Builders: 2 minutes
• Scales, Articulation exercises, Range builders
• Assignment: 5 minutes
• Play through entire assignment at least once
• The Tough Stuff: 8 minutes
• Break down into small chunks
• Count, Clap, Mark Parts, slow tempo
• Put smaller chunks together into sections
• Slowly build tempo back up
• Fun Cool Down: 3 minutes
• Play something you love!
• Give a mini-concert for family
• Play a few low long tones to cool your chops!

SURF THE MUSICAL WEB

PRACTICE TOOLS:

http://www.musictheory.net/

http://metronomeonline.com/

Fingering Charts

For Drummers

LESSONS & FREE SHEET MUSIC

www.8notes.com

www.thelessonroom.com

REVIEW & GAMES

Treble Clef

Bass Clef

Note Names 1

Note Names 2

Eek Shark

Treble for Beginners

Bass for Beginners

Treble Flash Cards

Bass Flash Cards

Games & Puzzles

AND MORE!

NYPhilKids

Classics for Kids

SFSKids

BAND EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT:

Each of the following assignments will be worth UP TO 100 points, or equal to one week’s practice records.  As 100 points would be the equivalent of one hour and forty minutes of practicing, the assignment must meet all requirements fully, exceeding minimum expectations, and with no spelling or grammatical errors.  You may complete as many as you would like for extra credit, including two of the same assignment using different composers/pieces/etc...(note of caution:  putting extra time into ONE project will help your grade more than 2 “thrown together” assignments).  (I recommend typing your project to insure it is neat and legible.)


PROJECT 1:
    Create a poster or webpage with pictures and text describing the life & music of one of the following composers.  Things to include are: When & where the composer lived, any important personal information on the composer’s life, the type of pieces he/she composed, other composers that influenced his/her style, why that composer was important in his/her time as well as today, and your thoughts on the composer and his/her music. 
    Composers:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ludwig van Beethoven
Miles Davis
John Phillip Sousa
Clara Schumann
Percy Grainger

PROJECT 2:
    CLICK HERE for Extra Credit Listening.  (if you do not have internet access, borrow a CD from Ms. Speight).  For 4 of the pieces/movements on the recording, write a brief critique of the music and performance.  Include information on the following:
Title/Composer (as listed on Website)
Instrumentation (Band? Orchestra? Jazz Band? Chorus? Solo?)
Describe the piece in musical terms (tempo, style, mood, rhythm).  Be as specific as you can!
What thoughts or images come to mind?  Can you create a story based on this piece?
What is your opinion of the piece and why?
(Each piece is worth up to 25 points.  You must do 4 to receive the full 100 points, but may do more or less as desired)

PROJECT 3:
    Imagine you are a journalist planning on conducting a series of interviews to investigate why music is important to different people.  You are interested in your participant’s musical background, inspiration, likes, dislikes, and what music means to them.  Create a series of questions (at least 8), then conduct an interview with at least 3 people.  Then, using the answers given by your participants, write a brief article titled “Why music is important.”  Describe in the article who you interviewed (including name and title--student, teacher, parent, etc...), including quotes from their interview, and finish with concluding thoughts you have from conducting your interviews.  The final project will include a transcript of all 3 interviews (does not have to be neat) and your article.  

PROJECT 4:  Attend a musical concert and write 1 paragraph which includes WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and describes the music you heard.

Upcoming opportunities: