Quarter One Week Two

This week in the Wind Ensemble we focused on the g minor scale and introduced it's three forms (natural, harmonic, and melodic). We tested on those scales on Thursday, performing them in two octaves (memorized) plus an arpeggio on g minor. As an ensemble we worked on Rise of the Phoenix by Steven Reineke. There was some sectional time while the members of the jazz band practiced for an upcoming performance at the Riverfest on Saturday. We also discussed having a meeting with all the members of the Wind Ensemble so that we can set up some after school rehearsals for those members that are unable to be in the class, this will be held on September 8th. Next week we are going to quiz on a scale pattern based on the Eb major scale.

In the Symphonic Band we worked on the Bb major. We quizzed on Thursday on 2A Technique which is based on the Bb major scale. We moved ahead in our work on Star Wars, as well as Celtic Ballad. We also listened to some additional pieces we were considering for the fall concert.

Quarter One Week One

Welcome back! We are excited to have two sections of band at the high school this year. This has created a little confusion and some of the members are in the wrong classes, but we are attempting to correct the problem. This week we passed out class materials and discussed classroom expectations. We assigned instruments, lockers, and folio slots.

Wind Ensemble: This is the auditioned group and is a little smaller than the other class. We passed out music for three charts: Fortress, Rise of the Phoenix, and Ensembelero. The members started working on three forms of the g minor scale. Next Thursday they will have a quiz on having all three forms of the minor scale memorized, two octaves, plus arpeggio, at quarter note = 100.

Symphonic Band: This week we passed out Celtic Ballad and music from Star Wars. We started working on warm ups in the book in Bb major. We will be testing on a scale exercise: 2A Technique with quarter note = 90 next Thursday.