High School Band Course Overview/Objectives
High School Band Course Overview/Objectives
Course Overview: We will be learning and playing a myriad of styles this semester. Due to the COVID-19 situation it is necessary for a shift in traditional brick and mortar and adapt to a hybrid (online and traditional) approach to learning and teaching. So, the learning approach will be much more focus on individual playing rather than ensemble playing at the start of the school year. We will still have band but in a different aspect. The goal is always the same: to make music, improve our skills, to be an outreach to the community and to help each other during this unprecedented time in our history. The styles in which we will focus will be jazz, rock, classical and traditional musics. The first part of the semester we will focus on fundamentals and skill development. This is needed because most of us haven’t been playing for a better part of 5-6 months. We will begin the semester with disinfecting the instruments and cleaning as well as the new procedures as recommended by the CDC. The second part of the semester we will focus on learning various styles of music, playing traditional music literature for parades and finishing the semester with a Christmas concert.
50% of the student’s music grade comes from individual performance and practice.
The other 50% of the student’s music grade comes from ensemble rehearsal and performance.
Course Objectives:
Students by the end of this course/year shall be able to:
- Review and Play Bb Chromatic Scale, All Tetrachords, Bb, Gm, Eb, Cm, F, Dm in two octaves at 100-120 bpm. (quarter, 8th pattern – not the half / quarter pattern)
- Learn and Play new scales: Ab, Fm, Db, Bbm, C, Am, G, Em in two octaves at 100-120 bpm
- Learn and Play Arpeggios in the above scales, except chromatic. on the following chords: I, IV, V in two octaves at 100-120 bpm.
- Learn, Count and Play Rhythms that contain (Note and Rest combination): Whole Notes/Rests, Half Notes/Rests, Quarter Note/Rests, Eighth Note/Rest, Dotted Half/Rest, Dotted Quarter/Rest. Sixteenth Note/Rests, Eighth Note Triplets, Quarter Note Triplets, Sixteenth Note Triplets and count in 4/4, 3 /4, 2/4, 5/4 , 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 5/8, 7/8, 2/2 or cut time. Percussion Students will know the following in addition to these: all stroke rolls, flam taps, paradiddle, flam accents, drags, flam paradiddle, double paradiddle. at 84-120 bpm.
- Learn, Count and Play Technical and Musical exercises as assigned per rank.
- Learn and Play Band Literature, Parade Literature, and Christmas/Traditional Literature that utilizes the above techniques.
- Learn and Play various styles of music.
- Understand, interpret and translate (so that they can play music) music notation for all the above.
By the end of this course students should be able to sight-read a grade 2 piece of music and perform at a grade 3 / 4 level.
NOTE: Music is graded from really easy to extremely difficult (both technically and musically). The easiest is grade 1 – the hardest grade is grade 6. Grade 6 is what professional bands/orchestras play.
Grades:
Score is determined by the following:
- Watching Lessons (Online or Attending In-Person at school)– Video, Interactive Videos
- Completing and Submitting/Performing Rank Assignments On Time.
- Completing Assigments written or playing on time.
- Attending Sectionals Online (only your instrument section)
- Attending Live Sessions/Rehearsals/Performances (with appropriate spacing, masks, etc…)
Individual: (50% of score)
35% Student Individual Assignments Performance/Submitted(Ranks)
15% Attendance at Zoom Session Sectionals (One per week), Practice Log
Ensemble: (50% of score)
35% Performances ( Pep Band, Christmas, Parades)
15% Rehearsal Attendance
