8th Graders Only

If you are an 8th grader who is planning on or even slightly interested in being in the SRHS marching band’s drumline and/or “pit” percussion section (proper name: front ensemble), please read the instructions below to receive communications from your SRHS drum captain, Jake Clarke.

If you do not fall into this category, please feel free to delete this email and/or ignore this post.

Instructions for prospective percussionists:

1. Open your phone’s text message app, and start a message to this number: 81010
2. Put this text in the body of the message: @srhsdrum18
3. If you prefer emails, or would like to be added to the email communications in addition to the text messages, send an email to Jake at JakeMClarke@gmail.com asking to be added to the communication list via email (please include your name and email address in your message to Jake)

Advertisements

Last Week of ’17-’18 School Year

INTERMEDIATE CLASSES: If you have completed all four components of your Q4PA, you no longer need to bring in family-owned or store-rented instruments to school.  Q4PA grade summaries will be distributed on Monday or Tuesday (depending on the class and any make-ups that still may need to take place in that class). All school-owned equipment, instruments, and books must be turned in no later than Tuesday.  Be prepared to clean out your storage space, as well as assist in cleaning the storage areas in and around the classroom.

ADVANCED CLASSES: Chamber music project performances will be taking place on Monday and Tuesday.  If a student is absent from a group performance, the rest of the group will move forward with the performance, and the absent student(s) will receive the same grade as the rest of the group.  Once you’ve completed your performance, you no longer need to bring in family-owned or store-rented instruments to school.  All school-owned equipment, instruments, and books must be turned in no later than Tuesday.  Be prepared to clean out your storage space, as well as assist in cleaning the storage areas in and around the classroom.

MONDAY MEETINGS: Please take a look at the post below to see if you should be attending either of the meetings taking place at MMS on Monday.

HP&GoF CANCELLED: Our number of sign-ups fell short of the minimum 20 tickets we needed to secure group seats at the San Diego Symphony’s performance of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with live soundtrack on Saturday, August 4th.  This event has been cancelled and payments will be returned to parents via their students this week.

SSC: SSC will meet Tuesday at lunch for the last time this school year!

Upcoming After-School Meetings

There are a couple of after-school meetings that I wanted to mention for students to remember and for parents to learn about if this is new information:

Wednesday, June 6th from 2:30 to 3:15pm in Room 102
Who: 8th graders enrolling in music classes at SRHS in the fall (not just marching band)
What: An info session for incoming band, orchestra, and marching band students led by SRHS music students.  Mr. Brown will stay to supervise.

Monday, June 11th from 2:30 to 3:00pm in Room 102
Who: Any student interested in learning more about the San Diego Summer Music Institute (SDSMI) at SDSU and/or the possibilities of getting tuition assistance to this year’s camp
What: SDSMI representative Daisy Kiner-Kopp will present information about what SDSMI is all about, give basic details about the camp, answer questions, and more.

Monday, June 11th from 7:30 to 9:00pm in the MMS Performing Arts Center
Who: 8th graders enrolling in music classes at SRHS in the fall (not just marching band) and at least one parent
What: An informational meeting about the 2018 – 2019 school year led by SRHS Music Director, Russell Shedd.  The meeting is being held in the MMS theater because the SRHS theater is under construction.

Quarter 4 Performance Assessment

The Quarter 4 Performance Assessment information was distributed to all classes on Monday, May 21st.  Intermediate classes will perform the traditional playing test to which they’re accustomed.  Details for each class can be viewed below.  Advanced classes will participate in a chamber music project.  Advanced Band will also have a scale component in which all students will perform the Concert A-flat Major scale as written on their major scale sheets at a tempo of quarter note = 90 bpm.  The rubric for the performance of this scale is the normal rubric used for traditional playing tests and can be viewed below.  Advanced Orchestra does not have a scale component associated with this test.   The following documents are all the pertinent materials for this test:

Class details: Int. Band     Int. Orch.     Chamber music project

Grading rubrics: Selections        Scales        Chamber music performance rubric

Selections for percussionists (Int. Band only)

Food for Musical Thought

 

If you find yourself bored and needing a good article or two to pass the time, here are a few from my good friend, Dr. Noa Kageyama, a.k.a. “The Bulletproof Musician.”

What to Ask Yourself After a Failure or Setback

8 Things Top Practicers Do Differently

“Perfect” Practice May Be Preventing You from Learning that Tricky Passage

Why Listening to Reference Recordings is an Important Part of Practicing

The Importance of Writing Notes in Your Music (one of my favorites!)

For more delightfully thought-provoking articles about music and becoming a better musician, feel free to browse Dr. Kageyama’s blog, and feel free to email me with any articles you don’t see above that you found to be applicable to middle school musicians.