HOW TO JOIN BAND
1. When does the band class meet?
Beginning band meets as a regular class for 45 minutes at
different times throughout the school day for the entire school year. Students
are grouped into classes according to what instrument they play. The
teacher-pupil ratio is kept low to facilitate individual supervision of
student’s progress. Skills develop slowly at first, therefore, students and
parents must be patient and committed for the entire school year in order to
get the full benefit of band instruction. Skills developed during beginner band
are to prepare students for 7th and 8th grade, so it’s important they commit to
get the best results.
2. What instruments are started?
Beginners are started on flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet,
alto saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba, and
percussion.
3. Is any previous musical training necessary?
No. The method books used in beginner band are for the
musically untrained student. We teach the fundamentals of reading music as well
as the fundamentals of playing an instrument. As students progress, you will be
able to recognize familiar tunes (by the time of our Winter Concert, you should
be very impressed!). Their progress culminates in the Spring Concert at the end
of the year.
4. Can my child be successful even if I don’t have musical
talent?
Yes! The most important requirement for success is the
desire to succeed. We begin students from a very basic yet detailed approach to
learning the instrument. Students are taught basic fundamental building blocks
that will make them successful throughout their senior year in the Hebron Band
and beyond!
5. Are certain instruments for girls and others for boys?
Definitely NOT! Instrument choices are not on a student’s
gender, but rather their desire to play that instrument. Instrument selection
is based primarily upon the facial characteristics of the student and other
physical characteristics that make a certain instrument a better “fit”. Trust
your band director.
6. When do students need instruments?
Instruments will be needed on the first day of school.
Locked storage for all instruments is provided in the band hall. Please make
sure that the case is labeled with your child’s name. Don’t wait too long! Most
music companies run out of stock in July AND raise their prices to take
advantage of late renters/buyers! Follow our instructions during the spring semester and you’ll be in great
shape.
7. Should I rent or purchase an instrument?
RENT! Renting an instrument will give your child the
opportunity to begin in band with only a small initial investment. Your child
can have the advantages of a brand new beginner model instrument, such as pride
of ownership, freedom from error due to poor equipment, and the opportunity to
be the best player they can be by having the best available instrument for
their age level. Your child will have the instrument and mouthpiece recommended
by the band directors. After their beginner year, most instruments required an
upgrade into a professional model.
The instrument can be returned to the company at any time
without further obligation. All rental payments are applied towards the
purchase of the instrument.
8. What about buying used instruments?
Some used instruments are good bargains. However, you could
possibly end up spending more money on repairs than the instrument is worth.
For this reason, we ask that if you do purchase a used instrument, try to let a
LISD Band Director examine it prior to purchase. Local music stores and former
band students are excellent sources of used instruments. You might see if the
music companies have used instruments available. We have found most pawnshop
instruments to be of dubious quality.
WARNING: Please do not purchase a musical
instrument from a department store.
These instruments, in our opinion, are poorly made, with inferior
materials that once broken, are not usually repairable. Again, we recommend that you RENT an
instrument the first year from a reputable music company. We INSIST on every
student having the recommended mouthpiece so that no student has a competitive
advantage over another and so all students sound the same.
9. Are there any school owned instruments available?
Yes. The school provides the more expensive instruments:
tuba, euphonium, French horn, oboe, and bassoon. These are assigned on the
basis of aptitude, suitability, and availability – NOT financial need. Parents
whose child is selected to play one of these school instruments are required to
pay a $100 per year usage fee, and will still be required to purchase necessary
accessories such as a mouthpiece, books, reeds/valve oil.
Due to the unique
nature and difficulty of the oboe, bassoon, French horn, and percussion
instruments it is CRITICAL that they take weekly private lessons.
This offsets
the cost paid by others from renting monthly from a music store. These
instruments are challenging and specialty instruments. If you are unable take
lessons, you should not elect to play them. Private lessons for all instruments
lessons are strongly encouraged.
10. Can my child start playing as soon as he/she gets an
instrument?
In order to prevent costly repairs and the formation of bad
habits, we prefer that the instrument stay in the case during the summer.
Instruments will stay in the storage room of the band hall during the first
week of school. After formal instruction is given on the care and assembly of
the instrument during the first week of school, your child will begin taking the
instrument home. This is to protect your investment! When you rent/purchase
from a music company, the store will deliver the instrument and materials to
our band hall before the first day of school. An additional option for eager
students is to start band this SUMMER with a Private Lesson teacher. This is a
chance to get one-on-one help and be set-up for success with one of the
professional musicians who teach on our campus each week. The teachers
understand that some lessons might have to be rescheduled due to family
vacations.
11. Can my child participate in both athletics and band at
the same time? Band and Choir? Band and Orchestra? Band & Theatre Arts?
YES! If it fits on your schedule, we make it work with
ease. There are many middle school
students who are in band, athletics,and other organizations such as theatre
arts, choir, etc. Because of the unique nature of playing a musical instrument,
we try to encourage students to begin band in 6th grade and then take other
electives along with band in their 7th
& 8th grade years. If you want your child to learn a band
instrument, you will need to put band as your FIRST CHOICE for an elective. In
7th grade & 8th grade, the school administration, coaches, classroom
teachers and band directors work together to try to avoid conflicts in
scheduling. We have current Arbor Creek MS Band members who are also in 7th
& 8th grade football, volleyball, basketball, math science team,
cheerleading, orchestra, choir and in school theater productions!
12. Are there any extra rehearsals required? Concerts?
Beginners are required to attend only three (3) performances
their first year: The Winter Concert in December, Beach Within Reach Band
contest in May, and our Spring Concert in May. There will only be one after
school rehearsal prior to the Winter Concert and the Beach Within Reach contest.
Other than these few performances & rehearsals, there are NO after school
responsibilities or activities. We also
have a few fun/social events throughout the year (NRH20 water park, Main Event, & band parties) – there are even more in 7th and 8th grade!
13. Will my child be required to practice at home?
Yes. Students are required as a part of their grade to
practice 15-30 minutes at least 6 days a week outside of class. As with all
things, communication is key if your student has a “busy week”. We don’t want
anyone to worry or get stressed out, but there is homework in every class,
including band (it’s just more FUN to do band homework!). They record their
time on a “Learning Log”, which is turned in and graded weekly. For home
practice, students are to purchase a folding music stand, metronome (electronic
time-keeper) all included in the beginner kits purchased from Music & Arts.
We have found that these items are important in carrying the classroom
experiences over to home practice. Parents are encouraged to give positive
support to the student as he/she progresses. All instruments are required to be
taken home every day even if they cannot practice that evening.
14. Do the grades my child receives in other classes affect
participation in band?
Although your band directors stress academic success in all
subjects, grades do not affect participation in beginner band. When going on to
the 7th & 8th grade bands (and the Hebron high school band), students will
be competing in both individual and group competitions. Students are required
by state law to be passing in all subjects before being allowed to compete.
(House Bill 72 – “No Pass, No Play”). Grades do not, however, effect the daily
participation and membership in band, or participation in the concerts. It only
effects competitions.
15. Are private lessons available? Are they required?
Private lessons are strongly encouraged for all students,
but are not required. If your child takes private lessons, he/she will receive
one-on-one instruction from a professional musician/educator (many of which have
graduate degrees). Lessons are held once a week at Arbor Creek Middle School
(supervised by a band director) at a cost of $24 per half hour. Private lessons
help challenge faster-paced students and strengthen slower paced students.
Again, they are not required, but above average results are almost guaranteed!
It is better to RENT a less expensive instrument and participate in the private
lessons program than to purchase a top line instrument and not take lessons!
Lessons are important and are the back-bone of our band program.
16. What other costs can we expect throughout the year?
Students will be required to purchase their band books,
proper accessories to maintain their instrument and a band t-shirt that will be
worn as their band uniform. Private lessons are strongly recommended.
Information will be sent home regarding the price of private lessons. Lessons
are not required but are extremely helpful to all students. We ask that all
student participate in band fundraisers since the cost of many paper, music,
supplies, clinicians, master classes, etc come out of our yearly budget that we
must raise funds for.
17. Why do some beginning band classes have limited
enrollment?
Some of our band classes have limited enrollment due to the
availability of school owned instruments. If we only own 10 tubas, we can only
start 10 tubas. We also have to limit enrollment in classes in order to fill
out normal band instrumentation. Each grade level needs proper instrumentation
(correct number of instruments) to play the level of literature that our
performing bands play. We also need to consistently send every instrument to
Hebron High School for their success. Band is like a recipe. For example: It
takes several ingredients to bake a cake. In order to build strong band
instrumentation the ingredients are flutes, oboes, bassoons, clarinets,
saxophones, French horns, trumpets, trombones, euphoniums, tubas, and
percussion. The more students that join, the band will increase the number of
instruments offered in each section. Instrumentation is all based on
percentages. In order for a band to be successful all instruments are needed
and that instrumentation must remain solid from 6th beginning band, through
middle school, and up to high school.
Questions? Email Mrs. Beene – beenek@lisd.net
