Winter Concert this Thursday January 28th at 7:00 p.m.

We are excite to have our first Winter Concert here at Thurgood Marshall featuring the Choir, Band and Orchestra.

Here are the details:

WHEN: Thursday January 28th at 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Thurgood Marshall Elementary Lunchroom
WHO: Choir (Prep Choir and Catate), Band (Beginning Band and Intermediate 5th grade Band), Orchestra (Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Strings)
Students should arrive at school by 6:40 p.m. to be ready to play/sing at 7:00 p.m.

WHAT TO WEAR-

This is a formal concert. Students should dress to look their best. Here are the guidelines.
Boys: A shirt with a collar is mandatory. Any color and a knit shirt with a collar is ok. Nice pants or your best jeans. Yes, you can wear a tie, but it’s not mandatory.

Girls: A dress or skirt and blouse is preferred. Nice slacks are ok. Any colors are fine.

I look forward to seeing you Thursdsay night.

Life after week 1 of instrumental music

Congratulations! You got the instrument, you got the book, and your kids managed to make it to their lessons this past week. As a new instrumental parent, this is an awesome achievement…at my house, just getting the kids up and out the door dressed and fed is an achievement. You sent your kids to school with food, clothes AND an instrument in tow (even if you did bring it by school later in the day…)  BRAVO!!  Here are some practical ways you can help your child this week and beyond:

•FLUTE PARENTS- holding the flute is tricky at first. You are bound to see all kinds of weird things and some confusion and frustration…remind your kids about these steps (refer to the pictures in the red book on p. 3): 1) before bringing the flute to your mouth, sit with proper posture in a straight back chair- feet on the floor, back straight, chest high, shoulders relaxed; 2) hold the flute “clarinet style” with the head joint resting on your left shoulder, and the foot joint on your left knee, right hand near the bottom and left near the top; 3) then without moving your head or shoulder, bring the flute up into position.  This last step is important: if you move your head or chin before bringing the flute up, you’ll get twisted.  The arms need to be up holding the flute…some new muscles will come into play. AND if making a sound isn’t happening right away- be patient!  Use your head joint only and use the “pretty” trick.

•CLARINET PARENTS- putting the clarinet together is tricky. Time your kids on how fast they can put it together (use p. 3 in the red book to help…). Put cork grease on those corks to make it easier for little hands to put the parts together. After putting it together, getting the reed on the mouthpiece is a trick. The more they practice, the easier it gets. Even if they don’t blow any notes, putting it together with confidence and by themselves is important.

•SAXOPHONE PARENTS- are you not amazed at how loud this instrument is? Before you invest in earplugs, make sure they can put the instrument together with confidence. Putting the reed on the mouthpiece is the trickiest part.  Use cork grease to make the mouthpiece easier to put on the neck joint. No puffy cheeks when playing! This will cut the volume down considerably. At have them sit with proper posture (see p. 3 in the red book) then adjust the neck strap. No droopy shoulders or humpback positions. If they look uncomfortable, the neck strap is probably not adjusted properly.

•TRUMPET PARENTS-  I would suggest not taking the valves out of the trumpet to be oiled. They can be mixed up or put back in wrong making it impossible to blow the trumpet. The easiest way to oil valves is to turn the trumpet upside down and put ONE or TWO drops of valve oil in the hole at the bottom of the valve. Encourage your trumpet players to blow without puffy cheeks.

•TROMBONE PARENTS- No puffy cheeks when playing. Use lots of air to get a good tone.

•PERCUSSION PARENTS- Playing with an even tempo is important and using the right sticking is key. Let them show you how it’s done.

Instrumental Music Schedule Posted

Below and in the side bar at right is the instrumental music schedule as of 9/28/09. Please start attending lessons this week with Mr. Pendergrass or Mrs. Morrison even if you don’t have an instruments yet.

The day and time is listed along with the name of your classroom teacher and the instrument you play.

Instrumental Schedule

Lessons with Mr. Pendergrass meet on the stage in the music room.

A. Tuesday 9:30-10:00

MacDonald-Percussion

Trombones

B. Tuesday 12:30-1:00

Miller-Percussion

Alto Saxophones

C. Tuesday 1:05-1:35

Dunlap, Norman, Ward-Percussion

D. Tuesday 1:55-2:35

5^th Grade Intermediate Band

E. Thursday 9:30-10:00

MacDonald, Ward-Clarinet

F. Thursday 10:05-10:35

Miller, Norman-Clarinet

G. Thursday 10:40-11:10

Dunlap, Zoog-Clarinet

H. Thursday 11:15-11:45

MacDonald-Flute,Oboe

I. Thursday 12:30-1:00

Miller, Ward, Zoog-Flute

J. Thursday 1:05-1:35

MacDonald-Trumpet

K. Thursday 1:55-2:25

Miller, Ward-Trumpet

Lessons with Mrs. Morrison meet in the Art Room upstairs.

Friday Afternoons-

1:00-1:40 Advanced Strings

1:55-2:30 Intermediate Strings

2:30-3:00 Beginning Violin/Viola

3:00-3:30 Beginning Cello.

Instrumental Music is Starting

Parents of 4th and 5th grade students-

Hopefully you received some information about the instrumental music program here at Thurgoood Marshall. A form was handed out in all classes for parents and students to fill out. If you did not get this form and you want your child to participate in instrumental music, you can fill out an enrollment form on line here:

Instrumental Music Enrollment Form

You can also find out more about the instrumental music program  here: INSTRUMENTAL.

A schdule for all instrumental students will be out soon…

SCHEDULE ON FRIDAYS

Mrs. Morrison will be teaching all the string players on Friday Afternoon here at Thurgood. Here is the schedule

1:00-1:40 Advanced Strings

1:55-2:30 Intermediate Strings

2:30-3:00 Beginning Violin/Viola

3:00-3:30 Beginning Cello.

Mrs. Morrison has contacted students in each of these groups and lessons have started.

The New Thurgood Marshall Music Web-site

Welcome to the Thurgood Marshall music blog and website (http://musicattmarshall.wordpress.com/). I hope to share some of my thoughts about music, creativity and kids on these pages. This will include tips about raising musical kids, information about the program, and resources to help your child succeed in music. Whether it’s singing in the choir, or playing in the band, or having fun in a school production, it is my goal to start your kids on a journey in making music for the rest of their life with integrity, creativity and joy.

As a parent of two boys who are students here in the Seattle Public Schools, I can relate to some of the questions you may have about music and your child: “Is my child talented?” “How can I encourage my child in music if I know nothing about music?” “Why won’t my kid practice?” “Is the saxophone supposed to be that loud?”  I look forward to working together and creating some wonderful memories during these elementary school years.