Students

Scales

For all students: Please read the following article. It's a very insightful article about the importance of practicing scales.

http://www.creativitypost.com/arts/why_id_spend_a_lot_more_time_practicing_scales_if_i_could_do_it_all_over_ag

Download Goal Sheets by band below. Goals for each band vary.

Beginning Band

Intermediate Band

Concert Band

Tips to fill out Goal Sheets

Fill out as soon as you are done practicing or as you are going along (it is harder to remember what you did the day or two after)
Make sure you fill sheets out neatly, if your parent/guardian can’t read it, what makes you think Mr. Lum can?
Mark the metronome marking (e.g. MM 90 bpm)
Fill in the description area with specific details
Fill in the amount of time that you practiced on an exercise or piece of music
Fill in the method with as much detail as you can provide - this should be how you practiced (e.g. Meas. 1-20, played through once, marked any missed accidentals, and played through again. Chunked sixteenth note rhythm together to get the accidentals, played slowly at first and then gradually sped it up to tempo.)
Make sure you note the things you need to work on. Just noting that you need to work on rhythm does not count. BE SPECIFIC! For example: Noting that you need to work on the dotted eighth and sixteenth note rhythms in meas. 19-25 is recommended. Never leave this blank. There are always ways to improve your playing.
Make sure you note what you did better! If you practice correctly, playing will get easier and better.

Practicing tips

Practice in a well lit and quiet area
Keep good posture, play as if you are playing in class or in a concert
If a rhythm or passage are too hard at first, take it slowly till you feel comfortable playing it and then speed up to tempo by small increments on the metronome (Required with each practice session)
If you get frustrated, walk away for a little bit. Shake it off and try to relax, then try again. You play better when you’re more relaxed. Everyone has moments like these.
If rhythms are giving you a hard time, break them down to its simplest form through rhythm diagramming.