What You'll Need to Know for This School Year
Goalsheets are weekly reoccurring assignments that ask the students to prove that they practiced throughout the week by verifying a signature from an adult who witnessed their practice that day.
Handbook
- Please sign and submit or submit via e-mail
Goalsheets are weekly reoccurring assignments that ask the students to prove that they practiced throughout the week by verifying a signature from an adult who witnessed their practice that day.
Handbook
- Please sign and submit or submit via e-mail
Instrument Agreement Form
Along with the Handbook, the forms should be given out on the first week of school. Otherwise, they are printable from here.
Uniform
- Please sign and submit the form at the fitting. Fees/Payment can be made at the school or submitted here. Below is an example of the form. Please do not print this form.
- Please sign and submit the form at the fitting. Fees/Payment can be made at the school or submitted here. Below is an example of the form. Please do not print this form.
| kms_band_uniform_order_form_2021-22_final-linked.pdf |
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
http://www.creativitypost.com/arts/why_id_spend_a_lot_more_time_practicing_scales_if_i_could_do_it_all_over_ag
Goal Sheets
Download Goal Sheets by band below. Goals for each band vary.
Beginning Band
| goalsheetsjuly2019all_bb.pdf |
Beginning Band - Quarter 1 Goal Sheet
| bbq1goal-10-16-19.pdf |
Intermediate Band
| goalsheetsjuly2019all_ib.pdf |
Concert Band
| goalsheetsjuly2019all_cb.pdf |
Tips to fill out Goal Sheets
Practicing tips
- 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.
Rhythm Diagramming
| Rhythm Diagramming Instructions Simple |
Flash Cards
Fingering and Notation Flash Cards (by Instrument)
| flashcards_revised_2016.pdf |
Orchestra Excerpts
Select your instrument (brass or woodwind), and follow along the best you can with the videos provided.
Select your instrument (brass or woodwind), and follow along the best you can with the videos provided.
The Wagner Tuba
Unique brass instrument that is a cross between a Tuba and a French Horn.
Unique brass instrument that is a cross between a Tuba and a French Horn.
Pentatonix
Pentatonix a five-person American a capella group.
Pentatonix a five-person American a capella group.