Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication to the band and to the performance we had at CMEA on Friday! You have been working diligently for months and it all paid off with our Superior Rating. You did a great job of sightreading, too. I was so proud of you all!
Thanks to Mrs. Estep for filming and posting our performance on youtube!
Clinton: Arts, music help children learn
By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Former President Bill Clinton told a group of community arts organizers today he believes he never would have become president if he had not participated in a school music program.
Former President Bill Clinton talks to friends Tuesday at the Clinton presidential library after speaking at the 2012 Arkansas Arts Summt.
“It taught me discipline and order. It made me listen better,” Clinton said in his keynote address at the 2012 Arkansas Art Summit at the Clinton presidential library. “And once I got into jazz I realized that you had to make some things up along the way, but while you were making them up you had to stay in the right key and still play in tune.”
Clinton said economic pressure on the nation’s schools, particularly during the financial crisis but even before the crisis began, has been prompting schools to eliminate arts and music and physical education programs.
“There’s lots of evidence that exposure to the arts, especially to the performing arts for a lot of kids and to the visual arts for others, increases their learning and reduces the dropout rate and changes the whole way they approach life,” he said.
Clinton said scientists have learned that different brains respond to different stimuli and learn in different ways.
“There are an enormous number of people, little children, who will learn more about math and science and history and English if the arts are incorporated into the way they learn,” he said.
The two-day arts summit is presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the center’s DeVos Institute of Arts Management. The event is designed to help build and maintain strong arts organizations.
After his address Clinton left for El Dorado, where he is scheduled to give the keynote address at Academic Signing Day at El Dorado High School.
Clinton will honor this year’s recipients of the El Dorado Promise scholarship, a $50 million scholarship program funded by Murphy Oil.
Here’s a little something to get you excited to come back on Monday- Oscar Peterson playing “All of Me.”
March has been a busy month for TJHS Bands! Many of you performed at the CMEA solo/ensemble festival on the 3rd. I don’t have all of the videos but hopefully will have more up soon. Ryan started playing before I could even sit down and the sax duet was well underway before my phone would do anything…
“The Death of Ase”
“Prelude”
“The Storm”
“Sarabanda and Gavotta”
District festival was great! All the litte guys were impressed and I got to catch up with some of the graduating seniors.
Last weekend the jazz band went to Santa Cruz and had a blast watching groups, eating pizza, and most of all, throwing poppers at each other in the rain at Casa de Fruta.
Today was the encore performance for the students who received a “Command” at CMEA…CONGRATS TO ANGEL, ROSS, DIEGO, ISAAC, CYRUS, and of course our old friends Eddie and Bryan who played great horn solos (Eddie played violin, too!).
Keep up the great work and let’s continue to strive for excellence as we push toward Spring Break!
Correct articulation is a very important part of playing your instrument. However, it is also one of the areas in which bad habits, once established, can be difficult to break. Check out the videos below for articulation help and post a reply for extra credit!
flute
oboe
clarinet
sax
trumpet
horn
low brass
percussion
Only a mother could be more proud!
I was so proud of all of you on Thursday night! You played very well, were focused, and really enjoyed yourselves. That is what it is all about! I was also impressed with your poise (that means good behavior!)- you conducted yourselves like professionals and really set the tone for the audience. I am so excited to continue working with you this year and to see what we can accomplish. You earned your day off- enjoy it because THAT NEVER HAPPENS! 
1) Attend the winter concert! Dec. 8th, 6:30 call for a 7:00 performance. Attendance is mandatory!!!
2) TAKE YOUR FINAL! If you missed your final time, see me to schedule a make-up.
3) Remind yourself to take your instrument home on the 16th 
Happy Holidays!!!
We have one week to sell the remaining tickets! Please keep at it- we are so close! I have heard from several teachers that NO ONE has approached them with tickets 
Students will have the opportunity of signing up to work next week – 8th graders will have first priority.
In honor of today’s valiant participants, I am sharing with you a video that is pretty much an accurate representation of what went on in class today:
Did you know that you can listen to the tunes we are working on in class? Click on “Listening Station” at the top of the page and click on one of the links- sometimes you have to try both to find the piece.
You can also listen to music and find stuff you think would be good for the band! Just stick to the “easy” level. On JWPepper, you can choose to sort by difficulty. Post a tune you would like to play for Extra Credit! Happy Hunting!
I couldn’t be more proud of our eight young musicians who performed last weekend at the Carnegie Arts Center! You prepared a lengthy selection of music in just a few short weeks and gave up many of your lunches to rehearse together. You were poised, professional, and represented TJHS Bands very well. Below are some videos from the event:
First off, we have Carrie, Ashley, Marissa, and Annika performing “An Irish Suite.”
We also have Angel, Ross, Diego, and Isaac performing “Three Short Pieces,” “Reflection,” and “Andante Festivo.”
Congratulations on your fine performance!
I’ve been noticing a lot of comments coming to my inbox. I realized that some of you are choosing to subscribe to the comments…however, because your account is linked to the tjhsbands gmail account, the comments come to ME, not YOU. Please do not click the “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” unless you enter your own email address that is not linked to the blog. If you are logged into the blog, you won’t have this option.
Thanks, happy blogging!
It’s official! The BBQ is set for Saturday, November 5th from 12-6 at TJHS. For those of you who are new to the program, the BBQ is a pre-sale DRIVE THRU meal (walk ups are always accepted too!). Tickets are $8 for 1/2 chicken, Portuguese beans, salad, a roll, and a cookie.
I’ve posted the sign up form for parents under the “forms” page. Students will sign up during class with preference given to 8th graders. The BBQ is a ton of work but also raises a ton of dough, so it is worth it Take a look at the form and send it to school with your student if you are interested in helping!
Ok, guys, I think our listening skills need some work. IF YOU WANT TO BLOG FOR YOUR “A” ACTIVITY, GIVE ME THE USERNAME AND PASSWORD YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE SO THAT I CAN SET IT UP FOR YOU. If you set it up yourself, you will not receive credit for it!! Also, please chill on the “my blog doesn’t work” comments! Teachers have lives too! Sheesh 
Ryan, Dezi, and Brandon, you are up and running. For those of you who gave me blog info without your name on, I CAN’T SET UP YOUR ACCOUNT UNTIL I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. ClarinetFreak and bandnerdlover, I’m talking to you.
Then use this opportunity to make up a few points with some Extra Credit!
Can you name one professional who plays your instrument? 1. Find a video/recording of that person and post the link below. To make it easier for everyone, type what you want the link to say, highlight it, and then click on the link button and enter the URL. 2. Tell us why you like the video. I’ll start!
Emmanuel Pahud with the Berlin Philharmonic
I like this soloist because he is very precise in his movement and his tone is perfect. Great conductor, too!
How is everyone feeling about the first two weeks of school? Returning symphonic members, what are your first impressions of this year’s group? Concert band, are you finding the music challenging enough? Jazz band, are you liking all of the improv? Share your thoughts below for EC!
Hi guys! It seems like there is quite a lot of interest from students wanting to create their own blogs. Remember, give ME a username and password during class and I will set it up for you through the tjhsbands blog. If you create your own blog without going through mine, I can’t supervise it and you won’t receive credit for it. If there is enough interest, we’ll do a lab on it during class in the library
Happy Blogging!
Welcome back! It will be nice to see all of our returning students and meet our new “band mates” (as Lisa would say). After all of our success last year, I am really looking forward to this year. I am excited to try out some new things such as letting you guys have your own blog as an option for the A Activity. Click on “student blogs” on the home page and you will find Carrie’s sample that she so kindly set up for me. Also, if you are new or need a refresher, download the guidetoblog as a reference.
Our first performance for the year is on September 10th at the Carnegie Arts center. It is open to all students who have prepared a piece of chamber music in advance. Symphonic Band members will have limited time to rehearse during class. This is a great opportunity and I am honored to have you participate!
One issue both the Symphonic and Jazz bands will face this year is lack of a low section. Our guys really rocked last year, but as of right now we have a bari sax. That’s it. No bass clarinet, trombones, baritones, or tubas. Having a balanced band is essential to having a good sound; please consider helping the bands by switching to a low instrument.
I’m looking forward to making music with all of you. See you in class!
Congratulations Symphonic Band! You did very well on your music festivals this spring- we scored a full 10 points higher than last year and received the highest ratings since I have been at TJHS. The jazz and concert bands also performed well and I know we will bring the same spirit to our spring concert.
I am proud of all of you. I expect to continue to grow and improve next year. For those of you who are leaving us for high school, we will miss you but I am confident that you will do well in your future musical endeavors.
Concert Band at Great America
Santa Cruz Jazz Festival
I was perusing some other music teacher blogs (kinda lame for spring break, I know, but one of you got me sick so I don’t have much else to do) and came across a post and video illustrating the high level music students must be held to. The same concept is demonstrated in Thomas Duffy’s “A+: A ‘Precise’ Prelude and an ‘Excellent’ March.” In the video, the conductor asks the band to play a passage “perfectly” with no mistakes. He asks them to play a second time, only this time, each player adds one intentional mistake. For the third run, he asks the players to play no mistakes and to add expression (you know- dynamics, articulation- the elusive elements we are always chasing).Watch the video and leave a comment!
Practicing Your Instrument Ok, so I may have flown off the handle a little in class today. But I think I was justified.
As we have dicussed, practicing is not playing your favorite parts of the tunes over and over again. Practice is dedicated, focused time spent learning the parts you don’t know and perfecting the parts you do. Playing long tones with a tuner and using a metronome will be the best and quickest ways we can improve.
Record yourself! How many of you have recording capabilities on your phones/mp3 players? Listen to how you sound and fix what you don’t like. You would be amazed at how much you are able to tell what needs more work.
The link above is a document regarding practicing. It has a ton of useful tips for both you and your parents. It also contains an outline of how to best structure your practice time.
Follow this link to Theta Music Trainer, a site with several different ear training games- it is free to play all the beginning levels!
Did I mention this would count as an “A Activity”?
Eddie after the Bay Section performance
The TJHS band students have been participating in many extra activities that deserve recognition! We had 16 students participate in the SCMEA Honor Band- the highest representation ever for our school and the highest number of participants from any school this year! We were also proud to send Eddie to the CMEA Bay Section Honor Band, where he was awarded first chair after his audition. Just yesterday we had about 20 students participate in the CMEA Solo and Ensemble festival. All of our students did well, but we are especially proud of our oboists Kalina and Annika, who earned a Superior rating on their duet, and Eddie, who earned a command performance for both his violin and horn solos. Below are a few photos of some of our fine musicians.
The flutes after a successful performance
They played in tune and I didn't even have to shoot one!
The BBQ is rapidly approaching! I hope all of the students are doing their best to sell tickets- we have 800 dinners to prepare! Please encourage your kids to be creative and continue selling. The success of this fundraiser is vital to our program- we made about $5,000 last year.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you need more tickets!
…will be September 9th, 6pm, in the band room (M102). We will discuss fundraising, uniforms, and of course, travel. Your involvement is the key to our success- I hope to see you all there!
We have almost reached the end of week 1 and I have to say that I am quite pleased with what I am hearing from all of our groups so far! Jazz Band is off to a solid start, Symphonic has a great, dark sound from our powerhouse low section, and Concert is doing a fantastic job helping me assess what they already know. I think we are going to have a wonderful year together.
Students, please leave a reply below for extra credit. Feel free to include any first impressions
is due February 19th. Now that you have completed your fundraising, you should have a better idea of how much you owe. Please note that if you are in CONCERT BAND, you do not have another Great America payment due until March. See me if you have questions.
For those of you who wish to raise more money for your trip, we are selling cookie dough from Jan. 25- Feb. 10 with product around the first of March. This is an easy and quick fundraiser and you can pay for your trip if you start thinking ahead!
Just a quick reminder that you all need to have $40 in your account by FRIDAY, JANUARY 15th. Please see me if you need help.
On Sunday, Oct. 18 at 3 pm at Atherton Auditorium on the Delta College campus the United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own”, will be giving a FREE concert (all military concerts are free). They only come around our neck of the woods once every 4 years so get as many of your students to attend as possible! Tickets are free, however, it is STRONGLY recommended you call and put them on WILL CALL, as I’m sure this concert will be sold out. Atherton Auditorium box office is 209-954-5110.
This concert qualifies for the Quarterly A Activity or Extra Credit if you already have an A Activity.
The BBQ is approaching quickly- October 24th. Please SELL YOUR TICKETS or bring me any that are unsold so they can be redistributed. Only 400 to go!!
Coming up on Thursday, September 24th, at 7:30 pm Wynton Marsalis is putting on a concert at the Community Theatre- tickets are still available! There will also be a master class Thursday afternoon, 2:30-4, in Snider Recital Hall at the university. If you are unfamiliar with Marsalis (world famous trumpet player!), head over to the “Jazz” page on this website to watch a video!
I am happy to report that the year is off to a great start! Our numbers are up, the instrumentation is looking good, and we are already delving into some complex music. Many students are learning a second instrument to benefit the band- we have five french horns between the Symphonic and Concert bands, a new oboe player and 2 tuba players in Concert band, and several students who are learning an instrument for the first time.
What are your thoughts so far? Which piece do you like the best? What are you looking forward to the most this year??
Welcome to the TJHS Bands blog! I hope you have had a restful summer and are as excited as I am about the new year. We have grown tremendously over the past few years and have loads of new talent coming in. Combined with the outstanding students we already have, I think we are in for an amazing year.
And now for your first assignment (no groans, please): Post something below acknowledging that you have accessed this blog and you will get 10 extra points!
© 2012 TJHS BANDS Theme: Pressrow by Chris Pearson
Provided by WPMU DEV -The WordPress Experts Hosted by Edublogs.org
