Rehearsal Recap & What’s Next
Thank you for another engaging and thoughtful morning together. I continue to be impressed by your curiosity, focus, and willingness to try new things.
Music Reading & Rhythm
We began with a review of the staff, revisiting both memory methods for lines and spaces — alphabetical and mnemonic. Several of you shared that you’ve already found a favorite line or space, and why it works for you. That’s wonderful to hear.
For those who haven’t chosen one yet, your homework for next week is to identify a favorite line or space. Think of it as your musical “home base” — a reliable reference point that helps you orient more quickly to other notes on the staff.
We then moved on to note values and time signatures, focusing on what 4/4 and 3/4 time actually mean. We introduced the quarter note as our reference and explored the “math” of rhythm — dividing and multiplying that beat to create eighth notes, half notes, and whole notes. We followed the same process with rests: quarter, eighth, half, and whole.
Next week, we’ll return to note reading and add hands-on rhythm work, including clapping exercises to help these concepts really settle in.
Instrument of the Week
Our instrument spotlight was the saxophone. A huge thank-you to Rick for bringing in his baritone saxophone — always a crowd favorite! Sue B. successfully made sounds on the alto sax, and Nancy C. got to experience those wonderful low bari vibrations you can truly feel.
Next week, we’ll explore percussion instruments.
How to Band
Our “How to Band” segment began a bit later this week -- just before rehearsal, and we spent time discussing:
The role of the conductor as a guide rather than a controller
How the conductor gives a clear starting cue and exactly where beat one lives in the motion
How cutoffs work, especially when holding notes
Tonguing — how it differs between reed instruments and other winds, and why tonguing is more than just stopping the air
Rehearsal Highlights
We began rehearsal at the 3/4 section of Go with the Flow, which proved challenging due to sparse instrumentation in that section. I’ll be working on ways to better support and balance that part of the piece. We were able to finish through the return to 4/4 and then run the entire piece.
We listened to Beginners Rock! again and played it at about ♩ = 110 — just a touch faster than last week. It was so much fun that we played it again (always a good sign!). We then revisited Go with the Flow, focusing only on the 4/4 sections.
Next came Shining Moments. We listened first, then dove in, playing it a few times. We wrapped up the morning with one more run of Beginners Rock! — which is still playing in my head, too.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
We’ll begin learning New Orleans Strut
We’ll do a brief seating reset at the start of each piece so players with the same or similar parts are seated together. This will help with confidence, balance, and ensemble awareness.
We’ll also sit a bit closer together overall to encourage stronger listening and blend across the band.
Thank you again for your energy, patience, and enthusiasm. You’re doing real band work — and it’s showing.
See you next week,
Amy