By Ms. Philipsen (Reposted From October Newsletter)
On Tuesday, October 6, four Howar students traveled with Ms. Philipsen to the campus of Simpson College in Indianola to audition for the South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association's (SCIBA) Eighth Grade Honor Band. Elizabeth Starr(flute), Shayla Wolver (horn), Matthew Wells (trombone), and Marissa Hunt (percussion) had been preparing their audition materials since their summer lessons. All four students worked very hard and prepared excellent auditions.
Four seventh grade students were selected to represent Howar in SCIBA's Seventh Grade Honor Bands. Emily Steinbach, alto saxophone and Brenton Willier, horn were both selected for the Red Band and Elizabeth Sells, bassoon and Cole Alexander, bass clarinet were both selected for the White Band. They will travel to Johnston on November 3 to participate in the SCIBA Middle School Honor Band Festival.
Friday, October 30, 2009
New Timpani For Lakeview
By Mr. Taylor (Reposted From October Newsletter)
Lakeview Elementary has purchased a “new” set of timpani this year to replace the set of timpani that have been there for many years. Last year, West Music examined the timpani and found that there was no guarantee they could be fixed and that, if they could be fixed, they would not be fixed at an inexpensive price. The timpani could not be used properly unless they were repaired.
So the process began of pricing new timpani. The cheapest new set of two timpani would cost around $5000. That cost was prohibitive to our ability to purchase replacements.
This summer, however, a set of four used timpani were traded in to the music company and they sold them to us for an extremely reduced rate. The Band Boosters generously paid for $1000 of the cost and the school district is working to cover the rest of the cost.
Now our elementary percussion students will get the opportunity to learn how to properly play and tunetimpani. This will help them as they advance through the program to be well-rounded percussionists.
If you have an interest in helping the school to cover the cost of the new timpani, please feel free to call or email Mr. Taylor to discuss how to donate.
Lakeview Elementary has purchased a “new” set of timpani this year to replace the set of timpani that have been there for many years. Last year, West Music examined the timpani and found that there was no guarantee they could be fixed and that, if they could be fixed, they would not be fixed at an inexpensive price. The timpani could not be used properly unless they were repaired.
So the process began of pricing new timpani. The cheapest new set of two timpani would cost around $5000. That cost was prohibitive to our ability to purchase replacements.
This summer, however, a set of four used timpani were traded in to the music company and they sold them to us for an extremely reduced rate. The Band Boosters generously paid for $1000 of the cost and the school district is working to cover the rest of the cost.
Now our elementary percussion students will get the opportunity to learn how to properly play and tunetimpani. This will help them as they advance through the program to be well-rounded percussionists.
If you have an interest in helping the school to cover the cost of the new timpani, please feel free to call or email Mr. Taylor to discuss how to donate.
How To Follow A Music Department Twitter Feed
By Mr. Taylor (Reposted From October Band Newsletter)
This year we have begun using Twitter in order to help you, the parents, to get reminders about various band events. Through Twitter, you can receive these reminders on your cellular phone. These reminders will come to your cellular phone as a text message. The following is a set of instructions on how to sign up to receive these reminders. For this tutorial I will use the Lakeview Band Twitter.
First you need to go to www.twitter.com. Click on Sign Up Now. Follow all of the prompts to create an account. When you have signed up, you will have an option to set up a mobile device. You will want to remember to check the box that says "It's okay for Twitter to send txt messages to my phone. Standard rates apply." If you miss this, you can do the same thing by clicking on settings from your home page and finding the devices tab.
After you have set up your account to text message your cellular phone, go to your Twitter home page. There is a search box on the right side of this page. In this box, you should type "LakeviewBand" and search. This will show you the Lakeview Band Twitter page, click the link that says "LakeviewBand." This will take you to the homepage for the LakeviewBand Twitter. At the top of the page you can click, follow.
After this you should be following the LakeviewBand Twitter. You can do this for any of the Twitters listed to the left. If you have any questions or find that any of these steps look different for you, please feel free to email me (Mr. Taylor) and I would be happy to help you.
This year we have begun using Twitter in order to help you, the parents, to get reminders about various band events. Through Twitter, you can receive these reminders on your cellular phone. These reminders will come to your cellular phone as a text message. The following is a set of instructions on how to sign up to receive these reminders. For this tutorial I will use the Lakeview Band Twitter.
First you need to go to www.twitter.com. Click on Sign Up Now. Follow all of the prompts to create an account. When you have signed up, you will have an option to set up a mobile device. You will want to remember to check the box that says "It's okay for Twitter to send txt messages to my phone. Standard rates apply." If you miss this, you can do the same thing by clicking on settings from your home page and finding the devices tab.
After you have set up your account to text message your cellular phone, go to your Twitter home page. There is a search box on the right side of this page. In this box, you should type "LakeviewBand" and search. This will show you the Lakeview Band Twitter page, click the link that says "LakeviewBand." This will take you to the homepage for the LakeviewBand Twitter. At the top of the page you can click, follow.
After this you should be following the LakeviewBand Twitter. You can do this for any of the Twitters listed to the left. If you have any questions or find that any of these steps look different for you, please feel free to email me (Mr. Taylor) and I would be happy to help you.
True Reds' Own Incentive Program
By Mr. Taylor (Reposted From October Band Newsletter)
This year the Lakeview band is using a new incentive program to motivate students to practice and accomplish tasks on their instruments. The new system is called “The True Reds’ Own” and it is based on the ranks of “The President’s Own” band which is the top band of the Marine Corps.
As students accomplish various tasks on their instruments, such as completing assignments in their lesson book or playing scales, they move up in ranks. The fifth grade students advance through the enlisted ranks of the Marine Corps while the sixth grade students advance through the officer ranks.
Students can also earn “medals” by volunteering to participate in various band activities such as rehearsing and performing with a small ensemble, practicing 100 or more minutes for multiple weeks in a row, composing a piece of music for their instrument, learning all of their scales, helping clean up after band rehearsals, getting accepted to perform in an honor band, or attending a band concert in which they are not performing. The students are encouraged to earn as many medals as they would like.
There is a set of posters in the Lakeview cafeteria on which the student name tags are placed according to rank. The name tags also have stickers on them that represent the medals that they have earned so far. Many of the students have already received many medals on their name tags and competition has gotten underway among the students to get the most.
The students also will have tags on their desks in their classroom that will show the rank that they have achieved. This will help the students to keep track of where they are in the incentive program.
Since we have based our incentive program on “The President’s Own,” the students will learn about and listen to recordings of that ensemble over the course of this school year. This will give the students a great aural example to follow in playing their instruments.
There are various recordings of The President’s Own and information that you can read about them on-line at www.marineband.usmc.mil. The President’s Own band was founded in 1798 and has a rich history that includes many great band leaders including John Phillip Sousa. Since The President’s Own is one of the most fine musical ensembles in the whole world, I am proud to be able to teach students about this group. For more information on the rank system, visit the Lakeview Band page on the Music Department webpage.
This year the Lakeview band is using a new incentive program to motivate students to practice and accomplish tasks on their instruments. The new system is called “The True Reds’ Own” and it is based on the ranks of “The President’s Own” band which is the top band of the Marine Corps.
As students accomplish various tasks on their instruments, such as completing assignments in their lesson book or playing scales, they move up in ranks. The fifth grade students advance through the enlisted ranks of the Marine Corps while the sixth grade students advance through the officer ranks.
Students can also earn “medals” by volunteering to participate in various band activities such as rehearsing and performing with a small ensemble, practicing 100 or more minutes for multiple weeks in a row, composing a piece of music for their instrument, learning all of their scales, helping clean up after band rehearsals, getting accepted to perform in an honor band, or attending a band concert in which they are not performing. The students are encouraged to earn as many medals as they would like.
There is a set of posters in the Lakeview cafeteria on which the student name tags are placed according to rank. The name tags also have stickers on them that represent the medals that they have earned so far. Many of the students have already received many medals on their name tags and competition has gotten underway among the students to get the most.
The students also will have tags on their desks in their classroom that will show the rank that they have achieved. This will help the students to keep track of where they are in the incentive program.
Since we have based our incentive program on “The President’s Own,” the students will learn about and listen to recordings of that ensemble over the course of this school year. This will give the students a great aural example to follow in playing their instruments.
There are various recordings of The President’s Own and information that you can read about them on-line at www.marineband.usmc.mil. The President’s Own band was founded in 1798 and has a rich history that includes many great band leaders including John Phillip Sousa. Since The President’s Own is one of the most fine musical ensembles in the whole world, I am proud to be able to teach students about this group. For more information on the rank system, visit the Lakeview Band page on the Music Department webpage.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Lakeview Band Looking for Your Old Lesson Books
The Lakeview Band is looking for old band books for underprivileged students to use. If you have an old band book that you would be interested in donating, please contact Mr. Taylor at mark.taylor@gpaea.k12.ia.us or just give it to one of the band directors to give to Mr. Taylor.
Books that are of particular interest are listed below:
Books that are of particular interest are listed below:
- Standard of Excellence Book 1(Any Instrument)-This is the red beginner book.
- Rubank Elementary and Intermediate Method (Especially Woodwinds)- This is a blue book.
- Mark McDunn Trombone Method--This book is quite a bit older and current students will not probably have it.
New Website Additions Bring Music Department Into Web 2.0 World
The new additions to our website were designed to take advantage of the dynamic content provided in web 2.0 applications. The following is a summary of the new content available.
- Embedded Google Calendar---This new tool has been available on the calendar page for some time but will now be embedded into the home page as the first item you will see. Google calendars can be synced to mobile devices which will make for a convenient means of updating your band and chorus scheduling information.
- Lakeview Band Twitter--- Parents or students involved in the Lakeview Bands can now get updates and reminders of the events of the Lakeview band via our Twitter account. Using Twitter is easy and can be fun for people of any age. You can follow the Lakeview Band and get updates sent as text messages to your phone by signing up for your own Twitter account. It is free and takes only a few minutes to start. Through Twitter you can also follow your favorite news sorces and celebrities. There may be more Twitters added to the webpage as time goes by so check back often.
- Music News RSS Feed--- You already know about this one as you had to view it to get to this page. The Music News RSS Feed will keep you up-to-date on the new articles in this music news blog. This is where articles about successes at contests and awards received by the bands and choruses will be posted.
- New Look--- This is probably the most obvious new feature. While a new look might not be the most exciting part of the new home of Centerville Music, it was designed to speed up the load time of the page. The old format included buttons that were seperate images. Those took longer to load. Those are now replaced by a table with links that will load quite quickly.
New Music News Blog
This blog will be where the music news is now posted. Eventually there should be an RSS feed on the main page of the website. Enjoy the new, more dynamic content. :-)
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