BAND CAMP 2007 - DAY 1

Peace, Yo!

Patriot Band arrived at Miami sans luggage after blowing two tires on the choir trailor. Cheryl, Leslie, and Deven took care of the break-down while the rest moved on. Arrived, checked-in and got right to work. Guard is working on incorporating large red, purple and white flags into the production. Horn line worked on drill changes which will allow the 1st trumpets to be on the 50 for the company front. Several new horn moves and foot moves have been added. New faster tempo in "Carol" is eliminating foot problems. Other tempos will also be "goosed" a bit. Kids all working hard. Marched 'til 9:00 PM. Lost a couple of rookies to the pace of band camp but they all hopped back in following a break in the shade. Weather is reasonable for this time of year. Golf cart for staff errands has worked out well - thanks Randy Hunt. Tuesday schedule - company front work, music cleaning and tempo changes, working guard transitions and 3 square meals!

TWO IRRITANTS!

READY OR NOT, HERE "IT" COMES!!!!!!!

Fourth week of summer band and first week of contests. A chance to shine or a chance to crash and burn. What do you think? The big part of the job is done - about 90% of the drill has been taught and learned (somewhat) and the music is (finally) starting to come together. Now comes the hard part - the nerve-wracking cleaning and shining of each part of the show. Changes in music, drill and more layering of responsibilities on each member (i.e. - footwork, etc) will now begin. The big question now is, are we up to the challenge? As I have said before, the staff can only give you the product it's up to you to sell it! We are fortunate enough to have a large band and a band of good, dependable kids supported by their parents, band boosters and their community. Most bands would kill for the kinid of suppport we get. Now it's time to step it up a notch and earning the respect we get from the community. Word is starting to filter in about how the other bands are doing - some good some bad. We'll know for sure Thursday night. But please don't wait for Thursday to start putting your game face on. Every minute of every rehearsal is important from here on out. Are you up to the challenge? Show the staff you are by moving quickly, learning quickly, keeping the talk to a minimum, and above all, being responsible for your part! Believe me when I tell you that you will soon forget the "pain" of practice - you will never forget the "pleasure" of performance - win, lose or draw!

WHEN YOU STRIVE TOWARDS A GOAL, WITH ALL THE PASSION AND INTENSITY YOU CAN MUSTER, YOU ARE GREAT, NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME!

Daddy V

Clarinet Section Shot

2007 Summer Show

About the show. The POWER segment, the prominent color will be purple - the color of royalty. The PEOPLE section will feature the color white - the color of innocence. The CELEBRATION finale will use red - the color of festivity. Throughout all three segments, the color of gold (gold lame) will also be used as a unifying theme. Musically, the show will begin with "Coronation Scene" from the Russian opera "Boris Godonuy" by Romantic era Russian composer Nodesie Mussorgsky (1831-1891). Mussorgsky's opera is considered the masterpiece of Russian opera.

Pool Party

Congratulations to the new Captain Cannonical!!!

What do you think? Was moving the pool party to the Saturday rehearsal a good thing? bad thing?

New website

Welcome to the newly updated jcmarchingpatriots.com! Please be patient while we continue to add many new features!

What do you think? What other features would you like to see enhanced on this site?

WEEK TWO: THE FUN CONTINUES?

During the month of June and the first couple days of July, we have missed almost 3 days of summer band because of rain. In the middle of one of the driest summers in recent memory, we lose valuable practice time because of rain! At least the air-conditioning is back on in the band room - we can be thankful for that.

So far so good on the drill. I'm thinking that we have been through 25 charts and have 12 more to go. Whether it not we remember the drill tomorrow night remains to be seen. Much work still needs to be done on basic drill movement. Transfer from basics to the drill is still not happening.

Musically, much individual attention is needed. Translated - are you doing your part?

Some great views of weapons and flag work this week. Good job guard! Hopefully many "baby throwing" moments from the guard this summer especially from our new sabre section!

The Patriot newbies made their debut this week in the Portland 4th of July parade. All in all, the performance went well - not too hot not too cold - but, you guessed it, rain at the end of the parade! At least it was the end of the parade and most of us found some kind of shelter. On the positive side, with the exception of a trumpet w/ a knee injury and a saxophone player who was marching with another unit in the parade, the band members at practice on Tues. all marched on Wed. Parades are a pain in the buttocks! You know it and the staff knows it - but this is the only place your typical "popcorn eater" sees the band. Many bodies translates to a "wow" factor w/ these people so keep up the good work!

Forecast for the week - Hot on Monday (bring your water) but becoming cooler for T, W, Th and Saturday. Don't forget the Saturday practice before the Pennville parade. This practice traditionally sets the tone for the first week of contests so come ready to play hardball and eat a good breakfast! A predicted high of 77 degrees should help.

That's all for now! How do you think we're doing?
Talk to me, I'm Daddy V!

THE TEACHER BECOMES THE STUDENT

Below is a small part of a paper I submitted as part of a class on collaborative and cooperative teaching. Nothing to do with our task at hand but maybe some thought-provoking stuff!

Daddy V

Reflection Paper
Or
What I Did Over Summer Vacation

I’ve been teaching general music classes and band in elementary, middle school and high school settings for 30 years. To say I knew nothing about collaborative or cooperative instruction before this class would certainly not be the truth – I just never called it that! In the case of band class, the very nature of the class makes it both collaborative and cooperative. As I am quick to point out to administrators, schools get a lot of “bang for their buck” from band directors (and choir directors, for that matter). Consider this if you will. A typical middle school band for me will include 40 – 45 students. Each of these bands is automatically divided into 9 different small groups: flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, French horns, trombones, baritones, tubas, and percussion. Each small group (section) member is responsible for the “right notes” in their own section as well as having large group responsibilities to the band as a whole. Small group responsibilities break down even further when you consider, let’s say, a clarinet section of 10 members where two members are assigned to play from one music stand. This creates 5 more small groups within the small group within the larger group - the band. To further complicate matters, each instrument is played differently and in different clef signs and keys. In a math class, an instructor may write “2 + 2” on the board and the answer of “4” will be the same for each member of the class. In band, a “C” written on the treble clef staff is played differently by each treble instrument and would be confusing to bass clef instruments who don’t read treble clef notes. Teaching 9 different sections in band is very close to teaching 9 different subjects at the same time, all of which must reach a common goal (performance) together. As I stated before, by its very nature band (and choir) class is, in my opinion, the ultimate “large group-small group-collaborative-cooperative” learning environment.


Thoughts, comments, prayer requests?