MRJH BAND Notes
11.12.24
Dear Mountain Ridge Band Family,
Our students are making great progress and the bands are sounding better and better every day. We have a lot of work to do with such a short turnaround from our last concert. I appreciate all the work that is being done outside of rehearsal as well as in it. It is so much fun working with our band students here at Mountain Ridge. They truly amaze me!
Below is some important information for our holiday concert and the end of the quarter.
Thanks!
Mr. Bateman :-)
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PRACTICE RECORDS:
Practice records are due this week. Please make sure practice records are signed and the minutes are totaled before turning them in. Extra practice records are available in the band room or can always be downloaded from the band website at http://www.mrjhbands.org/practice-records.html. Thanks!
Practice recordings are also available on the band website. These are great resources. Students can listen to them to see how their part goes and how it fits in with the rest of the band. When they get good at their parts, they can also play along with the recordings. There are also links to recordings for their pass-offs. Students who use these do really well.
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HOLIDAY BAND CONCERTS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5th - MRJH AUDITORIUM
Come join us for an evening of festive Christmas music. This concert will surely put you in the holiday spirit! Friends and family are welcome--admission is Free!
Students may wear a regular red & white Santa hat with their concert attire for this concert if they'd like.
6:30 PM Beginning, Intermediate Jazz & Concert Bands
(6:00 PM call time (students meet in the band room))
7:30 PM Advanced Jazz and Symphonic Bands
(7:00 PM call time (students meet in the band room))
FULL BAND REHEARSALS to prepare for the concert:
- Jazz Ensembles 12/4 (Wed) 6:45 AM (Adv) 7:30 AM (Int)
- Concert Band 12/4 (Wed) 1:45-2:45 PM
- Symphonic Band 12/5 (Thur) 7 AM
- Beginning Band 12/5 (Thur) 3-4 PM
RECORDING SESSIONS:
December 9 (Concert Band) & 18 (Advanced Jazz & Symphonic Bands) During Band classes. Note, we may reschedule the Concert Band recording session to after school on December 18th.
Our Advanced Jazz, Concert and Symphonic Bands will be recording their auditions for the State Junior High Band Festivals during class. Please make sure you are there. We need everyone present to have a good recording.
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SCHOOL FINE ARTS ASSEMBLY:
December 19th, Thursday. Symphonic and Advanced Jazz Bands will perform for our student body at MRJH in two assemblies. Students will need to wear their concert attire for these performances.
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PASS-OFFS:
Students will need to complete their pass-offs by the end of the quarter. We can Request students for this or they can come in after school when I don’t have marching band. I’m also available at the end of 1st lunch. Below is a list of what they need to complete by the end of the quarter. We’ll have more time for these in class once our concert is over. Links to recordings of the pass-offs can be found on the band website. Ask your student to play them for you to see how they are doing!
Beginning Band:
- 2 etude pass-offs
- 2 rhythm pass-offs
- 1 scale pass off (a memorized scale they haven't previously passed off)
- 1 new Ningenius belt completed (with all blue stars or higher)
- 2 rhythm pass-offs
- 2 etude pass-offs
- 2 scale pass offs (a memorized scale they haven't previously passed off)
- Chorale 1 pass off on Canvas
- 1 new Ningenius belt completed (with all blue stars or higher)
- 2 etude pass-offs
- 2 rhythm pass-offs
- 3 scale pass offs (a memorized scale they haven't previously passed off)
- All State pass-off on Canvas
- 2 new Ningenius belts completed (with all blue stars or higher)
- 2 mallet lesson pass-offs
- 2 snare lesson pass-offs
- 1 auxiliary pass-off (double stop or scale patterns for the bronze level percussionists)
- New Ningenius belt pass offs with all blue stars or higher (1 for Beginning Percussionists and 2 for Advanced Percussionists)
- 2 etude pass-offs
- 2 rhythm pass-offs
MARCHING BAND
Congratulations to our MRJH students who participated with the Lone Peak Marching Knights and AF Marching Band. They had an amazing year! Congratulations!
AFHS Marching Band
6A Open Division State Champions and Western Regional Champions
- Collin Graff-percussion
- Landon Swallow-percussion
6A Scholastic Division State Champions
- Brieda Curtis-trumpet
- Erica Morrey-clarinet
CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR BAND STUDENT:
Here are some Christmas ideas for your band student:
- step-up mouthpiece
- step-up instrument
- MakeMusic subscription
- private lessons
- tuner or tuner/metronome app (Bandmate & Tonal Energy recommended)
- metronome/tuner (Korg recommended)
- instrument stand
- mutes for brass players
- BERP for brass players
- reeds (Vandoren recommended)
- valve or rotor oil & slide grease for brass players
Let me know if you need any info on any of these. I'd be happy to help you.
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THANK YOU!
Thanks again for all you do to help your students and the MRJH Band program. Your students have been great to work with and are making great progress. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving and you're enjoying the holiday season--we'll see you at the concert!
Mr. Bateman :-)
Music students out-perform non-music on achievement tests in reading and math. Skills such as reading, anticipating, memory, listening, forecasting, recall, and concentration are developed in musical performance, and these skills are valuable to students in math, reading, and science.
- B. Friedman, "An Evaluation of the Achievement in Reading and Arithmetic of Pupils in Elementary School Instrumental Music Classes," Dissertation Abstracts International.