Finally, I have reached the end of the Genius Hour project blog posts. Welcome back for the final time to a site of rehearsing reflection and sectional summary! To start with the progress I wanted to talk about, I decided to look back at the beginning of the project. At first, I was nervous out of my mind with the thought of how this project would work. Soon after, I finally gathered my bearings and began using what I knew to help members in the band even if we played different instruments. A few weeks after the start of the project is where things really started to move forward. Jimmy and Evan(see Blog Post #11) decided to join the Sousaphone section for the purpose of giving our section a full five members in the Chicago parade. I would not have been able to help them if I did not have some help from my section leader, Quinn Collins, and fellow sophomore Sousaphone player, McKayla Stokes. I would also want to thank Mr. Jimeson for being with me through the good and the bad of this project, as it was my first major step of leadership.
Now I need to talk about the people I helped and how far they have come. Jimmy was a freshman trombone player before he started his journey down the Sousaphone path, and he has impressed me not only with his work ethic but also his calmer nature towards certain issues our section faced. I noticed great improvement in his sound from our start of parade practice and marching technique was on point for the days we practiced. Then, there is Evan who was also a trombone player, but he was a junior looking up to a sophomore for help. Evan has already had several instrument experiences under his belt, but I was happily ready to teach him the way of the Tuba. Similarly to Jimmy, Evan´s sound and marching technique was well done as compared to our start. I'm proud of both of my friends that allowed me to tutor them in the way of the Sousaphone, and their support in times of rough situation was extremely helpful. That's all I have to say, so I'll say goodbye for now.
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Welcome back for more of the progression of low brass musicians! (I´m running out of introductions for this project...) I am over joyed to be back from Chicago and ready to take on my last challenge that this project entails; training a new Tuba to become a better for Symphonic Band. That class has been a struggle due to some people not paying attention or practicing their music/parts. Aside from that, this new Tuba has done a spectacular job so far without my help which is encouraging to me. I have scheduled time this week during Smart Lunch for a session of practice to see if any advancements need to be made, and if I can be of any assistance.
The picture above features myself(middle) along with the two new members of my section, Jimmy(left) and Evan(right). I've been away for a while and lost some sleep, but I have to say that it was all worth it to finally visit the Windy City of Chicago. These two made me proud of what I've accomplished through my time with the band and this project. Their work in the parade was amazing; from the perspective I had. Unfortunately, I fell badly ill on the day of the parade, but that didn't stop me from acknowledging how far these two and the section has come from our beginnings. Next Week, I'll be focusing on a more at home approach with my craft of music.
Welcome back to the posting site for a guy who works with musicians who need help in their craft! Last week was a great one for our Marching Band and how I have seen the new members advancing in stellar amounts. I do have a slight issue though, myself. Most of the time when we are marching as a group, I'm called out for messing up more than anyone else. That makes me nervous since there is only one week remaining before the Chicago trip and that I'm the difference in our section. However, that should not trouble me because of the two remaining practices before Chicago's parade and the Mocksville parade happening this weekend. That will give us a pretty good idea on how our performance in Chicago would be and what needs improvement. That being said, our sectional this week was for working on both marching and playing while also maintaining the lines that we set up at. Our progress brought out some incredible sounds, so I feel confident in our future.
Some very good news came from this week as well when it came to the Symphonic Band Concert; being that the concert has now been moved to Dec. 19 instead of Dec.1. This gives me more time to work with the new Tuba player in my standard class and improve him for the concert ahead. Speaking of him, I've had to constantly work with the Marching Band so much that I haven't been able to teach him much. After Chicago passes, I'll put my priorities on this new Tuba. Next week, I'll be featuring pictures of our group and pictures of Chicago and our trip experiences. Welcome back to the Genius Hour practice "place-to-be!" I've honestly been stressing a little to much about this project because of the fact that my section is doing really well in step size and marching lines. While the session was short, we maintained our lines very well, minus myself. We've planned on practicing our sound when marching in our sectional for this week, and these new members are getting the hang of the Sousaphone. They have grow considerably from the first week we worked together and I'm really proud of their progress. However, I've encountered a big problem when it comes to preparing for a concert in Symphonic Band. The new Tuba player I was trying to tutor could not find time to practice with me during Smart Lunch and it's starting to show in class. We have some really tough music this time around, and that means that I'm going to bear down in order to not only perform well, but also help the new player get into the swing of things and do the same. Plus, the Chicago trip is not far away and we only have about a week left to practice.
Welcome back to my blogging page for musicians and Genius Hour! To begin, I've only had three days this week to discuss our section's plan for our trip to Chicago due to the fact I was on a beach vacation from Friday to Tuesday. This is going to be a stressful week because of the homework I have to make-up along with memorizing the song that going to be played in our parades. I have practiced a decent amount of time, but my worries come from the fact that I may lose my permission to go on the trip and the effect of this project may be lost. However, I am confident in the fact that I will perform well for the pass-off and that I will still mentor the two new Sousaphones as much as I can. Now, to discuss how the Symphonic Band work is coming along. The new Tuba player has done his work by learning the fingerings, but still has more to learn before he can truly be heard in the band. I will have to adjust to having a second Tuba by balancing my sound to his so that we sound like one Tuba instead of two. I'm also struggling with the fact he sometimes does not have the necessary warm-up book to prepare for class and how that can affect my practice, but I think I can manage that. See you guys next week for more! Welcome back once more to my blogging page for Genius Hour and this week things are finally moving as planned. This week has given me the opportunity to meet and practice with the two previously mentioned trombone players to work on their sound and marching technique. However, I am no exception to a lack of better marching skill, so our section leader, Quinn Collins, helped our group learn how to step properly and use our peripheral vision to keep our lines straight. For our first day of true practice, this was actually a great starting point, but we could only have one of our two new members play/march at a time. That means the practice was not divided evenly which is something I plan on improving on individual sessions for sound improvement and marching techniques. Next week will be a time of prioritizing my schedule for the parade and advancing these musicians.
Welcome back to my website once again for some more news on my project. This week has certainly been fun because of a project that caused me to burn my hand and use my time up for tutoring. That project has altered my schedule so that it affected my tutoring times. It didn't help that I was sick this week, but thankfully I bounced back. Otherwise, I was not able to consult the Sousaphones I planned on helping. But, there was a silver lining to this week in my Symphonic Band class that gave me hope.
In my class for Symphonic Band, I was the only Tuba player when it came to the concert for Fall. The key word in that sentence is "was" because a member of the Trombone group has now joined me and I now have to be a mentor to him as well. Thankfully, I hope that this week will be better, so be prepared for the next post. See ya! Welcome to those who are on this site, back to another weekly blog of what was practiced and who I practiced with. After last week with the focus on a more inward look towards my own skills at musicianship, I feel as if I am prepared personally to assist groups in a much better fashion than I was before. However, I will continue to work on the skills to advance in playing more confidently in larger groups. This is going to important since the Marching Band will be going to Chicago for the McDonald's Thanksgiving day parade. My issue with that is that our section leader is not going to Chicago and we have two former trombone players who want to learn how to play the Sousaphone.
This brings me to the next important point, my new goal. The new goal is to now use my skills to train two I made a notice in my last blog that I would be trying to schedule sessions during the Genius Hour time on Wednesdays. However, I realized that the band room where my plan was to hold these sessions was empty for Jimeson's planing period. Also, a majority of the students that I know would not have the time to get out of a class period for a session. But, the idea of smart lunch and after school still stands and my next session will be with the Sousaphone/Tuba section. This group is where my personal instrument of choice lies and the instrument I'm the most successful with. Our session mostly consisted of increasing the volume of the Sousaphones and practicing a piece for the football game this week called "Veteran's Salute". Now, I mentioned in the second post that I practiced with Saxophone players, but I'm not one myself to clear up confusion if there was any.
In inclusion to the group sessions, I'm also adding a session for myself to become a better musician to hold better sessions during the weeks ahead. My plan is to learn advanced techniques to assist in the tone and articulation of the notes I play during a normal day of class or on the field for Marching Band |