BAND

Band reinforces the skills of cooperation which are among the qualities now most highly valued in business and industry, especially in high-tech contexts. Members are required to shift from an individual to a shared focus. Band is a group effort that focuses on group goals and the completion of those goals in each and every rehearsal and performance.

Beginning Band

Beginning Band is the first level of the band program. In this class, students will have the opportunity to choose and learn a woodwind, brass, or percussion instrument and continue with that chosen instrument in a group setting. The aim of the band program is to teach the students the skills to read and perform music effectively and eventually become ready to perform with a more intermediate group.

Student Learning Goals

  • Learn essential abilities such as care for their chosen instrument, appropriate playing pose, tone generation, and playing methods for their instrument. 

  • Learn basic music theory and music vocabularies such as reading and understanding musical notation and symbols. 

  • Acquire the skills, abilities, understandings, and attitudes necessary to express themselves musically as individuals and as members of an ensemble. 

  • Value and appreciate music from a variety of cultural and historical contexts and understand the role of music in daily life.

Middle School Band

In the Middle School Band, students continue developing basic musicianship skills.  Students will begin to use more articulations, perform scales and music in more difficult key signatures, demonstrate vibrato, and perform music at an intermediate level of difficulty.

Student Learning Goals

  • Continue to develop music theory and music vocabulary.

  • Technical and expressive skills will increase in difficulty as the student demonstrates a variety of articulations, and alternate fingerings, whereas playing the specified scales, and basics in more complex musical patterns.

  • Ensemble aptitude skills will develop as students participate in full band settings. 

  • Students will describe concepts common to music and other disciplines and will be involved in discussing various cultures, styles, composers, and historical periods.

High School Band

This course is designed to supply comprehensive instrumental musical instruction to the students. The class provides students with a range of performance opportunities in a variety of environments. The course's guiding goal is to foster and facilitate musical development in all students by having them continually practice their chosen instrument.

As a member of the band program, group effort and cooperation are essential for a successful program. Band is a skilled effort in which each student is expected to show technical and musical growth throughout the course. 

Student Learning Goals

  • Show a higher level of the grasp of music theory and music vocabulary.

  • Technical and expressive skills will increase in difficulty as the student demonstrates a variety of articulations, alternate fingerings, and vibrato while playing the required scales, arpeggios, and rudiments in more complex rhythmic patterns.

  • Perform, discuss, and critically evaluate the characteristics of more elaborate music compositions. 

  • The students will analyze concepts common to music and other disciplines and will be involved in the study of aural examples of music representing a variety of cultures, styles, and historical periods.