The Mountaineer Middle School Band is comprised of approximately 170 students grades six through eight. Each grade level is split into two separate classes. Performance opportunities for all bands include a winter concert and a spring concert. The 7th and 8th grade bands also perform at the annual Region 10 band festival held at Bridgeport Middle School, where they have each earned Superior ratings every year the school has been in existence.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
Several students participated in Marshall University's annual Middle School Honor Band on Friday, January 20. You can learn a little more about the event below.
The 8th grade wind ensemble is preparing for a recorded audition to be a WV Music Educators Association Honor Ensemble. If selected, they will perform a program for the WVMEA conference held in Morgantown on March 11.
Preparations are being made for the upcoming spring concert on Thursday, April 5 at 6:30 pm (see calendar below).
USEFUL INFORMATION (and stuff)
SmartMusic is proving to be an invaluable tool for our classes (see link in "Resources" section). Students have been made aware that they may go to the band room prior to the beginning of school to make use of SmartMusic to practice some of their parts.
Announcements about performances, graded assignments, quizes, etc. will be made through jupitergrades. If there are any questions about anything band-related, feel free to contact Mr. Cale at the information at the bottom of the page.
Practice recordings can be found below. These can be used for students to see how their parts fit together with others.
Winter Concert (All Band Members): Monday, December 19 @ 6:30 pm
Spring Concert(All Band Members): Thursday, April 5 @ 6:30 pm
Region 10 Band Festival (7th and 8th Grade Only): Thursday, April 26 @ 9:30 or 10:00 am
see more information on Region 10 Band Festival below
School Concert (All Band Members): Tuesday, May 22 - sometime during the school day (Tentative)
RESOURCES
Below is a list of resources that are beneficial to band and music students. It's not a complete list by any means, but all can serve to help students enrolled in our band program. If you have an idea for a resource that should be on this list, feel free to e-mail Mr. Cale.
SmartMusic: This is one of the most exciting innovations in music education technology in recent memory. SmartMusic can actually hear the musician and tell if there were correct/incorrect notes. Students can use the tuner and metronome tools and adjust the tempo to better suit their practice goals. Smartmusic can even bring the student's music up on the screen and highlight the music as it is being played. Students can even make a recording with or without accompaniment to be saved as an mp3 file. These recordings can help students hear and/or track their progress instantly. It makes practicing much more fun and interesting. There is a subscription fee that may be paid monthly or annually and requires an internet connection to activate and to be able to get the most out of the software.
Standard of Excellence Accompaniment Recordings: These recordings are meant to make practicing out of our method book more fun and interesting. Professional musicians are recorded performing each of the exercises in books 1 and 2, making the music easier to understand by placing it in context.
Private Lessons: There is no better way to become better at your instrument than private lessons - more so than any other item in this section. One-on-one instruction is tailored to the individual student. Students and parents may contact Mr. Cale for private lesson options on virtually any instrument (including piano, guitar, voice, etc.).
Bandland and Percussion Center: Located on West Pike Street in Clarksburg just across the street from Notre Dame High School, Bandland is a retailer and repair shop for band and orchestral instruments. Bandland also sells and repairs guitars of all kinds. They have method books and sheet music for all band instruments. Bandland features one of the finest private lesson studios in the area. Check out their site for more information on products and services.
Tuner: Downloadable chromatic tuner. Just play a note and the tuner will automatically tell you if you are playing that note in tune.
Metronome: Another indespensible tool for every musician. Helps the player keep a steady beat, no matter how fast or slow. Scroll down to where it says, "Download TempoPerfect for Windows."
Music Flash Card Game: Students can not possibly progress in band as quickly as they should if they do not know the names of the notes they see on the page. It is imperative that all band students learn this skill. This is a fun game with three different levels of play that is sure to make all of our middle school band students better music readers.
Rhythm Trainer: This software download is the best I could find in the arena of rhythm training. I'm sure there are better ones, but I have yet to find them. The drills range in difficulty from very easy to very difficult. There is a free trial period. If you want to continue using after the trial period, then you will need to pay for the software. E-mail Mr. Cale if you have any questions about how to use it.
Music Theory Site: This site has a lot of useful information about music.
Vic Firth Percussion: Lots of very useful information dealing with all things percussion. Pay particular attention to the "Education" portions of the site.
Steve Weiss Percussion: Dealer in percussion instruments of all kinds. There are some good resources here as well.
Audacity: Great, free audio-editing software that is easy to use. Has lots of features that rival programs costing $100 or more. Convert streaming or live music to mp3 format and more.
(More to Come)
LINKS
Shinnston Community Band: Under the direction of Mr. Michael Cale, the Shinnston Community Band is a concert band that performs around Christmas time and patriotic concerts in the summer. They are comprised of approximately 70 people ranging in age from 11 to 85 and come from all walks of life. Although the site is scheduled to be updated in the near future, there is still some good information and audio files of the band.
Sheet Music Dealers: Both of these have recordings of many of their band and choir arrangements.
Students in the Mountaineer Middle School Band discussed a plan that would help them achieve the highest level of performance possible. This classroom plan was put into effect and has yeilded positive results. It consists of some general classroom procedures and behaviors that are conducive to a successful band program and is clearly posted in the band room.
Components of the Plan for Success in our classroom are listed below.
1. Get Ready for Class Quickly
2. Refrain From Talking Unless Given Permission To Speak
3. Pay Attention to the Teacher 4. Play Instruments at Appropriate Times Only
5. Use Time Efficiently (Study Music, Go Over Fingerings, etc.)
6. Keep Hands, Feet, and Objects, etc. to Yourself
7. Handle Your Belongings Only 8. Remain in Your Seat Unless Permission 9. Have a Pencil On Your Stand or In Your Folder During Class Daily
10. Put Instrument Away Properly: In Latched Case and in Designated Area
Region 10 Band Festival
The Region 10 WVSSAC Band Festival is a two-day event. Middle school and high school bands from Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Taylor, and Preston Counties, perform graded literature for a panel of three adjudicators that rate the performance on a scale of 1 (Superior) through 5 (poor). The results for all schools in the state is posted on the WVSSAC's band web page.
Mountaineer Middle will have two ensembles particiating this year - the 8th grade wind ensemble and the 7th/8th grade concert band.
The event will be held at Bridgeport Middle School in the morning on Thursday, April 26. Specific times will be announced in the near future.
ALL-COUNTY BAND
The 2011-12 Harrison County All-County Band chair auditions will be held on Tuesday, January 31 at Lincoln High School. Those students that will be performing an audition have been given their times. Regular rehearsals will be held every Tuesday at Lincoln High School through February and the first week of March.
MARSHALL UNIVERSITY MIDDLE SCHOOL HONOR BAND
Marshall University hosted its annual middle honor band on Friday, January 20, 2012.
Students were nominated by their directors and then selected by a committee. After an overnight stay in Huntington, the students participated with over 300 others from numerous other schools. They were placed in one of two seperate bands that rehearsed several tunes for around four hours. They then had a master class dedicated to their instrument before performing a concert in the evening.
Nine students from Mountaineer Middle participated in this year's event: Savanna A., Hannah P., Abigail R., Cheyenne M., Tucker D., Nick C., Miranda F., Jeremy R., and Cole S.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations to 2010-2011 8th grade band student Aika T. for qualifying to perform on the Honors Recital for the West Virginia Music Educators' Conference in Huntington on March 24. Hundreds of high school and middle school students from all over the state performed at regional solo & ensemble festivals. Those receiving a superior rating were given a chance to send a recording to the recital's selection committee.
Over 80 submissions from high school and middle school band students were sent to the committee, which selected only 10 solos/ensembles to perform on the recital - 3 at the middle school level and 7 from the high school level. This is the first time in recent memory (if ever) that a middle school band student from Harrison County has been chosen to perform on the Honors Recital at the conference.
MR. MICHAEL CALE, DIRECTOR
2 MOUNTAINEER DRIVE
CLARKSBURG, WV 26301
304-326-7620, ext. 4631
(best times to contact =7:15-7:30 am, 11:12 am-12:00 pm, 2:55 - 3:05 pm)
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Mountaineer Middle School Band