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Dear Parents,
Every year at the beginning of January, we talk about instrument switching in Beginning Band. This is not a requirement, but another option for students to enjoy Band and to further challenge themselves. Please see below for some frequently asked questions regarding switching instruments in Beginning Band. What is this whole instrument switching thing about? In Beginning Band, we start with 5 basic instruments: flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone/baritone/euphonium, and percussion. That said, there are other instruments available to Beginning Band students: bass clarinet, horn, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, and tuba. Once we get to this point in the year, students may opt to audition to switch to one of those instruments. Typically, woodwinds switch to other woodwind instruments and brass switch to other brass instruments. Woodwinds and brass can audition to switch to percussion. My student really likes his/her current instrument. Do they have to try out? Not at all! There are several students who are happy with their current instruments, and that’s OK! What is the audition process like? First, please know that students are asked to audition on the instruments that they already play in Band. The point of the audition is to ensure that students can count rhythms, identify notes, show correct playing habits, and demonstrate correct fingerings for their current instrument. All students who audition will be asked to: *prepare a piece of their choosing from their Band book *sightread a piece that Mr. Sanchez chooses *demonstrate knowledge of note names and fingerings *perform a few rhythmic exercises using their hands (for percussion tryouts only) When are the auditions? Auditions are during Flex on Tuesday, January 15 and Wednesday, January 16. Students may sign up in the Band Room using the form on the Band Room office. When will we find out the results? Results announced via Skyward and E-Mail by Friday, January 18. Students who are selected will need their instruments, books, and other materials by the following Band class. What happens if my student is selected to switch instruments? The student will need to rent their new instrument and purchase any accessories they might need for their instrument. Unless they choose to, students will not need their old instruments or books once they switch to their new instrument. A list of materials for each instrument can be found on the Band website. Some students may be able to rent an instrument from the school—please have them come see Mr. Sanchez for availability. I’m worried my student will fall behind if they play a new instrument. This is understandable, but there are supports in place for students who are switching so that they can be successful. First, Mr. Sanchez takes time in class to help each individual student get set up and started. They’ll be afforded practice time in class in a practice room with frequent check-ins to ensure everything is going smoothly. Also, Mr. Sanchez will be holding additional support classes during Flex so that students will have additional one-on-one time to help meet their needs. This has proven very successful in years past. Why did my student not get selected to switch instruments? There are many reasons that a student may not be selected to switch instruments. Sometimes it has to do with a student’s audition not meeting expectations. In other cases, students may have had a fine audition, but other students had better auditions: since we only have limited numbers of spots for certain instruments, Mr. Sanchez can only accept a limited amount of students per instrument to ensure that the band has good balance. Think of it like a football team: not everybody can be a quarterback: players need to be where the coach needs their particular set of skills. Similarly, not everybody can always play the instrument they want (we can’t have a band full of saxes, for example), but please keep in mind that Mr. Sanchez does everything he can to accommodate each student. Please let me know if you have any questions! Mr. Sanchez Happy Holidays!
Please find this week's edition of Band Notes below. ****Concert on Monday, 12/17**** NOTE: WE NEED STUDENTS TO STAY AFTER SCHOOL ON MONDAY FOR APPROX. 30 MINS TO HELP WITH SETUP. PLEASE HAVE YOUR STUDENT COME AND SEE ME IF THEY’RE ABLE TO DO THIS. I've had a few parents inquire about the concert date. Please know that all concerts are listed on the Band website (mrsanchezmusic.org). The Band calendar can be found here (with all concert dates for the 2018-2019 school year): http://www.mrsanchezmusic.org/calendar.html The dress code for concerts can be found here: http://www.mrsanchezmusic.org/concert-dress.html Additional concert information: What Skyridge Band Winter Concert Where Skyridge Middle School Wood Gym When Monday, Dec. 17. Students arrive at 6:30 p.m. Please do not arrive earlier, as it will hinder setup procedures. 6th Grade Band meets and warms up in the Rubber Gym. They will also store their cases there. 7th Grade Band meets and warms up in the Band Room. They will also store their cases there. 8th Grade Band meets and warms up in the Choir Room. They will also store their cases there. Concert begins at 7 p.m. What to bring Instrument and music. Bass guitar players should bring a patch cord. Percussionists should bring their sticks and mallets. Concert dress Standard concert dress. Please see band website for details. Checking in There will be an attendance sheet in each group’s case storage area. In order to receive credit, students will need to check themselves off once they get there. Seating in the Wood Gym Students will be seated on the gym floor in chairs and will be seated according to grade. We ask that students sit there for the entirety of the concert. Students are expected to be quiet, attentive audience members when they are not playing. Concert credit will be reduced if students are being a distraction to other audience members and/or other band members. After the concert 6th Graders are asked to help move chairs back to the Band Room. 7th Graders are asked to help move music stands back to the Band Room. 8th Graders are asked to help move percussion, amps and any other equipment back to the Band Room. Mrs. Sappington will be in the Band Room to help direct students where to put chairs and stands after the concert. Please follow her instructions. 8th Grade percussionists will help direct where percussion equipment should go. This will only take a few short minutes with everyone’s help! Finally, I hope parents will take a few moments to come say hello after the concert. I always enjoy visiting with families! -Michael Sanchez Dear Parents, Please find this week’s edition of Band Notes below. All grades Students will need to make sure that they retrieve their instruments from the Band Room by 3:10 p.m. Due to my schedule, I’m not always here at the end of the day, so students will need to ensure that they get their instruments before I lock up the Band Room. We’ve talked about this in class, but if students have any questions, please have them come see me. Playing tests will be graded sometime this weekend. I’ll be playing trumpet in Wilsonville High School’s production of Legally Blonde this weekend and next weekend. Find out more details here. This is a really fun show with some great music, and it’s a workout for actors and pit orchestra alike. I’d rate it a PG-13 show, so please use discretion when thinking about which little ones to take. Congratulations to 8th Graders Caewithe Miller, Selena Zou, and Ethan Gessler! They’ve been selected to participate in the North County Honor Band in February. The NCHB is a select ensemble that’s comprised of music students from around the county. They get together for two days of intensive rehearsals and then put on a concert. More information will be sent out as we get closer to the event. EXCITING NEWS!!!! The Skyridge Band program just received grants from the Skyridge PTO and the Friends of Camas Arts (FOCA)! We received $1000.00 to refresh and replace our music library. Many of our pieces in the music library are old and missing parts that cannot be reordered. There are also several pieces that are not developmentally appropriate for middle school band students, and I’m unable to use them, unfortunately. This grant will help us purchase new literature for all our bands that’s written for bands like ours and that’s fun as well as educational. Thank you so much to the Skyridge PTO and FOCA for their help with this very important project! If you’d like to find out more about how you can help, please contact me. FOCA is holding a fundraiser next week, and I hope that Skyridge Band families can help support them! Please see the attached flyer for more information about their MOD Pizza fundraiser. You’ll need to print it out and bring it to MOD Pizza in order for FOCA to receive credit. I’ll distribute flyers on Monday to all Band students. 6th Grade Band We’re having a great time learning about music in our Beginning Band class! The kids have been working hard and have made huge improvements these last few weeks. Please have students download the app that accompanies their band book. Instructions can be found on the inside cover of their band books. I can’t stress enough what a useful tool this is to help their learning. Also, students are expected to take their instruments home every day and practice just a few minutes a night. This helps reinforce concepts we’ve learned in class and it helps develop good practice habits. I’d rather have a student who practices at home 5 minutes a day rather than a student who practices 45 minutes once a week. We’ll be talking more about practicing in class, but please encourage your students to get a little bit of playing every day. 7th Grade Band New music is on the way! There was a delay at the publisher, but I hope to have it next week for us to try. 8th Grade Band We are performing with the 8th Grade Choir for the assembly on Friday, Nov. 9th. All 8th Grade Band students are expected to participate. Since this is our yearly Veteran’s Day assembly, we will be wearing our concert dress for this performance. Please check the band website for information regarding our concert attire. More details will be shared next week. Closing I hope everyone has a relaxing, fun weekend planned! I’m looking forward to making music with everybody next week. Mr. Sanchez 
Dear Skyridge Families,
We've had another great week here at Skyridge! Please see below for this week's edition of Band Notes: All bands I will be updating Skyward by Monday afternoon, so if you turned in your syllabus late, please check Monday after school to see your updated grade. If you haven't yet turned in your syllabus, please turn it in ASAP for full credit. Jazz Band We start Jazz Band on Monday at 8 a.m. Bring your instruments and a pencil. I’ll provide the rest! 6th Grade Band We've learned how to properly assemble and hold our instruments. This week, we also learned our first note and will continue learning new notes. It's a very exciting time, and the band has been working very hard. I especially appreciate the band's patience these first few weeks of class. At first, since I'm helping set up so many kids, it can take a while to get everyone squared away. But once we get started, we'll be moving pretty quickly through our band book. This weekend, students should be practicing their new note. They're welcome to work ahead in the book once they get their note. We are on Page 6, Line 1 of their Tradition of Excellence band book. On the back cover of their band book, there is information on installing an app on a smart device that goes along with their book. It has accompaniment tracks that students can play along with, and it also plays their part for them so that students and parents can make sure they're playing the correct note. Parents are encouraged to help their student download the app (there is a mobile and desktop version) and watch the videos that correlate with page 2 and 3 of their Tradition of Excellence book. These videos go over instrument assembly and proper hand position. These are great tools and I hope students and parents will use them--they make practicing that much more fun! 7th Grade Band Keep working ahead in your red book. We will hopefully be starting the blue book at the end of next week or the following week. 8th Grade Band Practice the Challenger sheet music. Closing That does it for this week! I hope everybody has a nice, restful weekend. I'll be away from E-Mail until Monday. Dear Parents,
As I mentioned last week, our Band Instrument Rental Night is tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Skyridge cafeteria. Please see below for more information about tonight’s event: What is Instrument Rental Night? This is an optional event where families of 6th Grade Beginning Band come to the school to rent their band instrument and purchase their band book and other needed supplies. Families are welcome to procure an instrument however they'd like, but I hope this is a convenient way for families to get everything they need to start off in Beginning Band. Beacock Music will be the music vendor at this evening's Rental Night and will have instruments for rent as well as accessories for purchase. What supplies do we need for Beginning Band? After an instrument has been assigned, you can get all the supplies that you need at the Instrument Rental Night. If you are going elsewhere, make sure to take a look at the supply list on the band website. Do we have to be at the school for the entire event? No! This is a drop-in type event, so as soon as you get an instrument rented and accessories purchased, you're welcome to leave. My child wasn't able to try out all the instruments he/she wanted. Should we still come to the Instrument Rental Night? Absolutely. I'll be there along with the folks at Beacock who can help with instrument tryouts. Please assure students that if they don't get to try out everything in class, they'll have an opportunity at the Instrument Rental Night. My child played in Band last year at his/her former school. What should we do? There are a variety of things we can do: please have the student come see Mr. Sanchez and we can talk about the options. I hope this helps clear up any questions you might have. If there's anything else I can do to help, please get in touch. Welcome to the new school year, Skyhawks!
We had a fast-paced first week at school, and I’m glad to have some time to catch my breath over the weekend. It was great to see smiling faces and boundless enthusiasm this week. I know this is going to be a great year in Band! Below, please find the latest installment of Band Notes: All bands *The band website is found at mrsanchezmusic.org. It has lots of information regarding grading, calendars, performances, classroom materials, and more. Be sure to check it out! *Remember to turn in your signed sheet from the class syllabus. They are due Tuesday, Sept. 11. If you need another one, please see Mr. Sanchez. *Be sure to sign up for our Remind group as well as Google Classroom (info can be found on the class syllabus that was sent home). *Always bring a pencil to class. 6th Grade Beginning Band *It was so nice getting to know you! This is an enthusiastic group of beginners, and I know that we’re going to be having some great fun learning to make music together. We watched a video from the US Army Field Band that demonstrated the instruments that we start off in Band (as well as a few extras). If you’d like to take a look at it again, please follow this link. *We are doing instrument tryouts on Tuesday during class. All students who’ve never played a Band instrument are required to do a tryout. *Students who walk/ride to/from school are encouraged to come in before or after school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday if they’d like to do an instrument tryout. We have a lot of kids to get through in Tuesday’s class, and it’ll help ease the load if students are able to come see me before or after school. *Our Instrument Rental Night with Beacock Music is on Wednesday, Sept. 12 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. in the Skyridge Cafeteria. This event is not required, but it’s an easy and convenient way to rent your instrument and get all the supplies you’ll need to get started. Students who were unable to do an instrument tryout can also tryout instruments at the Rental Night. *All Beginning Band students will need their instrument and band book in class on Thursday, Sept. 13. Please see the band website for required materials. 7th Grade Band *You will need your instruments in class from now on. If you need to rent a large instrument from the school, please come see Mr. Sanchez. *For the next couple weeks, we’ll be working out of our red Tradition of Excellence Vol. 1 band book. However, please make sure that you purchase the next book in the Tradition of Excellence series (Vol. 2, the blue book). You can purchase them at one of the local music stores. We will start working out of the blue book by the last week of September, so please make sure and have your blue book by then. 8th Grade Band *You will need your instruments in class from now on. If you need to rent a large instrument from the school, please come see Mr. Sanchez. *Please make sure to get Tradition of Excellence Vol. 3 (green book) by the end of next week. You can purchase it at one of the local music stores. Closing Thanks for an energetic first week! Get some rest, and I look forward to seeing everybody on Monday for Week #2. -Mr. Sanchez Dear Parents,
The end of the year is just a few days away! I know you have a lot of information coming at you, so I'll keep this short and sweet. If your student currently has an instrument they are renting from Beacock Music The folks from Beacock Music will be here on Wednesday, June 20th to pick up rental instruments. Of course, I'd love for students to keep practicing over the summer, but if that's not in the cards, Beacock Music is offering this courtesy pick-up. If you are interested in having Beacock pick up your student's instrument, please have them turn in their instruments to me on the morning of Wednesday, June 20th (no earlier) BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS. If students do not give their instruments to me, they will not be picked up and families will be responsible for turning in instruments on their own. For those keeping their instruments over the summer, you do not need to do anything except keep your instrument: you will be billed as usual. As an added incentive to keep your instrument over the summer, Beacock Music is offering free August rent: please have your student come pick up a flier from me with details AND a coupon for 10% off sheet music. If your student is renting an instrument from the school Please have them come see me to discuss their summer instrument plans. This is mandatory for all students renting an instrument from the school. Jazz Band Please continue to bring your instruments to school. We will be playing up to and through the last day of school. Non Jazz Band students We are done playing for the year (even 6th graders). Please bring pencils and FULLY CHARGED Chromebooks to Band. All students Please clear out your belongings from the instrument storage lockers and the Band Room by 1 p.m. on June 20th. Anything left in the Band Room after that will be considered abandoned and will be donated or disposed of. Music turn-in 7th and 8th graders should have already turned in and filed their music. If you have not, please see Mr. Sanchez ASAP. 6th graders: we will turn in music on Monday, so remember to bring your folders. Let me know if you have any questions! Dear parents,
Tonight’s the big night! The bands are eager to share the work we’ve been doing in class this trimester, and I know you’ll be proud of all their hard work. Please see the details below about this evening’s event. What Skyridge Band concert (with Odyssey’s 6th Grade Beginning Band) Where Skyridge Middle School Wood Gym When Students arrive at 6:30 p.m. 6th Grade Bands meet and warm up in the Rubber Gym. They will also store their cases there. 7th Grade Band meets and warms up in the Band Room. They will also store their cases there. 8th Grade Band meets and warms up in the Choir Room. They will also store their cases there. Concert begins at 7 p.m. What to bring Instrument and music. Bass guitar players should bring a patch cord. Percussionists should bring their sticks and mallets. Concert dress Standard concert dress. Please see band website for details. Checking in There will be an attendance sheet in each group’s case storage area. In order to receive credit, students will need to check themselves off once they get there. Students are required to stay for the entirety of the concert. Seating in the Wood Gym Students will have a clearly marked off section to sit in while they’re not performing. We ask that students sit there for the entirety of the concert. Students are expected to be quiet, attentive audience members when they are not playing. Concert credit will be reduced if students are being a distraction to other audience members and/or other band members. After the concert 6th Graders are asked to help move chairs back to the Band Room. 7th Graders are asked to help move music stands back to the Band Room. 8th Graders are asked to help move all percussion and any other equipment back to the Band Room. We will have two student helpers (Kevin K. and Ryen H.) to help direct all students where to put chairs and stands in the Band Room after the concert. 8th Grade percussionists will help direct where percussion equipment should go. This will only take a few short minutes with everyone’s help. I hope parents will take a few moments to come say hello after the concert. I always enjoy visiting with families! Dear Parents,
Welcome to Friday! Please see below for this edition of Band Notes: All grades Skyward grading is current as of this writing. If students have questions regarding their grade, please have them come see me before or after school ASAP! Our next concert is March 21st at 7 p.m. here at Skyridge in the Wood Gym. More information will be sent out as we get closer to the concert. 6th Grade Lots of great progress this week, 6th graders! Keep up the good work. Please make sure to practice with a metronome so we can continue to work on keeping a steady beat. You can download a variety of metronome apps on your smartphone for free. You can also use www.metronomeonline.com for free. 7th Grade Please practice spots that are giving you trouble. We’re really close to making some fantastic music—do your part to ensure we all reach our goal together! There are still opportunities to sign up for our Step-Up Night on March 14th. If you’d like to come and ask the folks at Beacock Music some questions about buying a new instrument in a no-pressure setting, this is a great event to come to. They offer a variety of payment options, and they’ll match internet pricing from any reputable music store. 8th Grade Permission slips are late as of today! Please turn in your permission slip for the upcoming middle school band festival ASAP. You can even scan them in and send it to me via E-Mail. Be sure to also turn in $5 to Mrs. Williams to help cover the costs of this trip. We also need parent chaperones! Please get in touch if you’d be willing to help out on this trip. There are still opportunities to sign up for our Step-Up Night on March 14th. If you’d like to come and ask the folks at Beacock Music some questions about buying a new instrument in a no-pressure setting, this is a great event to come to. They offer a variety of payment options, and they’ll match internet pricing from any reputable music store. Closing That’s it for this time. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend or next weekend, consider coming to Franklin High School’s production of Anything Goes in SE Portland. The show opens tonight. I’m playing trumpet in the pit orchestra, and it’s going to be a lot of fun! I would put this show as a PG-13 show, so please take that into consideration as you consider taking younger members of the family. You can see show dates and ticket info at this website. Have a great weekend! Michael Sanchez |
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