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Trojans Advance to 2nd Round

Friday we are HOME again

Friday night was a very fun evening as we cheered our Trojans on to a 55-7 victory over the Winder-Barrow Bulldogs. Coach Calhoun and his staff have said repeatedly how our band adds to the energy not only for the fans but for the players as well. We look forward to bringing the noise on Friday as we face off with Sprayberry!

Week at a Glance

  • Monday: Last day to order fundraiser items an receive them for Christmas – more below
    • $200 Total Due towards Universal Trip
  • Thursday: Winter Guard Meeting 7:00PM via Google Meets
  • Friday: Home vs. Sprayberry (Sign up link to volunteer)
    • 5:30PM Band Room Open for Uniforms/Equipment
    • 6:30PM Report in Full Uniform to Band Set-Up
    • 7:10PM Pre-Game
    • 7:30PM Kick-Off

Home vs. Sprayberry • Sign Up to Volunteer

We will perform our competition show and Battle Hymn on Friday. Although we had to qualify for the playoff games, these dates have been on the calendar since we started school and the games are still required of all marching band members. Last week due to the holiday we made exceptions for those who were out of town, but we will need all in attendance going forward. We will continue to observe our COVID guidelines and do not encourage anyone to participate if they are exhibiting symptoms or have been quarantined for close contact. As inconvenient as these absences may be, it is important for the health and safety of our community that we continue to be consistent in observing our COVID protocols.

Concessions will be handled like they were at our last game. The boosters will have some items available for our students in the band room to purchase during the 3rd quarter break. Please bring money with you to the game if you would like something to snack on during your break.

Trip Fundraiser

SuperFan has generously extended the order deadline for Christmas delivery until November 30th (Tommorrow) and they are giving each student who sells 15 or more items by November 30th a FREE 16 oz. Tervis tumbler.

Each order that comes through your link will earn you 40% of the total order cost (not including shipping/handling) toward your trip cost. If you are going on the trip, this is a great way to earn money toward the cost of it. Share it, sit back and watch the money come in. This will be an ongoing fundraiser but if someone wants their order before Christmas, they need to order by November 30th.

Winter Guard Season has started!

Congratulations to our Gold and Silver Winter Guards this season! Although the season will be adjusted slightly due to the pandemic, we are excited about still being able to offer this opportunity for our students. There will be a virtual winter guard member and parent meeting on Thursday evening at 7pm. You will need to be signed in via your student Google account to access the meeting:

Winter Guard Meeting • Thursday, December 3, 2020 • 7:00PM

Band Audition Videos due on Thursday

Students will submit virtual audition videos by 11:59PM Thursday, December 3 to serve as their audition for this semester. This decision was to help mitigate COVID risk, but also as a way to help our students prepare for other auditions that have also been moved to a virtual setting (e.g., many college auditions and the GMEA DHB auditions). Students have been informed of this process during class for the past couple of weeks. Please encourage your child to begin recording videos now to alleviate any stress/anxiety that they may experience while preparing such a project. Videos can be recorded using a computer or a phone so long as we can see the student performing to validate who to provide credit for the submission.

  1. Record 3 videos for submission
    1. Scales (open ended points)/Chromatic Scale: record yourself performing as many major/minor scales and arpeggios as possible within 2 minutes. 1 point is awarded for each octave of a scale performed correctly ascending, descending, and for each octave of the arpeggio. A 1 octave scale with an arpeggio can earn 3 points if performed correctly. The video must be submitted as 1 take without any edits. Also, (but not included in your 2 minutes) a chromatic scale that is representative of the range of your instrument. A 2 octave chromatic scale from concert F to concert F will earn you a full 20 points and you can earn extra points for extending that range.
    2. Etude (50 Points): perform the GMEA Lyrical Etude that is appropriate for your instrument and grade level. The etudes were distributed in class but for your convenience can be accessed using the following links: 9 – 10 grade wind etudes • 11 – 12 grade wind etudes • All Percussion
    3. Sight-Reading (30 points): Winds perform the following short excerpt by clicking the link and accessing the page for your instrument, percussion will be uploaded soon.
  2. Upload each video YouTube as “Unlisted”
  3. Submit this form on or before December 3, 2020

Trip Update – Chaperone Action Required

Anyone who is traveling as a chaperone has to complete the following survey:

https://forms.gle/XvnBhDZeiZVyJP3y5

As previously posted, we have decided as a booster club not to travel to Philadelphia and DC this year in light of all current events. The trip instead has evolved into a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando Florida (Admission to both parks and Volcano Bay). The cost of the trip is $800 (for Quad occupancy) and we have opened spots back up for the trip. If you previously paid a deposit for the Philly/DC trip and not requested a refund, your deposit has been transferred to the new trip and is now non-refundable. All payments are due in full by mid-February. The suggested payments are $200 a month (Nov 30, Dec 18, Jan 22, Feb 22).

Payments will be handled through our booster club at the Square Site. After paying the deposit to secure a spot, the following payment schedule should be followed: $200 by Nov 30; $400 by Dec 18; $600 by Jan 22; $800 by Feb 22.

District Honor Band Auditions

Students who have signed up for District Honor Band Auditions should start recording their audition videos now. You can follow this link to see an example of the district honor band score sheets. Please note, the link contains ALL sheets so you will need to scroll down to see the appropriate sheet for your instrument and grade level. Concert Band = 9th and 10th grade; Symphonic Band = 11th and 12th grade. After recording, students should use the rubric to judge how many points they would receive on their scales. If they start doing this now, then they can continue creating videos before the deadline to ensure that they receive all of the available points for scales. This is a highly competitive process, do not give away free points.

The points awarded for the etude and sight-reading are slightly more subjective to interpretation, but students can see the rubric used and score themselves accordingly as a strategy for continued improvement. For the first round the first etude counts as the etude score and the bracketed portion of the second etude will be performed as the sight-reading portion.

Here is the information from GMEA regarding video submissions for District Honor Band this year. This information was shared with our students at the beginning of November via Google Classroom. I have included most of the information below also for your convenience:

What to record:

  • The recording submission should be video with audio and NOT audio only.
  • Each student will need to record three separate submissions as follows:

Brass and Woodwinds:

  1. Submission #1 Scales: Required scales in required order and chromatic scale (specified to their instrument) submitted as one continuous recording. All major scales, arpeggios and chromatic scales must be memorized. Scale sheet and music stand should NOT be present in the video when recording this portion of the audition.
  2. Submission #2 Lyrical: Lyrical etude
  3. Submission #3 Technical: Bracketed portion of technical etude

Percussion:

  1. Submission #1 Snare: Bracketed portion of snare etude
  2. Submission #2 Mallets: Required scales in required order, chromatic scale (full range of instrument) and bracketed portion of the mallet etude. Major scales and chromatic scale must be one continues recording. The etude portion can be recorded separately then edited together with the scales, or may be recorded sequentially with the major scales and chromatic scale in one take. All major scales, arpeggios and chromatic scale must be memorized. Scale sheet and music stand should NOT be present in the video when recording this portion of the audition.
  3. Submission #3 Timpani: Demonstrate tuning* both drums to Etude Pitches, Single Stroke Roll, Forte Piano Crescendo Roll and designated portion of Timpani Etude. These four performances must be filmed in one take.
    1. *Reminder: Students may use any type of tone producer (pitch pipe, mallet instrument, etc.) for tuning, however no electronic devices may be used to produce a tone for tuning purposes by the student. Symphonic Band students must use only one pitch (the lower of the two) to tune the lower drum and then tune the higher pitch by ear only. The given pitch must be the lower pitch of the 2 drums.
    2. There will be a 30 second per drum time limit on the Middle School and Concert Band timpani tuning audition and a 30-second total time limit on the Symphonic Band timpani tuning audition.

Introduce Yourself – VERY IMPORTANT

Judges must be able to see the student’s face, hands, and full instrument throughout the entire recordings. Students should not wear clothes identifying the school they attend. All students must introduce themselves at the beginning of each video.

Woodwinds and Brass Students must clearly state:

  1. First and last name
  2. Grade in school
  3. The component they will be playing within the video (Scales, Lyrical, or Technical)

Percussion Students must clearly state:

  1. First and last name
  2. Grade in school
  3. The component they will be playing (Snare, Mallet or Timpani)

Label Your Videos

Students will upload all three individual recordings into YouTube and create an “unlisted link” for each video. Only people who are provided the link will be able to view the video. These videos will not be viewable by the public on YouTube.

*When this process is complete, each student video will display their “labeled file name” under the video window as shown below:

Students must label each individual recording file in the following format:

“Level_Instrument_What portion of audition_Last Name_First Name”

Examples: For Winds: (Middle School)

  1. MS_Trombone_Scales_Norris_Chuck
  2. MS_Trombone_Lyrical_Norris_Chuck
  3. MS_Trombone_Technical_Norris_Chuck

(Concert 9/10)

  1. CB_Trumpet_Scales_Doe_ John
  2. CB_Trumpet_Lyrical_Doe_ John
  3. CB_Trumpet_Technical_Doe_ John

(Symphonic 11/12)

  1. SB_Flute_Scales_Doe_Jane
  2. SB_Flute_Lyrical_Doe_Jane
  3. SB_Flute_Technical_Doe_Jane

For Percussion: (Middle School)

  1. MS_Snare_Bond_James
  2. MS_Mallets_Bond_James
  3. MS_Timpani_Bond_James

(Concert 9/10)

  1. CB_Snare_Bond_James
  2. CB_Mallets_Bond_James
  3. CB_Timpani_Bond_James

(Symphonic 11/12)

  1. SB_Snare_Bond_James
  2. SB_Mallets_Bond_James
  3. SB_Timpani_Bond_James

This will ensure directors have all recorded components from each student and all district organizers have accurate records for the judging process. Judging panels will be able to accurately identify student with score sheets.

Step-by-step tutorial video

Brass and Woodwinds: https://youtu.be/w20334PFL8Q

Percussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZWn6c3kVM&t=296s

Once the videos are completed the students will submit all three videos using a Google Form. I will make this form available very soon, but the videos for District Honor Band are not due until the week that we return back from Christmas Break. It is still A GREAT IDEA to go ahead and start recording! If you have finished your scales already, then you do not have to worry about that recording except for keeping up with the link. Let’s get it done!

If you have a child who participates in the marching band, it is very important that you subscribe to our Remind. Although we will send communications regarding class via Infinite Campus (IC) messenger, we use Remind for our extra curricular communications. The interface for the IC messenger does not allow us to send messages unless we use a computer and we often need access to send a communication (i.e., updated ETA’s) using our phones. We use Remind for all “just in time” communication to our marching band parents and students.

How to Join Remind

We would also appreciate you following the band on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Categories: CHS Band