Hey Bandits!

Tmrs the concert, rest well and have loads of fun tmr! Make sure to blow the audience away (get it? :D) with our pieces and play that last note knowing that we put all our effort into preparing for those 2/4/5 pieces :D

When we’re in our seats getting ready to play our pieces, don’t forget to smile and lets make music as a band! We’ve prepared so much for this concert, lets not let all our preparation go to waste.

Sec 1s: For most of you its your 1st time performing in a band concert, just relax and have fun! As much as possible, don’t let nervousness get the better of you and just play how you’ve always had during full band or even better!

Sec 2s: This time, you’ll be playing the end-of-year concert as part of the main band. Don’t depend on the sec 3s to cover you up as you’ll be the ones taking centre stage, so relax and play well!

Sec 3s:  Its our 3rd time performing at the end of year concert, lets make it the best of the 3 in our band life thus far!

Before you sleep, visualise yourself in Cheng Yi Auditorium, sitting on the stage facing a completely filled auditorium and just go through the pieces in your head. Make those pieces the best you’ve ever played. Jiayou!

Hey Bandits,

Theres veryveryvery little time left. We only have 13 more pracs, 5 of which are sectionals and 8 with conductors. If we were to only look at Eb Suite and Dynamica, that gives us 4 sessions with conductors to make each piece concert standard, and this is assuming that everyone has gotten their notes and rhythm down.

In other words,

Eb Suite: 1 Practice per Movement + 1 practice to refine the whole piece

Dynamica: Divide your score into 3 + 1 practice to refine the whole piece

And this is not even including Silvercrest

Its really a super mad rush so start now!

Hey everyone,

Term 4′s coming which means no band pracs till exams end -cue sad music- Please do try to set aside some time to practice your instrument, don’t lose your hard earned tone when it can be maintained by just practicing your instrument for just around 15 minutes every day (MINIMUM), and make sure you make your practice time EFFICIENT and not just randomly playing pieces. Focus on your sound, your projection,  your embouchure and breathing. Remember to listen to your band songs :D if you need band songs please feel free to ask any of your majors or sec 3 seniors, they should have amassed an extensive collection by now. Yup so please practice your instrus and of course, jiayou for eoys :)

Hey Band(its)!

(For most of you), your band test would have just ended and most of you might be really curious about how much you got or how good/badly you did. If you’re expecting results in this posts, then I’m sorry to disappoint,  results will be released next week :)

As opposed to what most of you might think, the result is NOT the most important part of this band test. You know how much effort you put into practicing for this test and if you managed to improve and confidently say, “in these few weeks while preparing for band test, I’ve improved so much as a player”, then you’re the band(it) that has taken away the most from this experience. Feel the accomplishment of staying back on those non band prac days, playing that scale again and again until it has changed from something impossible to something you know in the back of your. That accomplishment of bringing your instrument home, lugging it all the way back and practicing (you have awesome neighbours if they don’t complain about the volume) and coming back to school with a better tone or faster fingers.

How you view the band test is directly proportional to.. not the results, but how much you take away from the test:

a) I passed but didn’t need to practice at all! Ha I practiced lesser than all of you and still got higher.

b) Yes can’t believe I passed! I thought I’d be dead! Looks like those extra practices were worth it!

c) Grah I failed. But who cares, I improved so much.

Which one are you .

We’re in band not as students, but as musicians making music. If all we can focus on is just the mere marks we get on that piece of paper, all we’d do is just for the sake of those marks. Whats the use? Think about how much you practiced, how you managed to overcome that difficult rhythmic passage, how your ears became more sensitive to pitch after these few days and weeks. If we’re able to shift our focus to how we can better improve our music, with the motivation of the band test to help us achieve that goal, only then will the marks be of use. When the band test is over, its not the marks per se that are important, but the changed mindset that sticks with us.

If you ask me, I’d rather fail and improve loads rather than get 78/100 and not improve at all. So, to those who worked hard, good job guys, it doesn’t matter what mark you got cos you guys worked hard for it. To those who didn’t, I hope you’ll reflect and ask yourself why didn’t you put in the effort.

All the best! :D

JIAYOU

Hey everyone!

For your viewing (more of hearing) pleasure :D The pieces we sight read for fri band prac and another random vid i found on youtube :D

The Cowboys

Lassus Trombone

Lassus Trombone (2)

Can’t find a concert band version of sakura on youtube =X

Date: 20 Aug 2010

Venue: Various rooms @ SALT Centre

Time: 2:30pm – 6:30pm

Tested on:
1) Set Piece [30(20)]
2) Scales & Intervals [30(20)]
3) Sight Reading [30(15)]
4) Instrument Knowledge [10(5)]

Passing Mark: 60/100

Sec 1s:
Set Piece:
Double Bass: Big Fun In The Sun
Tuba: Big Fun In The Sun
Euphonium: Saint Anthony Chorale
Trombone: John Williams Symphonic Soundtracks
Horn: John Williams Symphonic Soundtracks
Trumpet: Hobbits Dance and Hymn
Bassoon: Noahs Ark (Selections)
Saxophone: Hobbits Dance and Hymn
Clarinet: John Williams Symphonic Soundtracks
Bass Clarinet: Big Fun In The Sun
Flute: Mononoke Hime Medley
Percussion: Mr Ramu’s Exercises
Scales & Intervals: Bb, Eb, Ab, F, C

Sec 2s:
Set Piece:
Double Bass: Little Mermaid Medley
Tuba: Little Mermaid Medley
Euphonium: Simple Gifts: Movement 3
Trombone: Virginia
Horn: John Williams Symphonic Soundtrack
Trumpet: Flight: Adventure In The Sky
Bassoon: Noahs Ark (Selections)
Saxophone: Little Mermaid Medley
Clarinet: Little Mermaid Medley
Oboe: John Williams Symphonic Soundtrack
Flute: John Williams Symphonic Soundtrack
Percussion: Mr Ramu’s Exercises
Scales & Intervals: All 12 Major Scales

The set pieces are tentative, and will be confirmed when your SLs pass you your pieces. Meanwhile, work on your tone, tuning, and technical stuff. Please practice hard for the promotion test as it will determine whether or not you get promoted to main band and your opportunities to perform for the concert. The marking will be of a reasonable standard, nothing too impossible or nothing too easy, so please challenge yourself and I hope to see you all improve as musicians over the course of this test :)