Congratulations October Challenge Winner!

Congratulations to October Challenge winner, Allyson Hamilton from piano/keyboarding class for winning the October Challenge.  The competition included naming as many notes as possible in a 2 minute period on a grand staff.  To see how well you might do, try it yourself.  Click here.  Allyson won a small bag of candy and chose the candy corn.  Watch for a November challenge coming in a couple of weeks.  This challenge will last through November and will be awarded a small cash prize.

Parent Teacher Conferences

It's Fall parent teacher conference time again... There is a huge correlation between success of students in school and the amount of interest that a parent takes in his students school related activities.  I usually have a fair number of parents who seek me out to talk about the progress of their child in band. I am also available to meet with parents at other events throughout the year aside from Parent/Teacher Conferences, and your attendance at concerts (if your paying attention) can tell you alot about the progress your kids are making in band class.  That being said, I always enjoy sharing about the band program and other classes that I have the opportunity to teach with anyone who will listen. But most importantly, we can talk about the specific behavioral and/or musical challenges your student may be having in my classes.

In this time in history there are more ways to "stay in touch" with your kids progress than ever, but nothing is more effective than face to face contact!  This is the opportunity we have before us next week.  Parents and Students welcome.

The following times have been set aside at Southern Wells Schools for parents to meet with their child's teachers.  Please take advantage of this opportunity or call the school for a specific appointment with Mr. Haigh

TUESDAY, OCT 22nd  from 3:15 - 7 pm in the Raiderdome

WEDNESDAY, OCT 23rd  from 8 am - 12 pm in Classrooms

The Ultimate Patriotic Sing-Along

Here is a high school band performance of the piece handed out to the high school band on Monday...  Video quality is very poor for the most part, but the audo is fine.

2013 Band Fundraiser

8 Items ORDERED before I see you on Friday!  I will put your name on a list and send it to TODD.  If you are not in school on Friday, please snap a picture of your order form for confirmation of your eight items!  Quick Start Prize items are pictured below.

Music Challenge

MUSIC CHALLENGE for OCTOBER

I am challenging anyone in Mr. Haigh's music classes to compete in a note naming contest.  Please visit a link to MusicTheory.net and submit a challenge.  How many notes can you correctly name in 2 minutes?  The winner will receive a prize at the end of next week.  Below is an illustration of how to submit a challenge.

STEP 2: Progress Report

STEP 3:  Enter Name

This made me chuckle...

My musician friend Ralph Tuttle posted this on his facebook wall and it made me laugh.  I also thought it fit the time well as we grow our repertoire for the many athletic events that we will be playing, so I thought that I would share it with you...

Now, as I reflect on this past week, a few things come to mind...

The piano class continues to work hard on improving their skills on the piano and finding new resources and pieces to play online.  Continue to stay focused as we head into the recital next Tuesday during class.  I will be publishing the recital schedule for the second nine weeks soon, so you can plan your work.  Pace yourselves to have pieces prepared by the time the recital date arrives.  Have easier pieces and harder pieces that you are working on for variety as well as continuing to work through skills taught in the binders.

Junior High Band needs to continue to work on good rehearsal practices and self discipline.  Use the time at the beginning of class upon your arrival to be productive by getting your instrument ready to play and practicing at a reasonable volume level, so as not to annoy others... especially if you are a drummer.  Be sure to check out ClassDojo.com and customize your avatar!  If you didn't get login information from me on Friday, then email me and I can get it to you.

High School Band is improving in your rehearsal practices during class.  Your repertoire is growing at a nice pace, so we should be ready for basketball season when that gets here.  There is a lot of time to fill with tunes, so we need to keep diligent in growing the selections that we can choose from. Continue to encourage one another and remember to prioritize your calendar so that we can represent ourselves well at athletic events!  I would like to do some playing between plays of the 2nd quarter for our last home football game.  We will work out some of these details next week during class.