Dr. Gerald Poe Clinics the

Eastside High School Concert Band

This morning, Dr. Gerald Poe came to zero period and gave a clinic to the band. Dr. Poe is an extremely experienced band director and an FBA judge. He has been a band director in the area for many years, and has held the position of band director at Hawthorne High School and the University of Florida, among many other places.

We began rehearsal by warming up and by playing the march for Dr. Poe. We have been working on playing with dynamic contrast and with accuracy and cleanliness of articulations.

After playing, Dr. Poe talked to the band at length about the importance of FBA Music Performance Assessment. He pointed out that the FBA started assessing student performance in a standardized way about fifty years before the birth of the FCAT. He also made clear that while FCAT is an individual assessment, the MPA is a group grade, meaning that everyone in the band is dependent on everyone else to succeed.

Dr. Poe spent several minutes with the trumpets, trombones, and baritones on the first few minutes of the march. He coached them to play with more confidence, then drilled them on the section. He was insistent that the first few measures be perfect, and the group was playing it unacceptably about five out of six times. He encouraged them to continue working on it until it was right six out of six times.

Its an old band director saw that says "The judges will make their decision about you in the first ten seconds of your performance." For this reason, the first couple measures of the march are vital to making a good first impression. We're going to continue working on the introduction every day until it is near perfect.

Its always wonderful for the band to get a chance to be rehearsed by someone other than their usual band director, and especially beneficial to have someone of Dr. Poe's stature in to help. He came away impressed by the amount of work we've done so far this year, and optimistic about our chances for March 6th.

Martin Luther King on Autotune

This is Youtube is full of cool.  The "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the great utterances in American History.  Martin Luther King was an amazing inspiration for everyone in our country, and played a vital role in helping us recognize the inherent beauty in our American diversity.

I was very skeptical about this before I hit play, but its awesomely worth the watch.

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Howard Bishop Director Amy Beres to Clinic Concert Band

On Friday morning, the Band Director from Howard Bishop Middle School will be helping with the EHS Concert Band rehearsal.  She will be the first of several clinicians who will be "lending an ear" to the concert band and offering constructive advice.

At Music Performance Assessments (coming March 6th,) judges will grade the performance of the concert band against a rigorous standard.  The expectation for performance is high, and there lots of musical elements that have to be played just right to do well.  Having a professional clinician visit rehearsal is a great opportunity for the band to chase perfection on some of the elements that we're not yet doing as well as we would like.

Often, because of the focus that we give to the details in class, sometimes our ears become inured to mistakes that we should be correcting.  Having Ms. Beres in the rehearsal as an extra set of ears will help us hear things that we may not otherwise hear.  Its the same as not being able to see the forest because of all the trees.

[The following is ripped from the Howard Bishop Band Website.]

Ms. Amy Beres is in her twelfth year as a Band Director in the Alachua County School System.  A native of Miami, Florida, Ms. Beres is a graduate of the Florida State University where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Music Education.  Before joining the Howard Bishop Band Family, Ms. Beres was the Director of Bands at Mebane Middle School in Alachua.  Bands under Ms. Beres' direction have consistently received Superior and Excellent ratings at the district level and have traveled several times to National Music Competitions in Atlanta, Georgia where they received Superior ratings.  Ms. Beres began her career at Mebane Middle School where she was responsible for all aspects of the band program in addition to teaching General Music classes.  Ms. Beres is a candidate for certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

Ball Droppings Percussion Sandbox

Here's a fun game for you to try out.  There's no quests, bad guys, or winning, but you can make some really cool sounds with it.  Its couldn't be simpler.   Balls drop out of a hole in the screen, and you draw lines for them to bounce off.  Every time a ball hits a line, it plays a pitch.  So far, I think I've figured out that the faster the ball is traveling, the higher the pitch created.  Its fun to make the balls bounce off of the lines and to see what kind of sounds you can make.

I like making the balls bounce in tight spaces and having them make a bunch of notes in a  row.  Its also fun to see how many times I can make a ball bounce before it goes off the screen.  There are only a few adjustable options, but the game in its essence is a hoot.  Check it out!

Ball Droppings

Concert MPA Date Set

The date for the most important performance of the year is set. The Eastside Ram Band's Music Performance Assessment is Saturday, March 6th. It will be on the Taj Mahal of school stages, the PK Yonge auditorium stage.

This is a great opportunity for us to announce to the district that Eastside Band is serious about making good music. Please circle this date on your calendars. We really can't have conflicts on this date, so please plan around our most important date of the year.

See you there!