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Discussion |
Parents
Parents1. What can you do to help your beginning band student succeed? Lots of encouragement would help a lot, along with finding time for practice on the lesson assignments. Individual practice is the most influential factor in determining how fast the student will progress through the lesson book. Some parents choose to have their beginners teach them how to play the instrument. Obtaining private lessons outside of the school is also very helpful in promoting progress. If you are interested, contact the local music stores for their suggestions on teachers. 2. Progress through the lesson book is the factor that I use most in determining how much success my students are having in playing band instruments. During our weekly lessons, we try to pass as many exercises as possible. Sometimes this is difficult during a 15-minute lesson, especially when there are one or two other students in the lesson, but we do our best anyway. The assignment for the week is usually posted in the lesson book. I enter the date of the next lesson at the beginning of the assignment, and students are encouraged to prepare approximately one page in the book each week. This is easy for most students, and they should try to prepare further in the book if possible. 3. Progress Incentives: In each of my school buildings, I have three methods of encouraging progress through the lesson book. First, the Overall Progress sheet lists the top three finishers in the entire book; and second, the Weekly Progress sheet lists the top three students who finished the most exercises that week. Finally, there are clubs that the students enter as they progress past certain benchmarks in the lesson book. As they enter a club, they will sign the respective sheet in their school band area, and they will receive a small certificate indicating their membership in the club. I encourage the students to show the certificate to their classroom music teacher, then take it home to display on the refrigerator (or elsewhere). The clubs are: The Quarter Club (for progress past exercise #25 in the book) The L Club (progress past #50) The Semisesqui Club (progress past #75) The Century Club (progress past #100) Students who finish the lesson book in their first year are entered into the Wall of Fame. At this level, a certificate that is signed by the director and the principal is permanently displayed in the Band area of each school. 4. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, concerns, or restaurant recommendations at: dave.hamburg@risd41.org |
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