Beginner Band
Rick Brockway, Maria Robichaud, and Keith Raney, Directors
Calendar/Event Information
Syllabus

We are off to a great start! At this point, all of our beginners should be practicing regularly. You can help your child succeed in a few ways:

1. Set up a consistent practice place and time
2. Help your child use this time efficiently by eliminating distractions
3. Ask your child what they're working on. They should be able to give a specific answer.

We like to say to the children: Practice doesn’t make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. Much like working math problems incorrectly doesn’t help us do math well, practicing incorrectly will not help us to perform our instrument well. Practice should be careful, thoughtful, and purposeful, as opposed to making random noise while looking at a clock.

Keeping a journal of practice sessions can help with maintaining a goal-oriented approach. Students might write down the things that they’re working on, things that they need to work on and problems that they’re having. While we require that they use a practice card to record which days they spend time practicing, some kids have expressed interest in going above and beyond and keeping an actual journal and we certainly support that.

Once the week is complete, your child should fill in the number of days that they practiced and obtain your signature. This is the most practical way that we know of to keep them honest about the amount of time that they’ve spent practicing. Every Monday, practice cards are turned in before class starts to the front of the room. After they are graded, they’ll be returned to the student during class.

As always, e-mail your child’s band teacher if you have any questions about how they are doing or what they should be working on.