The 2012-2013 school year is winding down...can I get a "THANK YOU, JESUS" from anyone? Surely it's just not the kids who feel this relief! I know some parents dread the summer break. I'm not one of them. I'm tired of the robo-calls about delinquent lunch accounts...and if I NEVER receive another "your child did not report for school today" miscall...that will be fine with me! Evidently, the calling program at Y2's school hiccuped and sent out this particular message to several families. The minute I heard that message on the answering machine, my mind started racing..."What was he wearing today? Green M*ppets t-shirt...back shorts, running shoes...oh, yes...his running shoes have red laces and he has a triangle of freckles on his right arm!" I'm tired of being the homework Nazi. I'm tired of reading websites and checking in with the grade tracker program and getting little emails from Y2's teacher about his disruptive behavior. There have been more notes about that in the past few weeks than there have ALL year. ANYWAY....with this year winding down, there's all the pre-registration stuff for next year. Some of it's a pure hassle...in the name of all that is good and kind, the paperwork NEVER ends!!!!!! With Y2 heading to the middle school, come August, he had the choice of band, choir or elective wheel. He chose band. Last week, they had their instrument orientation and it was a lot of fun.
Well, I say it was a lot of fun...I'm not sure Mr. Snark enjoyed the first round. It was one of those divide and conquer moments. I was at the high school with Y1...Lift-A-Thon for the football team. (That's another blog for another time but let me just say this, we were one binki clad girl carrying a number card shy of the whole WWE atmosphere!). Y1's appointment was 7:45-8:10, which should have been PLENTY of time for him to rotate through all of the instruments....expect for the fact that several people who did not have Monday appointments showed up and impeded the process. Had I been the band director, I'd have turned those folks away and told them to come back on Thursday. But I'm mean.
When it was all said and done, Y1 was able to make it to all of the stations but three on Monday. He only scored a 7/10 on percussion, which really broke his heart....and surprised me and Mr. Snark. We just KNEW he was a drummer. But the evaluator didn't think so and in order to be considered for percussion, you have to make no lower than a 9/10. He made a 9 on the clarinet; 10's on tthe trombone, trumpet and French horn. Only a 5/10 on the sax and I think that has to do with the way the reed/mouthpiece come into the mouth. On a sax, it's coming at his mouth at a nearly straight angle. The clarinet is almost a 90 degree angle. I don't know...just my guessing. All that we had to test on Thursday was euphonium, tuba and flute.
Thursday's process was much less chaotic! We went right to the euphonium, as there was no line. He did well...scored a 10. He made a 9 on the flute but wasn't really interested in that. He said it felt "girly." Moving on! The tuba was his last. He's not quite tall enough to reach the mouth piece with the tuba in the upright position, so the evaluator had to lay it on its side. Y1 had no trouble when he was asked to "play" it. He got plenty of air in and it sang a very pretty note. He could push enough air through to fiddle with the valves. Then, the evaluator asked him to see if he could make the tuba sing a low note...he'd have to relax his jaw and lips to do it. By, cracky if he didn't do just that! I was surprised and so was the evaluator. He stopped Y2 and asked him to do it again...this time, he didn't hit a higher note before finding the low one...he went straight to the low note. Mr. Evaluator, got VERY excited! He spun around and said, "Ma'am, your son is a tuba player! Most 11 year olds can't find THAT low note." He made his comments on Y2's sheet and off we went.
When we handed the completed paper to Lady Band Director, she was very excited to read the tuba evaluation. "GREAT! Hit low B-flat with no trouble!" LBD informed us that is the "money note." Who knew? He's leaning toward euphonium or trombone. I'm excited for him. I would have LOVED to have played an instrument. My 5th-grade teacher took it upon herself to make the choice for me. She didn't send home the information about band with me because she (thought she)knew how poor we were and that we'd not be able to pay for an instrument. By the time we figured all that out, it was too late. I took art...and I liked it, but I would have LOVED being in the band.
Gotta love that low brass....without it, there would never be any good music for the bad guys. No offense to the high woodwinds, but those low notes from the cellar are the ones that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Well, I say it was a lot of fun...I'm not sure Mr. Snark enjoyed the first round. It was one of those divide and conquer moments. I was at the high school with Y1...Lift-A-Thon for the football team. (That's another blog for another time but let me just say this, we were one binki clad girl carrying a number card shy of the whole WWE atmosphere!). Y1's appointment was 7:45-8:10, which should have been PLENTY of time for him to rotate through all of the instruments....expect for the fact that several people who did not have Monday appointments showed up and impeded the process. Had I been the band director, I'd have turned those folks away and told them to come back on Thursday. But I'm mean.
When it was all said and done, Y1 was able to make it to all of the stations but three on Monday. He only scored a 7/10 on percussion, which really broke his heart....and surprised me and Mr. Snark. We just KNEW he was a drummer. But the evaluator didn't think so and in order to be considered for percussion, you have to make no lower than a 9/10. He made a 9 on the clarinet; 10's on tthe trombone, trumpet and French horn. Only a 5/10 on the sax and I think that has to do with the way the reed/mouthpiece come into the mouth. On a sax, it's coming at his mouth at a nearly straight angle. The clarinet is almost a 90 degree angle. I don't know...just my guessing. All that we had to test on Thursday was euphonium, tuba and flute.
Thursday's process was much less chaotic! We went right to the euphonium, as there was no line. He did well...scored a 10. He made a 9 on the flute but wasn't really interested in that. He said it felt "girly." Moving on! The tuba was his last. He's not quite tall enough to reach the mouth piece with the tuba in the upright position, so the evaluator had to lay it on its side. Y1 had no trouble when he was asked to "play" it. He got plenty of air in and it sang a very pretty note. He could push enough air through to fiddle with the valves. Then, the evaluator asked him to see if he could make the tuba sing a low note...he'd have to relax his jaw and lips to do it. By, cracky if he didn't do just that! I was surprised and so was the evaluator. He stopped Y2 and asked him to do it again...this time, he didn't hit a higher note before finding the low one...he went straight to the low note. Mr. Evaluator, got VERY excited! He spun around and said, "Ma'am, your son is a tuba player! Most 11 year olds can't find THAT low note." He made his comments on Y2's sheet and off we went.
When we handed the completed paper to Lady Band Director, she was very excited to read the tuba evaluation. "GREAT! Hit low B-flat with no trouble!" LBD informed us that is the "money note." Who knew? He's leaning toward euphonium or trombone. I'm excited for him. I would have LOVED to have played an instrument. My 5th-grade teacher took it upon herself to make the choice for me. She didn't send home the information about band with me because she (thought she)knew how poor we were and that we'd not be able to pay for an instrument. By the time we figured all that out, it was too late. I took art...and I liked it, but I would have LOVED being in the band.
Gotta love that low brass....without it, there would never be any good music for the bad guys. No offense to the high woodwinds, but those low notes from the cellar are the ones that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Another tuba player??? Go for it, Y2. It's a college scholarship in your pocket, we hear...we pray...and yes...homeschoolers included in the big AMEN that school is DONE!!!!
ReplyDelete