Band Notes - Week of February 16

General information that applies to all students and parents can be found towards the top of every newsletter, while information specific to your child's ensemble can be found in that particular section by scrolling all the way down.

Feel free to contact a director if you have any questions and our contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter. Thanks for reading!

Please click here to see all of the Band Events for this new school year in order to plan your family's activities. Remember, performances are a required part of our curriculum, so please contact a director ASAP for any conflicts.

Click on this link to sign up to become a district volunteer and complete the background check. Even if you have done this before, this process must be repeated every school year: Parent Chaperone Sign-Up. Please sign up for volunteer opportunities on your CutTime MagicLink.

We want to interact with you on social media, so be sure to Like, Follow, and Subscribe on all of the following platforms you use:

• YouTube Channel
• Parent Square Group
• Facebook Page
• Instagram Account
• Band Website
• Google Photos Album
• SoundCloud Channel
• Smore Newsletters

In the Belton MS Band, we form a partnership between teacher and student where both share responsibility in their musical development. Our team of teachers include middle school directors, private lesson instructors, high school directors, and even hired clinicians, masterclass teachers, and adjudicators. We also strive to communicate and produce strong partnerships with parents since their support is vital in their student's growth.

To that end, we as the teaching team provide Introduction, Comprehension, and Demonstration to students for their instruction. However, each student has a responsibility as well to facilitate Repetition in the form of practicing daily for at least 25 minutes, 5 days per week.

This means that instruments go home everyday to practice the concepts, patterns, and music that we go over daily in class. This leads to student Mastery of their music and ultimately of their instrument. Students have homework everyday in Band as they practice their instrument in preparation for performances and to continue their musical growth. Reach out to a director if you would like more information on how to better help and support the musical growth of your student.

Students should take their instruments home daily and we expect them to practice 5 days a week for at least 25 minutes. Students may also practice before school in the Band Hall starting at 7:30am every school day.

Parents, we implore you to help set up a consistent practice routine at home for your student. Students will not improve their musical skills on their instrument without practice outside of regular class time. The directors, we will teach your student what and how to practice, but we need your help in establishing when and how much they practice. The more they practice, the better they will get faster. Please review the How To Practice and Weekly XP Chart attachment below:

Click here to see the Calendar page of our website to find all of the current events, including special rehearsals, contests, and performances for the whole school year. We provide this so you can plan your family's activities. Remember, performances are a required part of our curriculum, so please contact a director ASAP for any conflicts. Be sure to view the List of Band Events that can be found clicking on the link.

It's time for this year's Solo Contest on Saturday. Students will need to arrive 10 minutes before their scheduled performance time in order to warm up in the Cafeteria (winds) or the Band Hall (percussion). Students will wear their band uniform and be judged by a professional musician and scored based on musical and technical standards. Please review both the information page and schedule below:

Students will need to take their instrument home after school this Thursday in order to bring it to the Belton HS Band Hall. Students should wear their formal band uniform and leave their case inside a parent vehicle. Please review the information sheet attached below:

We are looking for Symphonic Band students and parents to help run our Beginner Solo Contest on Saturday, February 21 at BMS. Volunteers will help judges, monitor rooms, run forms to the directors, and keep the performance times on schedule. This is a great opportunity for those students who need service hours through AVID and/or NJHS. Sign ups are in 2-hour time slots and please use this form to sign up: https://bit.ly/solocontesthelper. Thanks in advance!

Sectionals will occur until Thursday, March 5 one day after school per week from 4:00-5:00pm. All students in Symphonic Band are required to attend their sectional once per week for a weekly grade in preparation for our UIL Concert & Sightreading Evaluation in early March. Students should be picked up in the parent drop-off loop by the Cafeteria by 5pm.

Mondays

• Percussion in Band Hall with Smith

Tuesdays

• Brass (trumpets, horns, trombones, euphoniums, & tubas) in Ensemble Room with Trahan

Wednesdays

• None

Thursdays

• Woodwinds (flutes, clarinets & bass clarinet, & all saxophones) in Ensemble Room with Trahan

Students are expected to "Be Punctual" and arrive seated with all materials and ready to rehearse at 4pm sharp or their grade will be affected. Students 1-5 minutes late will have their sectional grade reduced to an 85. Students who are late 5-15 minutes will have their grade reduced to a 70. Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will receive a 50.

Students will need to take their instrument home after school this Thursday in order to bring it to the Belton HS Band Hall. Students should wear their formal band uniform and leave their case inside a parent vehicle. Please review the information sheet attached below:

We are looking for Wind Ensemble students and parents to help run our Beginner Solo Contest on Saturday, February 21 at BMS. Volunteers will help judges, monitor rooms, run forms to the directors, and keep the performance times on schedule. This is a great opportunity for those students who need service hours through AVID and/or NJHS. Sign ups are in 2-hour time slots and please use this form to sign up: https://bit.ly/solocontesthelper. Thanks in advance!

Sectionals will occur until Thursday, March 5 one day after school per week from 4:00-5:00pm. All students in Wind Ensemble are required to attend their sectional once per week for a weekly grade in preparation for our UIL Concert & Sightreading Evaluation in early March. Students should be picked up in the parent drop-off loop by the Cafeteria by 5pm.

Mondays

• Percussion in Band Hall with Smith
• Woodwinds (flutes, bassoon, clarinets & bass clarinet, & all saxophones) in Ensemble Room with Pulley

Tuesdays

• Brass (trumpets, horns, trombones, euphoniums, & tubas) in Band Hall with Pulley

Wednesdays

• None

Thursdays

• None

Students are expected to "Be Punctual" and arrive seated with all materials and ready to rehearse at 4pm sharp or their grade will be affected. Students 1-5 minutes late will have their sectional grade reduced to an 85. Students who are late 5-15 minutes will have their grade reduced to a 70. Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will receive a 50.

Over 200 middle school band students from all across Central Texas competed in the TMEA All-Region Jazz Auditions. Only 42 were selected from a blind judging process and are considered the top jazz musicians in the area. Belton ISD placed a total of 17 students in the All-Region Jazz Band, which is over 40% of both jazz ensembles from area schools, and the most from any school district!

Belton MS had 6 students make this prestigious ensemble and we want to recognize these superior musicians:

• Nicolas Dieter placed 7th out of 40 trumpets, earning 2nd Chair in Jazz Ensemble 2
• Ethan Velez placed 9th in the trumpets, earning 4th Chair in Jazz Ensemble 2. He is also an All-Region Concert Band member
• Liam Henderson placed 3rd out of 52 trombones, earning 3rd Chair in Jazz Ensemble 1. He is also an All-Region Concert Band member
• Preston Kirkpatrick placed 2nd out of 10 drummers, earning 2nd Chair in Jazz Ensemble 1
• William Phipps placed 3rd in the drum section, earning 1st Chair in Jazz Ensemble 2. He is also an All-Region Concert Band member
• Jadyn Jones placed 1st in the vibraphone section, earning 1st Chair in Jazz Ensemble 1 for the second year in a row. She is a 2-Year All-Region Jazz Band Member AND an All-Region Concert Band Member

As an honorable mention, Ava Smith placed 12th out of 40 trumpets, and serves as the 2nd Alternate. She is also an All-Region Concert Band Member.

Email: beltonmsband@gmail.com

Website: beltonmsband.org
Call/Text: 254-262-3050

Address: 1704 Sparta Road, Belton, TX, USA

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