I'm Getting Through to Them

Maybe not all of them or even most of them. However, it's enough at this point to make me pretty happy. I know I posted about how don't like when teachers get excited about the good stuff and try to discredit the bad, but here's some good as I sit here after school in an empty band room with a stack of solo/ensemble music on my desk.

Today a 7th grade flutist was outside my office. The girl next to hear said, "practice makes perfect". She responded, "No it doesn't, practice makes permanent." I leaned out and asked her where she heard that and just smiled and said, "You."

On Facebook a former student wrote on my wall about her semester abroad so far. She's been in Spain for two days now. She wrote, "Last night when walking around Madrid, there were a lot of musicians out - a small harp thing, a violin, a flute, and a saxophone in different places. That's my favorite thing about music.. it's found around the world and understood by all languages. :)" Now that I'll use next time a kid asks me why the put forte instead of "loud". I didn't have a huge impact on her musically, but I'm glad she thought enough of me to let me know that music is still in her life.

I spend a lot of time talking about drum corps. I should've marched, I really regret not doing it. My constant references to it has caused a former horn player to try out for the Glassmen. She messaged me to get some advice on slurring since that's what the told her to work on for camp. She's hoping for one of the 7 open spots and I really hope she get one. I'll be glad to cheer on the Glassman as well as the Colts this Summer.

We are working heavily on tuning in MS Band. I know they're starting to get it, but I hope I'm not creating snobs(some of the kids who can really hear the waves make some terribly scrunched faces when other don't fix it). Each day we select a random section to check on how well they have tuned through the process. They are starting to talk about their "intonation" what a great word for some middle schoolers.

Well I must get back to work. Solo and Ensemble music will not pick itself now will it?