A Return to Foundation Work & Progressive Studies

Pictured: FAC Trombonist Eric Schneider

Have you heard your Fine Arts Center instrumental students practicing hard this weekend? Well, they SHOULD be as they enter the five-week "Foundation Work & Progressive Studies" unit.

Following the completion of the All-County Band Festival, brass and percussion students at the Fine Arts Center began their return to basic studies on their respective instruments. Actually, though this unit formally ends the week of March 20th, steady, progressive study of technique, literature, and reading will continue the end of the year. Along the way we will have several Artist-in-Education guest artists (see elsewhere in this web log), will prepare for our May 10th recital and for the May 12th Spring Showcase.

Currently, FAC brass students will return to intensive rhythmic studies from their class anthology. Additionally, they will study several solo or pedagogical works (hopefully one each week), return to routine work on scales and arpeggios, sight reading, and work on jazz tunes from the Abersold "Maiden Voyage" anthology. Parents should expect to hear nightly practice (minimum 30 minutes) and students should expect to perform a playing check quiz each Friday.

Percussion students are also engaging in a wide range of study. Percussion I students Eli Ackermann and Rebecca Schilizzi will complete the Garwood Whaley elementary snare drum book and are beginning rudimental snare drum studies from Charlie Wilcoxon's "All-American Drummer" anthology. They will continue jazz drumming studies in the Ted Reed "Syncopation" book and rock coordination in Pickering's "Drummers Cookbook." (I strongly recommend that my students own each of these important percussion texts.)

Percussion II students Masin Decker, Josh Caprell, and Ben Tomlinson join Rebecca and Eli on these drum set studies. Additionally, Masin, Josh, Ben, Justin Pasquale and Nathan Wells will take time during class to begin or continue their study of marimba, working out of the George Hamilton Green "New Elementary Studies" book, learning the twelve chromatic major scales, and learning selected solo works. Percussion II students will prepare a weekly solo from Cirone's "Portraits in Rhythm" and one or two rudimental solos from Wilcoxon's "All-American Drummer." Finally, these students will begin or continue work on tympani.

Percussion II student Adam Maalouf (pictured here at the All-County Band Festival) is undertaking an extensive study of two-mallet marimba technique and beginning tympani. Drum set work will center on Brazilian rhythms, especially following the March 6-8 guest artist appearance by drummer Jeff Holland (more on this visit in next week's post.) Percussion III students Nathan Wells and Justin Pasquale are preparing advanced snare drum etudes from Fred Albright's "Contemporary Studies for the Snare Drum" and John Pratt's "14 Modern Contest Solos." (I strongly recommend their owning these books.) Both Nathan and Justin will continue work on tympani and drum set. (Nathan will join Adam Maalouf 's study of Brazilian rhythms, while Justin will return to jazz studies in John Riley's "The Art of Bop Drumming.")

Students should be logging in a great deal of practice time at home and should expect to perform a playing check quiz each Friday.