Happy New Year

I wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to working with you in 2008!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have a great holiday! Relax, enjoy your families, practice a little (you know I HAD to include that!) and check back later on for new, updated blog posts, polls, etc!

New Beginnings

So it was the day after the concert. In most schools, it would probably be a "day off." Not so for Madelia Concert Bands! Due to a change in our large group performance date we effectively lose 4 weeks of rehearsal - so time to dive in! I passed out music for the next concert (see practice links) and listened to the pieces. There was some excitement and a little apprehension. Let's not kid ourselves - some of this stuff is hard! Thats what makes us the bands we are. So...here's to "new beginnings!" (also the magic phrase.)

The Madelia Concert Band

The Madelia Junior High Concert Band

Job Well Done

Tonight was the Instrumental Music Concert "Evening With the Masters." All band members did an excellent job of concentrating on the music, focusing on what was happening on stage instead of other things. As a result, some things musically speaking were better than ever before! Bravo! the picture shows the mass 7-12 band on stage leading the audience in the concert-closing sing along.

Scaling New Heights!

Last week was a milestone for the Junior High Concert Band - they finished the 12th Major Scale! Each week we learned one scale and called it the "scale of the week." They have done such a great job on these - usually it takes much longer for the band to achieve this - way to go!!!

Community Spirit

Our community held its annual holiday kick-off celebration tonight, known as "Razzle Dazzle." As part of the experience, we provided strolling musicians for the Chamber of Commerce. Students rehearsed themselves and then strolled up and down Main Street playing in front and inside businesses. They sounded great! The surprise group of the day was the Razzle Dazzle Drum Corp; a group of junior high percussionists who moved up and down the street playing "Jingle Bells" and "Good King Wencelas." I really appreciate students who give of their time to help the community and help the Department of Music! They will be rewarded with band bucks for their efforts. The phrase is "razzle dazzle."

Seeking Excellence

Tuesday was the start of the second quarter. It seems hard to believe. I began each rehearsal by telling the band members it was one of my favorite days as everyone was an "A" student today! I also implored them to "seek opportunities for excellence" in everything that they do - musical and non-musical.

Each moment of rehearsal is important. Focus is essential to productivity. I told the students that I was re-evaluating my organization because I was feeling a little "scattered" in my prep work. When I am inefficient I am not the best instructor I can be. I am not serving my students like I should. I am trying to get them to understand the importance of everything we do - every note, every nuance. We have improved our tuning process and are instituting a new "individual warm-up" activity at the beginning of each rehearsal. My goal: to get the members focused, warmed up, and reacquainted with the music for that rehearsal. So far, so good. My rehearsal technique will also start to vary as I hone in on spots that have not received enough individual attention.

In the end, opportunities for excellence exist daily in our lives. We can either choose to seek them and grow, or ignore them and plateau. The word is "excellence".

On the Road

Today we are on the road from Minnesota State University-Mankato where these five Madelia Concert Band members are participating in the 11th and 12th grade Honor Band Festival. From left: Allison (trumpet), Luis (percussion), Jena (flute), Dan (alto saxophone), and Jessica (flute). Dan is in the honor jazz ensemble and everyone else is in the honor band. Both groups sound fantastic so far! We have a concert at 3:30 p.m. today.

Busy Times

It is going to be a busy, exhausting week. This is one of those times when everything seems to "hit" at once. I just returned from an impressive Concert Wind Ensemble concert at MSU-Mankato. They did a really excellent job. It is always fun to hear pieces that you have performed or directed done by someone else - way less stress that way! Among the pieces performed were Festive Overture and O Magnum Mysterium, both pieces I have directed with MCB. I could almost see the director's score in my mind...Monday will be the Fall Choral Concert / Mankato Symphony rehearsal and Tuesday another concert at MSU-Mankato. Friday I will be at MSU with students for honor band and Sunday afternoon I will attend the Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra concert and proceed to Gustavus for the start of the honor band festival there. I almost forgot - the quarter is done this week as well!

A reminder to all band students - all first quarter work (lessons, logs, journals, etc.) must be completed and turned in by 4:00 on Thursday! In the words of a popular American (and also the secret phrase) "Git-R-Done!"

Challenges

I feel like posting this sign in the hallway leading up to the instrumental rehearsal room. Seriously. After five days without rehearsals I have confirmed that many of our members need to sharpen their retention skills! Yesterday it took 30 of the 42 minutes of the MCB rehearsal to get the group to sound like "my group." It is amazing the lack of focus a five-day break can create. Today the groups were much more "with me" but in MCB we were missing a large contingent of members due to two school functions. This will be the case the remainder of the week. It is my goal to get the students to realize that even though we are missing people, we must forge ahead. Progress must be made. If the people around you are gone - then it is YOUR turn to lead! Be a leader - assume the position - try it, you may grow into a natural leader!

We are fortunate to have many strong leaders in the bands. What most people (including the vast majority of the band members) don't realize is that so many of the students have the potential to be amazing musicians and leaders! Believe in yourself like I believe in you and just see what we will accomplish! The word is "lead."

Enjoy the weekend!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Thanks for stopping by to check up on the members of the Madelia Concert Bands. While you are here, please take time to answer our current poll question "Who visits Madelia Concert Bands?" so we can find out who is visiting our blog! Band members - there are polls for each band as well. Please share your thoughts! The phrase today is "rain, rain, go away!"

Band Students: On the left side of the blog page I added a section called "Repertoire Practice Links" as a reference source for you when you practice. Although our tempos might be different, these recordings will be a valuable addition to your practicing!

Hard at work

The Junior High Concert Band hard at work! Even though it has been a short week, we are making the most of our rehearsal time. The students have even begun an individual composition process.

Short Week?

We are gearing up for a "short week" of school due to the Minnesota Education Association Convention. While most people put their focus on how quickly we can get to vacation, I put my focus on how much we need to accomplish in our three days! It is the beginning of MAD Jazz and JazzHAWKS this week, and we play for games two of the three nights. I do not attend the conference in the cities. I would rather take my time and resources ($) to attend the Minnesota Music Educator's Association Mid-Winter Conference in February instead. Everything there applies directly to what I do on a daily basis. In case your thinking "Eichhorst gets a long weekend," let me assure you that I have school-related projects lined for those "conference days."

Before I forget - we had an excellent rehearsal on Friday in MCB. We made huge project on the Bach Arioso that we are preparing, and while we did that the flute ensemble and percussion ensemble met in sectional in other parts of the music area. What an efficient use of time!

Back to this week: the Junior High Concert Band members will start working on their 4th piece tomorrow. It is called Ancient Voices and they already love it after just hearing it once. They also will begin composing this week! I have developed exercises where they will write melodies for the entire band to play. If it works out, we will branch on to melody/accompaniment exercises.

MCB must do MASSIVE work on the Vaughan Williams and Brahms. We have spent a little more time than I would have liked to learn new and review old pepband music. I hope we have a great week! The phrase is "short week, but lots of work!"

Random Thoughts II

*The Junior High Concert Band is having a great week. The past two rehearsals have been outstanding. The band has been playing with great musicality, so much so that I am able to direct things the way "I really want to" instead of directing every little entrance and rhythm - what a treat! Their rehearsal etiquette has steadily improved this week as well - way to go, band!
*Wednesday was the kick-off for our annual food fundraiser. "Pizza Pete" was in the house to get everyone ready to sell. The smell of pizza carried down both floors of the building! I have already had students come in and request additional order forms. Tomorrow I'm starting a series of "commercials" that will be read during the daily announcements. Hopefully this will increase sales!
*It's hard to believe, but the end of the quarter is starting to sneak up on us. Students need to monitor their progress and take care of all required work. MCB students need to complete the Qtr. 1 outcomes and get those practice logs checked off!
*Another great sport-band performance tonight. The students are really playing with confidence so far this year - and the best part - I am having some fun during the performance as well! That means that I can enjoy what they are doing instead of worrying about HOW they are playing - excellent job.
*The word to use is "sport-band."

Finding our groove

Today was a pretty good day. Both bands accomplished a lot during their respective rehearsals. Jr. high is already steaming along on our quest to learn all 12 major scales. This week it is F Major. The next issue to focus on is air stream / air flow. We need to move more (and faster) air through the instruments to make the notes speak clearer and better. I'm sure they will get there - maybe tomorrow will be the day!

MCB had a fast paced rehearsal. We started by working with the first movement of the Vaughan Williams and then I stopped and broke them into sectionals. I occasionally use mini-sectionals to focus on a small section of the music. My purpose today was two-fold; work on the music while using the time to speak with the flute and percussion sections in the hall. We will have a flute choir doing the "Ukrainian Bell Carol" at the December concert. This will sound great performed by flutes. The percussion section will be working on "Yuletide Celebration", a medley that incorporates three different carols. We "talked our way through the pieces" in the hallway while the rest of the band was working the Vaughan Williams in the band room.

Following the sectionals we continued working the sections. The low brass was pretty pumped up about their progress, so much so that they completely covered every other part! Whoa - easy there!

It is so great when the band comes together enough to be "split apart!" It's nice knowing that I can trust them to work on the assigned material while I can work with other groups - great job, band!

"And the Band Played On..."

Friday was a very interesting day. I arrived at school with the intent of preparing for one of the busiest days of the year for us - the Friday of Homecoming Week. So many little details to attend to with parade preparations, pepfest and game preps as well. All of this must be accomplished on an "early out" schedule which means that my rehearsal time is extremely short.

Upon arrival, I discovered that some of the students had decided to "decorate" the front of the school and went a little "overboard." Those involved will know what I am talking about - I will spare the rest of our readers the details. To make a long story short - this was the second time during the week that the students had decorated...and after the first time they were given a stern warning that if anything else happened, events would come to a halt. Well, they did. The activity for the day, the popular talent show, the parade and the pepfest was canceled. To make matters worse (at least from a student perspective) we went back to a full school day.

So we basically had a day of raw emotion on behalf of the students. We had upset students, grouchy adults, and a band director who knew that we still had a performance to prepare for! I will honestly say, that I was concerned that the rehearsal might not happen, given the amount of rumors flying around about mass student protests, or walk outs. I had to come up with a strategy.

I had a full list of every song we needed to play for the game on the board when the students came in. I told them that I knew they were upset and frustrated, and I wanted them to channel that frustration and put that energy through their horns. Wow! They played and played and played....by song nine I could tell they were either calming down or were just getting tired, as the volume started to return to normal. At the end of the rehearsal I told them that there were two types of people - those who make a bad situation worse, and those who work to make a positive change - and I was proud to be standing in front of a group of the latter! I was thrilled that we were able to have a functional rehearsal. They continued by showing up (more rumors of a mass football game boycott!) and give great performances for pre-game and half-time of the football game. The Madelia Concert Band is made up of terrific young adults! The secret word to reply with is "pride."

I wish all students would learn to manage their time better. Don't get me wrong, some of the students are very diligent about deadlines and the amount of individual time needed to properly prepare musical assignments for those deadlines, but others, not so much! We have our first eligibility date of the school year tomorrow. As you can imagine, the band room has been a very popular destination for students. I guess some students are creatures of habit, meaning they wait until the very last minute to make up that lesson or practice log. Now I know I should be happy that they have finally done the work, but when they try to cram in a make up lesson I do not get to devote quality instruction time to them! I hope in the future they plan their schedule a little better!

I am trying to get band students to visit the blog more often - to that end I am going to provide incentives for them for visiting the blog! If you are a student, include the following word in a comment after this post! The word to use is "melody."

It will be a busy week for us - Homecoming always is! Here's to great performances this week!

"My Bands"

Today was a great day for us. Both the Junior High Concert Band and the Madelia Concert Band have had two great rehearsals in a row. The JHCB has made great strides the past two days on "Regal Fanfare" and today we also watched a portion of an instructional DVD on proper breath technique which we tried and will continue to experiment with tomorrow. The work ethic has steadily increased this week for them!

MCB had that magical moment today while practicing music for coronation next Monday. They finished the processional and I stopped and said,"Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time this school year I finally felt like you were MY Madelia Concert Band - congratulations!" I felt like they were finally "with me," responding to tiny inflections I was using with my conducting pattern, and performing "above the notes" with extreme emotion. They continued this tonight with an outstanding pepband performance!

Homecoming Spirit?

At MHS we are busy preparing for arguably the most important week of the fall term: Homecoming. Music groups play a large role in the celebrations, from coronation, to pepfests, to parades and pepband performances. While this is a time for celebration, students must remember that these celebrations should enhance not dominate the learning environment. We are already feeling the effects of homecoming - the concentration level is starting to decline! I hope that students remember that next Monday is not only coronation but also the first eligibility period, so attention must be given to assignments and work ethic in all classes!

I made the decision today to not have Coronation Jazz play this year. Instead, the entire concert band will play. We had too many holes in the ensemble that have yet to be filled from last year, especially now that we are taking three people out of the ensemble to be part of the court! I hope the students understand my decision! This will make life much more manageable and less stressful!

"The Practice Revolution"

During the summer I started thinking about how Madelia band students learn. My thoughts kept going the same direction...towards "out of class" work or "practice." I want students to get the most benefit from the valuable time they put in. I stumbled upon the book "The Practice Revolution," by Philip Johnston and decided shortly thereafter to revamp our entire practice requirements and the way we do things!

Today all band students 7-12 watched a powerpoint on common practice flaws. As we went through the presentation the students marked which types of flaws they identified with. We will use the results during lessons and learn to use strategies that make their practicing beneficial.

"Demo Crew"

We had a lot to do today as the installation crew will arrive Monday to install the SMARTboard. I had started removing the corkboard earlier in the week (not nearly as easy or as clean as it sounds) and needed help today removing the blackboards. I put the call out this morning and my "demo crew" arrived at the beginning of MCC. These band and choir men used brute force to pull the gigantic sheets of slate off the wall, dodging flying springs and 40+year-old dust at the same time! They saved me a ton of time - thanks, guys!

Motivation

I love students who are self-driven and motivated to learn. This morning MCB drumline snares had a sectional that they called. This makes the third morning this week these guys have been rehearsing before school - way to go guys!

Studying the Classics

Today was a monumental day for MCB: our first day of sight-reading "concert band" music. It is so nice to not have a pepband performance this week which allows us to take a much-needed break from being "peppy" and create a normal rehearsal atmosphere and routine.

Our task today: discover two classic pieces of literature. MCB will be doing a new arrangement of "Academic Festival Overture" by Johannes Brahms, and "Folk Song Suite" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Even with the freshman members of the band out for a retreat, the remaining musicians did an excellent job of sight-reading. Perhaps, they needed the break as much as the director did!

Terrific Tuesday

Madelia Bands had a great day today. It started with a 7:40 senior high drumline rehearsal called by the members. Our first ever - and they did an awesome job! We might rehearse again Thursday morning.

Junior High Concert Band made great strides on their music. We sightread Richard Saucedo's "Regal Fanfare" with hope of making it the first selection on the December concert. About 45% of the band members have completed their fall seating auditions. We also held our junior high drumline informational meeting at lunch. An excited bunch of potential members showed up.

MCB continued to hone new pepband music. We are continuing our method of listening to the "real" artists performing their works and then we jump in and rehearse. What a trip - we went from hard rock (Rock and Roll All Nite) to Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do." Today "Old Time Rock n' Roll" and "Paint it Black" got a second reading. Let me say this: "The Madelia Pepband is ROCKIN' so far!"

New Beginnings

Today was the first day of fall seating auditions. It is always a day of revelations for me as it is my first opportunity of the new school year to hear the students and see what, if any gains they have made over the summer. I am sure the majority of students would not agree! I hope they understand the necessity of the process and realize that there is nothing to be nervous about.

We also had our MCB drumline meeting today. What an enthusiastic bunch! We are going to rehearse tomorrow morning before school with the hope of being able to perform publicly for the fist time at Coronation on October 5th.

Today was also the first day of elementary band lessons. It was good to see the returning students and nice to meet the ones I haven't started yet. A bonus was that everyone remembered their instrument!

MCB had our first public performance last Friday at the football game. Although we had only had four opportunities to rehearse the band sounded great! Way to go!

New school year, new rehearsal space

Over the past few months the instrumental rehearsal space has received significant upgrades. I am truly thankful that the district installed Wenger acoustical panels on the walls and ceiling. This has had a dramatic impact on the decibel level in the room, which is literally less "music to my ears." The old cracked floor tile was also removed and replaced with new blue tiles, completing the transformation. Electrical work was done to the air-conditioning units to keep them running smoothly. To say the students were "wowed" when they walked in on Tuesday was an understatement. Also in the works is a technology upgrade. The lighting will be on the list for next summer.

I spent considerable time in August cleaning, sorting, discarding, and organizing the space and it is much more functional now. The students have done a great job maintaining the room this first week!

Welcome to Madelia Concert Bands!

Welcome to the blog home of Madelia Concert Bands! The Madelia School District is located in Madelia, Minnesota, approximately 25 miles west of Mankato, and 100 miles southwest of Minneapolis. I invite you to visit our district website at http://www.madelia.k12.mn.us/