Hello and Happy October!

Lessons are in full swing at Erdenheim! I hope you are hearing the wonderful first sounds of the instruments at home. Please check out the important information in this newsletter. If you have any questions please let me know.

Thanks!

Rob Benton

robert_benton@sdst.org

Morning Rehearsals will begin the Week of November 11th.

• Silver Band will rehearse on Monday mornings at 7:55am on the Erdenheim gym stage

• First Silver Band rehearsal will be Monday November 11th

• Blue Band will rehearse on Thursday mornings at 7:55am on the Erdenheim gym stage
• First Blue Band rehearsal will be Thursday November 14th

Silver Band = Students in Boles, Hurst, Boyle, Sokol, and 5th grade beginners
Blue Band = Students in Rosenfeld, Dallinga, Meyer, Hicks and Fikioris

• Every student will receive a 30 minutes pull out lesson once a week
• The lessons for 4th graders will rotate based on their given lesson day. Please refer to the lesson times and rotation calendar link below.
• Please ensure that the students bring their instrument and book on their lesson day

What book does my child need?

All the instruments except for percussion use Essential Elements book 1.

Percussionist use Alfred Drum Method Book 1.

Click on the link below to order from Zeswitz.

• Practicing the instrument at home is critical to obtaining mastery on the instrument.
• 15-20 minutes of practice a day is a good starting point for most students. This may not be a realistic goal if the student is involved in many out of school activities. At a minimum, students should be practicing 3-4 times a week.
• Some weeks may require more practice than others.
• Each student will be circling the exercises they need to practice each week in their Essential Elements book and Alfred drum method book (percussionist only).
• In the lessons we review the assigned materials and move on to new exercises to build their skills.
• It is important to establish practice routines at home just like your household may do with homework or chores.
• Instrument practice time should be treated like other homework the student receives from other subjects in school.
• The key is consistency! Most students will be amazed at the progress they make after a short amount of time spent with the instrument.
• Need extra help at home? Check out the web based program, Make Music Cloud. Instructions to sign up are in this newsletter
• As always, if you have questions, concerns or need addition support please don't hesitate to reach out to me. robert_benton@sdst.org

We are going to use MakeMusic Cloud for the class Beginner Band 24-25! MakeMusic Cloud is an online practice and assessment application with a repertoire library that includes thousands of interactive and digital sheet music titles.

To access the application, click the link below and follow the steps for joining the class and creating your account. For reference, the class code for Beginner Band 24-25 is UCJF4-3YPMA.

Students should use their school login information to access MakeMusic Cloud. There is a button to select log in with google and students will be able to enter their credentials (school chrome book login) to access the program. This program works on tablets, laptops, and computers but does not work on smart phones.