Information for beginning band students
This page covers the general information about beginning band. Beginning students should also see the information about instruments and supplies.
Basic information
- No prior musical training is necessary.
- Becoming involved in music provides the participant an enriching cultural, social and educational experience.
- The band program in our district is highly regarded in this area and around the state.
- Participation in the instrumental music program in many cases has proven to be a tremendous incentive for maintaining a good academic record.
- A great deal of self discipline is developed by mastery of an instrument.
- Instrumental music is taught every day as part of the regular school day.
- Sixth grade beginners are taught in classes with similar instruments to achieve maximum playing potential as quickly as possible.
- Private lessons are available and encouraged but are not compulsory.
- Instruments may be purchased or rented through reputable, local music companies.
- Initially, we suggest that you rent an instrument rather than purchase one. This allows the student to try the instrument and ensures that the student is capable of successfully playing the horn before it is purchased.
- A small number of school-owned instruments are available for student use depending on need and availability.
- Band students can participate in all other school activities from athletics to drama, yearbook, cheerleading, etc... We have many students who participate in a combination of these activities.
- Generally, most students can be successful with twenty minutes of daily practice time.
Which instrument should I play in middle school?
Each year, our groups are praised at music festivals for our mature and often "high school" sound. The key ingredient to this is the instrumentation or balance of instruments. Proper band instrumentation might be compared to a cake recipe. If all of the ingredients are in the proper proportions, it will taste like a delicacy. However, if too much of any one portion (or the wrong ingredient) is added, the result can spoil the flavor completely. This balance is what gives our groups the correct sound that we strive for. Please encourage your child to keep an open mind when trying all of the instruments. We will consider your child's aptitude as well as the overall needs of the group when recommending instrument placement.
What instruments are available to start on in beginner band?
Approximately 85% of our beginners will start on flute, clarinet, trumpet, or trombone. The remaining 15% will start on saxophone or percussion. We will also probably start 2 or 3 oboes and 2 or 3 bassoons.
The ideal middle school instrumentation
The advanced band instrumentation that we strive for in the upper grades is 8 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 10 clarinets, 2 bass clarinets, 1 contra bass clarinet, 4 alto saxes, 2 tenor saxes, 1 bari sax, 10 trumpets, 5 horns, 8 trombones, 3 baritones, 3 tubas, and 5 percussion. Many students switch to the auxiliary instruments to near the end of the beginner year. Clarinets typically will switch to the lower clarinet instruments (bass clarinet and contra bass clarinet) and saxophones will switch to the lower saxophone instruments (tenor saxophone and baritone saxophone). We usually switch trumpets to horn and trombones will easily switch to baritone and tuba as time goes by. We try to divide the 7th and 8th graders into performing bands with these numbers in mind. At the beginner level, students are grouped together by like instruments for basic instruction and are later grouped by skill level in various ways during the year. It is possible for students that are very motivated to do well enough to advance into an upper level class in a short time. Performance level depends on talent, work ethic, attitude, grades and academic schedule.
For instance, a previous year's beginner class consisted of: 18 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 38 clarinets, 10 alto saxes, 30 trumpets, 4 horns, 10 trombones, 4 tubas and 8 percussion. The numbers will probably be in a similar proportion each year. We would love to start as many trombones as possible to help balance our larger woodwind classes this year. As always, the sax and percussion class size will be limited by basic skill demonstration, musical aptitude, grades, and behavior from the elementary schools. (Students that are not selected for saxophone and percussion may audition again next spring for those instruments. If selected, they would start in the beginner class the following school year.).