VCS Music Program featured on WABI

So exciting that our music program was featured on WABI:

https://www.wabi.tv/content/news/Music-plays-its-way-into-Veazie-Community-School-558732661.html?fbclid=IwAR2y7PtLEv9Q4vH0boKCDsYBo5nnwLTFNDMmXTZTprvdGLoRDyLoRqeWvvc&jwsource=cl

Exciting Music Updates for 2019-2020 School Year

I hope everyone had a great summer! I completed my Masters of Education degree at the beginning of July, so this was my first vacation without homework in years! I went to Portland with friends to see my favorite band, Chicago. I got to visit with family in Massachusetts. My cousins visited Maine for the first time. I even got to spend some time on Cape Cod.

When I wasn’t enjoying some down time, I was working in the music room at school. We have made some wonderful improvements to our already beautiful facility and great music program.

 

If you don’t recognize the music storage room in the pictures, that’s because it had accumulated so much equipment over the years that it was impossible to get from one end to the other. The school purchased a new bookcase to store all our music methods and references.  

 

I repurposed an empty file cabinet that was on the stage to store our sheet music library. Simple bookends now keep the choral music on the wall more secure. The keyboards are now stored on their sides, allowing more keyboards to fit on each shelf. By reorganizing everything, I was able to free up two complete shelves for band students to now store their instruments.  

On the wall opposite the student instrument shelves is the classroom set of ukuleles with padded cases and a tall rack on which to store them that the school purchased. 

Behind the school building, a storage garage is in the process of being built. Once finished, the smaller set pieces from our musicals, our chorus risers (which have been re-carpeted), and our acoustic piano will be able to fit in the garage until needed. This will free up a lot of space on the stage and in the music room. The school has purchased a new digital stage piano. It plays well, sounds great, and has a lot of features, but only weighs 25 pounds and can be moved wherever it is needed.

In the music classroom, you will notice that many of the tables that were around the edges of the room are now being used in the intermediate wing, where they will not need to move around as often. In the front corner near the flag, the school purchased a tall storage cabinet to store xylophones. Speaking of xylophones, the school purchased 7 new alto xylophones. We now have enough xylophones and metallophones for every student in a class to use one at the same time by doubling up. In the instrument corner of the room, we now have labelled storage containers to help students to select and return classroom instruments. Worn out classroom instruments have been replaced and a few additional instruments have been acquired. Our local Home Depot donated a classroom supply of 5-gallon buckets for bucket drumming units. The school purchased enough ear muff style hearing protection for an entire class.

There has been a lot of bragging in this post, but we have a wonderful school with a supportive administration and PTO. We have accomplished so much in just a few weeks of summer. I am proud of our students and our music program and I look forward to another incredible year of music making.

I can’t wait to see you at our open house on Tuesday, August 27th at 5:30PM. I will have handouts available for band, chorus, and general music classes. I will be happy to give you a tour of our music space and to answer any questions you may have.

How To Keep Music Going During Vacation

I remember the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, I said to myself, “I am on vacation, I don’t need to exercise”. As you can imagine, when I returned to campus that fall, I was huffing and puffing as I walked from one class building to another. You guessed it—I got out of shape. The same exact thing can happen to our brains and our musical skills if we let it.

In this post, I want to share some tips and tricks to keep our skills going all summer long. I have put suggestions into grade categories, but this does not mean that older students won’t benefit from things in younger categories and vice versa.

PreK-1st Grade

If I had to simplify all the activities we do in these classes, I would use the categories of movement, listening, creating, singing, and playing. For movement, there is a great series on youtube called GoNoodle. These are fun videos that show you what dance moves to do on the screen as you do them. Another popular series of videos is from the game Just Dance. Parents, please preview the Just Dance songs first to be sure they are appropriate for your child. Maybe your child would want to invite some friends over for a dance party!

For listening, we have both live and recorded options. For live music, our region has the excellent American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront August 23, 24, and 25. I recommend going to the website https://americanfolkfestival.com/ and checking the schedule to see which acts might interest your child. Often, they have videos of the groups on the website so you can hear the style of music. Many towns have community bands that play outdoor concert series in the summer. I know the Bangor Band even has a website with its concert schedule: https://bangorband.org/ There are limitless options for recorded music. One great site that I have used with students is through the London Symphony Orchestra https://play.lso.co.uk/ With this site, your child can listen to a piece of music while selecting multiple camera angles to view the performance as a member of the orchestra, from the conductor’s perspective, from an audience perspective, or to see instrument sections up close.

For creating, there are a couple of fun sites that do not require any knowledge of music notation. Groove Pizza- https://apps.musedlab.org/groovepizza/?museid=H19DNpaRN& allows you to create your own drum patterns by clicking dots in a circular pattern. Chrome Song Maker- https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/ allows you to create a melody on a grid representing pitch (vertical) and rhythm (horizontal).

For singing, there are thousands of fun Karaoke options on Youtube. Simply type in the title of the song and artist and the word “karaoke”. Karaoke means the backing music is there, but the main vocals are left out. Again, check a song for content to be sure it is a good fit for your child.

For playing, it is fun to explore the sounds we can make from everyday objects. Children this age often enjoy making their own instruments, like a guitar out of a Kleenex box and rubber bands to a drum out of an oatmeal container. Another idea is to find relatives and friends that own musical instruments and would not mind your child playing them.

2nd-5th Grade

As I said above, all of the options for PreK-1st Grade are still great choices for older children, especially the American Folk Festival, community band concerts, Groove Pizza, and Chrome Song Maker.

Children in the intermediate grades may want to have more control over their music making and benefit from more time spent on music creation. In addition to Groove Pizza and Chrome Songmaker, there are a few other music creation sites that I recommend.

The first group do not require an e-mail address or registration. Drumbit- https://drumbit.app/ is modeled after a physical drum machine. You can layer rhythms and select which type of drum/cymbal is making the sound. The Rhythm Trainer- http://www.therhythmtrainer.com/ This site has two modes. One plays the rhythm and you have to put the notes in order to “write” what you heard. The other option shows the rhythm and you have to select the recording that matches.

Other options for online music creation involves having to register with an e-mail address. They are still free (unless you select a premium upgrade). Soundation- https://soundation.com/ and AudioTool https://www.audiotool.com/ are simple DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), they allow you to record either using a microphone or enter information with a MIDI keyboard. These can be really powerful tools for music creation.

For intermediate students in band, think of your instrument as your best friend. You love to spend time with them, but if you spend too much time with them every single day, they start to drive you crazy! Maybe play your instrument just a few minutes every day. Or, if you play it a lot one day, take a break the next day. Getting together with friends that play the same or different instruments can be awesome. Have a jam session together. Maybe start your own rock band!

All of the music we have played in band should be available on your school Google Drive account. If you have trouble finding something, e-mail me at marell@veaziecs.org and I will try to find it for you. You can always buy music for your instrument, but I always like pursuing free options first. The Bangor Public Library has a great selection of music at different levels. If you are not sure of the exact title you want, ask a librarian to help you.

6th Grade and Above

Just like with intermediate students, middle schoolers really excel with music creation. Check out the options in the intermediate category, as they are still great for this age. If you are into keyboard, Chrome Chords- https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Chords/ can show you how to play different chords. musictheory.net is for motivated students that want to get better at reading notes on a staff, understanding scales and chords, hearing intervals between notes, etc. There’s a lot of complicated stuff that you can access on this site, so do not feel discouraged if something is a little advanced for you. If you are comfortable giving an e-mail address to register, Noteflight https://www.noteflight.com/ and MuseScore https://musescore.org/en are both free online music notation softwares. If you want to start exploring songwriting and composition, check these out to put your ideas into notation that can be printed.

For Chorus students, find music that you love to sing. Sing in the car on a long trip. Find karaoke options on Youtube, as suggested above. You do not have to sing every day, but do it often enough that you maintain your breath control and your range.

For band students, the same thing applies to middle school as I said for intermediate students, you do not have to play every day. You do not have to play for an hour at a time. Find a way to motivate yourself to play. I have an awesome app called The Amazing Slow Downer (*this one costs money, but you can get a free trial version. Can’t get the app? E-mail me and I could probably convert a song for you). This app allows you to take any recording and slow it down to a speed that is comfortable for you to play along AND it can change the key of the original recording to match the key of your instrument without distorting the sound.

I know I have thrown a lot of ideas at you in this post. If you should have any questions, please e-mail me marell@veaziecs.org. Have a terrific summer and make some great music!

Veazie Community School Spring Concert 6PM on May 30th

At the beginning of this school year, I had a first year band student tell me she was very “nervocited” for her first year of band. I thought that this was a great description of the exhilaration that comes with trying something new. She felt very relieved when I told her that I was extremely “nervocited” to start teaching at Veazie Community School.

From day one, my time at VCS has been phenomenal. I joined a community of professionals that always put the needs of their students first. Whenever I have asked for help, I have found 20 volunteers eager to assist. I am also overwhelmed with the motivation of the students and their eagerness to learn.

On May 30th, we have our final concert of the 2018-2019 school year, and once again I am “nervocited”, but far more excited than anything else. I guess the nervous part comes from the aspects that one cannot control. Will the sound system work as intended? Will he remember his instrument? Is 40 extra copies of that part enough if every student loses their music right before the concert? But as every self-help book will tell you, worrying about things outside of one’s control will never make them better. The best that one can do is to be prepared and then let life happen. Preparation is exactly what happens in every music class.

I believe that what happens in the classroom is equally as important, if not more important, than what happens in the performance. Whether it is PreK music class or Middle School Band class, the students are learning much more than what notes happen and when they happen. They are learning how necessary it is to work together in order to create something beautiful. They are learning personal responsibility in the context of a greater whole. They are learning how to directly communicate emotions with a listener. These concepts are learned over time and do not just magically happen in one brief performance.

Our students have been working so hard in their learning this year and our spring concert is a public display of the progress they have made this year. The concert will begin with our Middle School Chorus students taking us on a tour of popular songs from the past 50 years. Our Prek-5th grade students will then be singing on the theme of friendship. Following this, our 4th and 5th grade students will demonstrate a drumming circle activity that they do in class. The band portion of our concert will follow. 4th and 5th Grade Band students will start this set with a classic rock song and finish with a rock song from 2018. Middle School Band students will then take over with a trio of award-winning hit songs from the 70’s, 80’s, and 2017. The concert will conclude with two back-to-back combined 4-8 Band pieces. We will explore the classical realm with a popular film theme and finish with the worldwide No. 1 song of 2018.

Notice, I have not revealed any musical titles. You will have to attend the concert to find out!

I hope to see you at Veazie Community School, 1040 School Street, Veazie at 6PM on Thursday, May 30th to celebrate our students musical accomplishments!

Becoming a Composer with Dr. Beth Wiemann

Today, we have a guest blog from another music expert, this time in the field of composing music (writing our own music). Here, she tells her story of how she started her journey to become an award-winning composer.

Dr. Beth Wiemann, Composer

Starting to compose…Beth Wiemann

Growing up in Burlington, VT, a lot of my early musical experiences were similar to those of many generations of northern New England kids. As many elementary school students do, I started music lessons in beginner band, playing a plastic clarinet in simple arrangements of marches and a few excerpts of well-known symphonies or operas. The ensemble sound was impressive to me, something I still remember from 4th grade. A little later, I joined my mother singing in the church choir, which also had an impressive sound to me – though the sheet music was very different. Seeing what everyone was singing on the pages in front of me instead of just my clarinet part was intriguing; you could see how you’d write for a group of people. The pages were confusing at first, but they made the music’s sound less mysterious.

At the time, the singer/songwriter model was pretty strong in pop music, whether it was the Carole King model or the Elton John model, so I got interested in playing the guitar. Obviously, the guitar was a much cooler instrument than the clarinet, but it also made the harmonies I heard playing in groups sort-of possible to play by myself.

With these new perspectives, I started to listen to a wider variety of music, forcing my guitar teacher to help me figure out the progressions in different pieces. I went from learning guitar with tab/lead sheets and memorizing fingering patterns to reading staff notation with classical etudes. I also began reading about some of the composers of those songs and etudes, including how many of them started with chord progressions when composing, adding melodies above them depending on the musical style. Eventually I discovered (or rediscovered, according to my Mom) the classical record collection we already had in the house.

With these models in my ears, I began writing short pieces, eventually trying to set parts of the Mass in English for our church choir, with the encouragement of the director there (who also was my guitar and piano teacher at various times). That director assigned me various things to practice both composing and thinking about composing - asking me to arrange pieces (writing out a song for a specific ensemble starting from a simple piano version of the song), add obbligato melodies to existing songs  (adding some simultaneous tunes that would go along with the original song), and to write essays responding to other composers’ opinions about music. He also suffered through my beginning piano playing, when it became obvious that I would learn harmony better on that instrument than only on the guitar.

Some of my pieces were imitations of pieces that I had played, like Vaughn Williams’ folk songs for band. Sometimes I made arrangements for school shows, being asked to adapt songs for small vocal groups plus guitar. (Rice High School Stunt was an avenue for some of these arrangements, and apparently Stunt Night is still a thing.) Most of the time, I was involved in the performances of these short pieces after I wrote them – either as a singer or instrumentalist – which I encourage other beginning composers to do as well, just for the experience.

When people ask me how to start composing, I usually ask them if they’ve tried to write down or record any musical ideas already. I believe that most people that really want to compose try to share music of their own even before they have “real training.” This doesn’t mean that your first efforts will be masterworks when you try. But it does make you think about how to present a musical idea, whether it’s a rhythm, a melody, a chord, or just a particular kind of instrument noise. This gives you a place to start. You can get training as you go, but the training will always come back to presenting the musical ideas you want to hear.

Instrument Maintenance with Chris Plaisted

Today, I am thrilled to present special guest blogger Chris Plaisted. Chris and I have been friends since college and his specialty is instrument maintenance and repair. This is an important read for all band students and families!

Hi! My name is Chris Plaisted and I do instrument repair for Veazie Community
School and other schools throughout Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock, and
Washington Counties. Kids, you might know me as Mr. Fix-It! As a former music
teacher, I love being able to help kids keep their band instruments in great shape so
they can get the most from their band experience. Approximately 80% of the repairs
I see in schools on a daily basis are caused by lack of maintenance (Kids, here’s a
great vocabulary word! Maintenance means taking good care of your instrument.).
Below are a few tips to help you with the maintenance of your instrument:

FLUTE -- Use your cleaning rod and a cleaning cloth after each time you play.

CLARINET &SAXOPHONE -- Use your cleaning swab after each time you play.
Grease corks using cork grease (not chapstick, that’s gross!) any time your clarinet is
hard to put together or the corks look dry; usually that means at least once per
week. NEVER LEAVE YOUR REED ON THE MOUTHPIECE! That can ruin the reed and
make it moldy. YUCK! Take the reed off mouthpiece after each time you play.

TRUMPET -- Oil your valves with valve oil any time they feel sticky, or at least
once per week. Use slide grease on the tuning slides when they become hard to
move. If valves, slides, or mouthpiece become stuck, STOP! Do not try to un-stick
them yourself. I have seen trumpets completely torn apart and permanently ruined
by people trying to un-stick mouthpieces, slides, and valves. Please tell Mr. Arell
immediately, he has special tools to help this in a safe way. If that doesn’t work, I’ll
come to school and take care of it with my professional repair tools.

TROMBONE -- Oil your slide with slide oil every day you play. Use slide grease on
the tuning slide if it becomes sticky. If either slide becomes stuck, STOP! Do not try
to un-stick them yourself, this can cause damage without the proper tools. Please
see Mr. Arell immediately.

DRUM -- Never put anything on top of your drum that is not a drum stick!
Remember it is an instrument, not a table. If you put something on top of a drum
that doesn’t belong there, it can rip the drum head and then you won’t be able to
use the drum until I can replace the drum head.

ALL INSTRUMENTS -- Should be cleaned once per month with the help of an
Instrument Care Kit. If you don’t have one, look at buying one from a local music
store. This comes with all the tools and instructions needed to keep your instrument
clean and in good working order. They are usually very affordable at less than $15.
If you have any questions on how to take care of your instrument, please see
Mr. Arell. He does a great job at helping kids learn how to take care of their
instruments. With proper maintenance, an instrument can literally last a lifetime and
beyond. Take care of your instrument, and it will take care of you! Thanks for
reading, and I look forward to hearing the Veazie band this year!

Chris Plaisted

Music Makers of All Ages...

This week, many different classes explored making their own creative musical decisions.

PreK

Students continued to respond to what they heard by playing freeze dance to various selections. We also learned the Hokey Pokey. We have been working on keeping a steady beat by passing a clap around the circle. We also played an echo game with both frame drums and tall drums. Next week will involve singing some new songs.

K-1

Students learned a circle dance this week. We began to read and count rhythms. We also started to connect note letter names to bars on glockenspiel and xylophones. By the end of the week, we were able to play "Rain, Rain Go Away" as a class and add a drum beat to it. Next week will involve starting to read some notes with the helper letters taken away.

2-3

Students at this level did two group dances this week. We read and counted more complicated rhythms and began to discuss the names and lengths of different note types. We explored the notes C, D, and E on instruments and we were able to play "Mary Had A Little Lamb" by the end of the week. Next week will involve looking at some music with more than 3 notes!

4-5

Students in these grades also did two group dances. We were able to read and count rhythms as a class and as individuals. Then, we explored rhythms in the context of a song. We looked at two different songs involving C, D, and E and then volunteers created their own drum rhythms to go with the songs. At the end of class, we teamed up drums and glockenspiel to create our own melodies and rhythms. Next week will involve more student creativity as they work on making their own "remix" of familiar songs.

4-8 Band

The week began with playing Hot Cross Buns as a class. This song has become like a rite of passage for all beginning instrument students. With assistance from more experienced players, first year players became more confident with their first three notes. On Thursday, we discussed tuning both as setting up the instrument to get a good sound and how to adjust our sound while playing. Students worked in groups, creating their own 4 beat groove and thinking about what notes sound good together. Next week, we will work on another 3 note song (with beginners playing the melody and more advanced players having their own parts) and play some Band Karaoke by playing the notes we know along to recordings of popular songs.

Middle School Band

This class may one day be known as the "Wall of Sound". We have a class of strong players that are not afraid to be heard (and sometimes are asked to turn the amps down). We have become fairly comfortable with We Will Rock You. We worked hard on trying to fit different parts together for Eye of the Tiger and compared our rhythms to the original recording. Today, we listened to the opening of The Final Countdown and began to work on the opening rhythms. For this piece, percussion students have a driving beat, guitar and bass students outline each downbeat, while the wind players have the familiar melody (complete with fast sixteenth notes!). Next week, we will continue to work on Eye of the Tiger and Final Countdown and will probably look at another song on Thursday (Mr. Arell has had some requests, including the 6 minute long Bohemian Rhapsody...).

Middle School Chorus

Students in this class have been making so much progress! Our topic this week was dynamics (volume) in singing, particularly how to create a bigger sound and how to have good contrast between quiet and loud sections of a song. We began by learning about the way the body creates sound (air, creating space, and resonance). We then viewed some performances of contrast in singing for inspiration. We have worked on different vocal exercises to get better at controlling air, creating a tall tone by dropping our jaw and raising our soft palate, and feeling the buzzing (vibration) at the front of our face. We then learned about how to write and interpret dynamic markings on music. We worked together to write our own dynamics for Sweet Caroline before we sang it. Next week, we will work on some more full songs to practice dynamics.

Overall, it has been a great week with many exciting learning breakthroughs. In 4-8 Band, we discussed product vs. progress, which helps to keep me motivated in the learning process. Product is the final result or the current sound, whereas progress is always changing and (hopefully) improving. We may not play or sing a piece perfectly in the moment, but our second attempt gives us a chance to get better--and that's what learning is all about!