Letter from Mrs. Hebert (1/26)

Sinfonia West,

For the most part, I heard a lot of great work with sectional coaches this week! Please master each area that they worked on with you. Fine-tune other pieces that you didn’t have a chance to cover.

Trumpets – unfortunately, the lack of effort, side conversations, getting up and leaving numerous times during rehearsal was not respectful to the sectional coach or the other students. Please have your music practiced and mastered by next week and come ready to work hard.

This is a reminder that we only have FOUR rehearsals before our next concert!

It is up to each of you to practice and master your part. We have a lot a great pieces we could share at our next concert or maybe only one depending on how well we work together in the coming weeks.

Here are the pieces that should get your main attention:

1. Symphony No. 8
2. Echoes of Valor
3. Coiled!
4. James Bond Theme

If you have NOT worked through this detailed list I sent out last week, here are the details:

James Bond: 

• Brass: Please work through your rhythms and notes. If you have a private teacher, please bring this piece to work on. Focus on Measures 27-48 and 55-end 
• Strings: Double-check your notes at 13. Make sure when you play the melody you can hear each 16^th note. Add in your phrasing!
• Winds/percussion: Double- check your notes and rhythms. Work in small sections to ensure you are playing the correct notes. Add in your phrasing!

Coiled!:

• ALL: We only worked on this one for a few minutes. Those that have the tricky rhythm- please work through it slowly and then speed it up. This is another great section to bring to your private instructor! We will work more on this next week.

Echoes: 

• ALL: Set your metronome for 80= Dotted quarter (that means you will hear 2 clicks per measure since we are in 6/8 time)
• Woodwinds and strings: work on making sure you can hear every note with clarity. Make sure your staccatos are truly staccato!
• ALL: When you have the melodic line, make sure you know the notes and rhythms and play with confidence! We will continue to work on phrasing.

Symphony No 8: 

• ALL:  By now, you should all be comfortable with your part. If not, work through small sections until you know the entire piece.
• Strings: Please practice your 8^th note passes with SINGLE notes. After you know the notes, you can add the double. Measure 18-35 needs the most work
• ALL: Melodic line! Anytime you have the melodic line, please master it and treat it like a solo! Play with phrasing, work though bowings (strings) to make it flow. I can’t wait to hear it!
• ALL: Listen to the original here! You don’t need to listen to the whole thing ,but it will really help you play our part with more musicality.

Additionally: The deadline to register to be a GTCYS Ambassador is this Friday, January 30. If you are a member of your school band or orchestra program, you are eligible to participate. Questions? Email Dan Mollick at dan@gtcys.org.

I can’t wait to hear the progress you make this week on all of your music.
On Monday, our theme will be sports teams! Feel free to wear some sort of gear representing a team!

Mrs. Hebert