Good Luck!

The "Ellis Emeralds" from Zora Ellis Jr. High and the "Dega Darlins " from Talladega High School make their Winter Guard debut this week at Brooks High School in Killen, Alabama. Excited and ready to start the season, we wish these young ladies the best of luck!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

12 major scales, 2 minor scales, the chromatic scale, 3 prepared pieces and an attempt at sight reading, coupled with the stress and anticipation of an audition can be quite a feat to overcome. However, eleven of our high school band students and six of our Jr. high band students took this challenge on full force this past Saturday and yielded results to be commended.

Talladega High School band had three band students make Alabama All-state band. They are: Brandi on Clarinet, Zack on French Horn, and Dakota on Baritone. These students will spend a music filled weekend in Auburn in April with other great musicians from around the state making music and memories that will last a lifetime.

In addition to the all-state recipients, who will also attend district honor band representing Talladega High School, the band had two additional students chosen for District Honor Band. They are: Claire on Clarinet and Eli on Trombone.

Zora Ellis also had two students that were chosen for district honor band, Lexie on Trumpet and Keyauna on Clarinet. All district honor band participants will travel to Gadsden State Community College to share an experience in music with other students their age and level on February 8, 2008.

Congratulations to all of these students! EVERYONE is very proud of you for representing your school and your band in such a positive and successful manner. THANK YOU for all of your had work and dedication.

All-State Tryouts Tomorrow!!

GOOD LUCK!! to the students

representing ZEJH at All-State

tryouts this weekend.

We wish you the best....

Haley, Luke, Lacie, Lexie,

Keyauna, and Christian.

Hold on to your 'A'!

Hold on to your 'A' by:
1. Participating actively in class
2. Bringing all required materials to class
3. Completing music pass-offs
4. Practicing at home
5. Attending after school rehearsals
6. Asking for extra help from peers and teacher

Putting together the pieces!

After school rehearsals, sectional rehearsals, pass-offs, classroom knowledge and at-home practice are all elements that are required to complete the 'big' picture. Be sure that you are doing your part to supply your individual piece of our 'band' puzzle. Every NOTE counts!

All 8th Grade Band Students!

8th Grade Band Meeting
For Students and Parents
Talladega High School Cafeteria
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
6:00 p.m.; BBQ will be served!

All 8th grade band members and at least one parent/guardian should be in attendance. Please return your form indicating how many of your immediate family members will be attending with you. SEE YOU THERE!

Sight Reading

Sight-reading is an essential element of musical life. It is also an acquired skill that you can learn to do very well. Learning to play your scales by memory can be half the battle. Knowing these can help you learn to handle any sight-reading that comes your way. It is also important to know the definitions of musical terms as they are also big clues to interpretation. Knowing who the composer is and what time period the music was written in can be another important clue to interpretation, so try to learn music history, some of the main composers and styles of the different time periods. When sight-reading, you should look for certain things before playing. They are:
1.Key signature
2.Time signature or meter
3.Tempo
4. Style
5. Overall Structure
a. sections with repeats or endings.
b. D.S.'s or D.C.'s
c. changes in key, meter, tempo, style
d. temporary tempo changes such as rallentando, a tempo.
6. Stylistic markings
a. accent, staccato, legato, etc.
b. articulation patterns ( slur 2 , tongue 2, etc.)
c. dynamic
d. ornamentation
7. Rhythmic patterns
8. Scale Patterns
9. Accidentals

Practice sight-reading often! After looking for the above priorities, play straight through the piece without stopping, and try to maintain a steady tempo throughout. Don't forget when you sight-read to also maintain good tone quality, intonation, rhythm, vibrato, and dynamics. Make sure you play musically!

Warming Up

The most basic and perhaps most important part of practicing is warming up. How you go about doing this is essential to your success. Use your time wisely to achieve the maximum results in the minimum amount of time. Structure your warm-up carefully and follow these three steps to a great warm-up:

1) Long tones- Start out your practice with at least five Minutes of long tones. Start in the with the low register of your instrument and gradually work your way up to the middle register. Pay careful attention to your tone quality, especially when playing at a soft dynamic level. Take full breaths and always use maximum breath support. Try to compare yourself to someone that you know is good on your instrument.

2) Scales- Scales are an important musical element for practice. One should strive for a thorough knowledge, understanding and flawless execution of all scales. Start with major scales and related arpeggios, then chromatic. Branch out and explore minor scales as well.

3) Articulation- The third part of your warm-up should focus on articulation practice. Strive for evenness of your articulation, particularly on repeated notes. Don’t only focus on increasing the speed of your articulation, but on the quality of your sound while articulating. Tape yourself and compare your tone quality when playing both legato and staccato at all dynamic levels. Make sure they are the same.

Practicing is a good time to experiment.

If you follow these three steps when warming up, you should notice a big improvement in your playing. Good luck!

Older comments and slideshows

Several people have asked me how to access slide shows and comments that are no longer visible when you pull up the blog. You may click on older posts at the bottom of the page or if you look on the right side of the page you will find them there under blog archives. Simply click and enjoy.

Talladega County Honor Band Try-outs

Talladega County Honor Band is a great way to improve yourself musically right her at home. Try-outs will be held at Talladega High School on Feb. 28th at 4:00 p.m. Additional information can be obtained at the bandroom. All students should consider the opportunity to improve musically and represent your school and self in a positive way.

Annual Queen of Hearts Pageant held on Feb. 9, 2008

The 38th annual Queen of Hearts Pageant will be held on Feb. 9, 2008 at 6:00 at the McFarland Auditorium on the AIDB campus.

The pageant is open to all girls in Talladega County who are enrolled in any school as well as girls ages 3-5.

For information, parents and candidates can download the application by going to http://www.degaband.com/, visit the THS band room, or call Juanita Ardis at 256-480-5074. Zora Ellis students may see Ms. Todd for questions.

The Queen of Hearts Pageant is sponsored by the Band Boosters of Talladega, Inc.

No new concepts here, just new students with a different spin on things! There is more to it than just hitting a drum. Learned skills are required!

Shown above is the "SCALE MASTER", a title earned by his ability to accurately and impressively play his scales, an important fundamental in music. Many of the 8th grade band students have been putting forth great time and effort to learn and correctly perform as many scales as possible. Keep up the good work!

No more late nights and lazy day sleeping in, school is back in session for the 2008 year. After a much needed and well deserved break students return ready to learn. With much attention spent attending to details, students readily reviewed and brushed up on fundamentals by participating in breathing exercises and such.

Ellis Emeralds

The Talladega High School Band traveled to Memphis during the Christmas break to participate in the 2007 AutoZone Liberty Bowl festivities.While there, the band competed with other high school bands and was awarded the following prizes from Bowl Games of America (BGA): 2nd place field show band, 3rd place parade band, 1st place field show auxiliary (Dega Darlins), and 1st place parade general effect (coordination of music and visual).The THS band joined with bands from Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia, and West Virginia for a massed band performance during the halftime of the Liberty Bowl which also featured recording artist Taylor Hicks. Band Directors David McDaniel and Danielle Todd approached Mr. Hick’s handlers and arranged for the artist to meet with Talladega High band students. The students also toured the National Civil Rights Museum (formerly the Lorraine Hotel, site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination), ate (and gave a empromptu performance!) at the Hard Rock Cafe, attended the Liberty Bowl Rodeo, participated in 5-hours of massed band rehearsals, performed in the Liberty Bowl parade down Beale Street, attended the BGA awards dinner/dance with other represented high school band members, froze during the Liberty Bowl game with Mississippi State vs. Central Florida, danced again during a dinner cruise down the Mississippi River, and toured Elvis' home at Graceland.
Congratulations to the directors, members, and parents of the Talladega High School Band for representing the Talladega City Schools in such a positive manner.

Where is your tongue?

Articulation is a very important part of playing a musical instrument. Paying attention to articulation markings and performing them to the best of your ability is a necessity when performing a piece of music. Staccato, legato, marcato, and accents are very important terms to know and be able to perform. Spend time in your practice sessions making certain that you are capable of recognizing and performing each of these terms distinctively, the 7th grade brass class has been giving notice to these terms daily in class and are steadily progressing. Where is your tongue?

District Music

Band members participating in the district band contest may access clips of the music selections by clicking on the links below. In order to preview each piece you must have downloaded RealOne Player on your computer.

Wingate March, The Crossings, and Dance of the Thunderbolts

Ideas on Practicing!

Practice

In order to help the band and protect your investment, home practice is required.

Practice every day!

• Remember, it is much better to practice 30 minutes each day than it is to practice 1 hour every other day. Taking a day off is like not playing for 3 days.
• Consider practicing in shifts. In other words, instead of playing for 60 minutes straight, practice for 30 minutes, take a break (do some homework), and then finish later.
• Have a set time every day during which you practice. Setting a routine makes practice easier.
• Have a set place where you practice. Make sure that this place is where you will not be disturbed and where you may concentrate on your playing.
• Have a goal or goals established for every practice session – be careful not to fall into the trap of simply playing your instrument and stumbling through a practice session.
  The old adage of “practice makes perfect” is not totally accurate. Only perfect practice makes perfect! Isolate trouble areas by breaking them down. Begin slowly and then increase tempo.
• Always begin each practice session with at least a brief warm-up. (This is a great time to practice scales.)
• Spend time every day working on your sound – this is your musical signature.
• Spend time every day playing scales in as many different ways as you can.
• Spend time every day working on technical skills including facility, range, tonguing, dynamic range, and endurance. Push yourself.
• Spend time every day practicing your band music. Make sure you reinforce concepts covered in class on this music.
• Spend time every day sight-reading. Anything will do.
• Take notes as you practice so that you can ask questions that you may have during class.
  Keep in mind that in order to learn that you must push yourself and expand your boundaries. Every practice session is not going to sound flawless, but should continuously improve.

ZEJH BANDS

Welcome!

In an effort to open an new line of communication we, the ZEJH Band, have established a new blogspot. Please feel free to visit it often to see upcoming events, pictures, accomplishments, etc. We hope that you find it useful and of some interest.