Hello Bytown Musicians,
Only week 2, and you are looking and sounding wonderfully “ensemble” (French for together, and used in English to describe a variety of music groups)!
This week we worked on:
– correct posture for playing (so important for a great sound and to prevent aches and pains)
– keeping our air support steady and flowing (as opposed to the huff ‘n puff method of playing)
-Learned rest position
– raising and lowering our instruments in unison with the conductor (remain frozen until the conductor lowers the baton)
We reviewed: EE 1-10
We read: EE 11-14 and 17
We played as many notes and articulations as possible on a first read through the first measures (m 1-7 and 17-32) of Ogopogo. You can look up the fingerings or positions for new notes at the back of the Essential Elements book. Practice reading one or two measures at a time, and play them over and over until they are mastered, with the correct articulations, before moving on to another measure or two.
articulation markings you will see in Ogopogo:
Staccato (a note with a dot above or below) means “play the note as short as possible, and the balance of the note’s duration becomes silent”
Slur ( two or more notes with a curved line above or below) means “articulate with the tongue the first note in the slur, and do not tongue the other notes, but simply change notes as smoothly as possible with plenty of air support.
Thanks.
Cathy and Felicia
