Remote instruction last week went pretty well. About HALF of the students participated online so we are reviewing last week's work this week. I think every class played through The Suite from the Planets and started Sucker. I'd hoped that we could play the individual class pieces too but only got to it in one class (and playing Sucker didn't happen in that class.) Looking forward, I need to make sure that my plans include specific sections and times. Thirty minutes goes fast!
Wednesday has gone really well. A few students went from D- to A- and Jazz Band sounded good even though we didn't have everyone. Fever, Apache, and Sticks. Didn't get to Cute though. On bass so far this week I've only practiced the 12-string, and not as much as usual. For a new song this week I played Sucker. Today I'm starting with Duke Ellington's Money Jungle. It's like a supergroup, with him, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.
Saxon's first album - they were in the First Wave of British Heavy Metal along with Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Good album. YouTUBE - Maynard Ferguson, live in a nightclub in 1975. Awesome, although the sound quality could be better. The bass sounds like it's in a box most of the time. He's really good too. This is a great example of a "stage band."
YouTUBE - Stanley Clarke concert from 1979. Much more rock-sounding than I'd expected. It's all a bit much, really. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" with a blaring horn section.... YouTUBE - Marine Band playing Holst's Jupiter. Perfect. Audio - Holst's Suites 1 & 2 for Military Band. We need to play these again. AUDIO:
Montrose - Top Ten on Spotify. Classic rock. Good guitar riffs, Sammy Hagar's great voice. Grateful Dead - 1975 rehearsals. Seems like I hear some reggae influence. Lazy Lightning in 7/4! Enjoyable and good to work with. VIDEO: Kamasi Washington 'The Epic' Live Video
Audio
I'm going to try to keep track of what I'm listening to during this time. Maybe I'll include links. Maybe not.
Audio
If you aren't signed up for band, contact guidance ASAP - here's their website: ncuhscounselingoffice.weebly.com/
NAfME HILL DAY 2019
(MY PERSONAL VIEW) #NAFMEHD19 The National Association for Music Education held “Hill Day 2019” on June 19 this year. This was my first time attending and this is my personal account of the event. Hopefully this account will help guide me for next year and will help other Vermont representatives to know what this is all about. Leading up to the event it was important for me to be sure everything was paid for. Last year, as president-elect everything would not have been paid for, so I did not attend. This year, as president, NAfME pays for the airfare (through reimbursement), an uber to and from the airport, the metro fare, and they have meals most of the time (not lunch on Hill Day, not supper on Thursday). Also, I needed to have appointments. Our VMEA president at the time (I was still President-Elect) sent emails to the offices of Sanders and Leahy. Only Senator Sanders responded, and an appointment was created. Senator Leahy’s people did not respond to three emails or a phone call. I arrived early on Tuesday. Plane into Ronald Reagan, Uber to the hotel (had to figure that the voucher that NAfME provided.) There was nothing for me to do until the “Legislative Asks Deep Dive” at 3:30 but I had plenty of reading material from NAfME. Getting there early so I could read those worked very well. Also, I was also able to connect with Kamden. Kamden is one of the collegiate members who was a former student of mine. Since he goes to school in Massachusetts, he represented them BUT he helped me out on Wednesday, since there were no collegiate representatives from Vermont. The collegiates had workshops all day Monday and Tuesday. Orientation that evening was pretty informal as far as attire but still fairly business-like. Wednesday morning started quite early - breakfast was at 6:00 and we were on the road by 7:00. Men were wearing suits - except me. Walked to the metro (they gave us a metro card), went from Dupont to Union Station, then walked to the Dirksen Building. There we had to go through security and all met in one big room for a morning introduction. Senator Tester addressed us (he was sponsoring the GAAME Act). After that we all went on our way to our appointments. I only had one appointment, with Senator Sanders, so I went to Senator Leahy’s office and hoped I could meet with someone. Sure enough, there was an education policy person able to meet! The two of us had a good meeting discussing ESSA, HEA, and GAAME as well as our backgrounds in music and what makes it so important. In Senator Sanders office we had a similar meeting, but NAfME’s CEO, President, President-Elect, three other NAfME people, and Kamden all came in also. Kamden recounted his story of why music is so important to him also. The building itself was like a maze, but there are maps on the wall that helped and I was able to look up contact information for Senator Leahy online to find his room. After the meetings I was concerned about finding my way back to the hotel - we went to Dirksen together, but our appointments all ended at different times. So I headed back by using my phone to bring me to Union Station, then taking the RED LINE back towards Shady Grove and getting off at Dupont. Then I used my phone to get me back to the hotel. It was a bit confused but it still worked. That evening there was a reception, collegiate awards and a presentation from the CMA Foundation. Thursday was the big surprise. Even for breakfast it seemed like everyone except me was wearing a suit. I realized eventually that wasn’t quite the case, but it was close. Then they had some more awards and introduced everyone. Like an introduction with my picture on the giant board. WHAT!? Oh well, I stood up, even without my suit. It probably only bothered me. After this, the NAfME presidential nominees gave speeches and answered questions as the start of their campaigns. The afternoon was full of workshops regarding leadership, governance and roundtables based on various music ed subjects. I did not look at Friday’s schedule closely enough and left before the meetings that I should have attended, especially the Eastern Division Meeting. Luckily, our brand new VMEA Collegiate agreed to be my proxy (which I didn’t know I needed). She was so interested in learning about the VMEA board and has great ideas for us moving forward. The Eastern Division President was definitely disappointed that I wasn’t going to be at that meeting. I certainly need to make sure I do my best to be at future events. There were other great people I met also. The Southern Division President is a woman who could carry on a conversation with anyone. The Western Division President struck up a conversation with me when I was sitting alone in the big room at Dirksen and he really helped put my mind at ease regarding the day. Actually, it was he who suggested I go to Senator Leahy’s office even though I didn’t have an appointment. (Oddly enough, as I’m typing this on the plane back to Vermont, Sentator Leahy is sitting a few rows in front of me!) The people from Maine were so friendly and helpful to me - they really took me under their wing and gave lots of helpful advice. I also spoke with the Utah President who was just as surprised as I was about a lot of the events. Despite all of the surprises and mistakes, I definitely feel successful. This was a worthwhile event. I have lots of notes about things I want to try to change for the future, but that will be another post. |
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