SmartMusic

Dear Parents,

On Friday, I rolled out SmartMusic, our new (and improved) way to track student progress on their instruments! I'll be discussing the basics of this new practicing platform, along with upcoming after school activities and a grade update.

SMARTMUSIC

Students joined SmartMusic on Thursday and Friday of last week. This program will completely transform the way students practice, and once they get used to using it, you'll see a dramatic improvement in how they play. I encourage you to ask your student how the program works and have them demonstrate it for you by playing their instrument into the program.  To access the website, you'll go to https://admin.smartmusic.com and students will enter their username and password. Usernames are their student ID and passwords are what they use to access their Chromebooks. Once there's in, they will search for music. Once they have found and opened what they'll be practicing, here's what you'll see:

• Accompaniment: Students can change how loud the other parts of the band are in the piece.
• My Part: Students can choose to hear how their part is supposed to sound while they play.
• Metronome: Students are encouraged to keep this on for now. This clicks the tempo, or pulse, of the piece so they are playing into it at the correct speed.
• "80" is the tempo. The plus and minus signs change the tempo that the student plays into the recording.
• The mic icon allows students to calibrate the microphone. This is the part that must be functioning for a student to record into the program.
• The fork is the tuner. I will post a separate update on how to tune later.
• The number (4) is the countoff in beats that the program will give before the student enters. Increase this number if a student plays a larger instrument and needs more time to get ready.
• Play button: This allows the student to hear how the song sounds. 
• Record button: This is where the magic happens. The program counts you in, and you'll play through the exercise. Right notes and rhythms will show up green and wrong notes and rhythms will show up in red.

Students are required to log at least 30 minutes of recorded practice time this week, due Friday.  Just be sure that students are pressing the red "record" button when they're playing in order for their time to count. 

Assignments

Each class also has an assignment.  Assignments are pieces that must be recorded for a grade.  The grade is calculated as a percentage of how accurately the student played the notes and rhythms. Students may record as many times as they want before submitting the assignment. The assignments are: 

Beginning Band: Our First Note, Our Second Note, Our Third Note (3 different exercises)

Concert Band: Scaling New Heights

Intermediate Band: B-Flat Major Scale (Exercise 188)

Advanced Band: Chromatic Scale (Exercise 21) 

All assignments are due this Friday at 11:59 PM. This will be your student's first "benchmark assessment" grade.

Students who are having technical difficulties may come in at lunch to troubleshoot with me or a friend.  Students without internet at home may borrow mobile hotspots from school for the weekend and practice in my room during lunch.

AFTER SCHOOL REHEARSALS

Tuesday, September 10: Marching Band, 2:30-4:30 PM  *All are still welcome to attend, even if they missed last week's rehearsal.
Wednesday, September 11: Trumpet Boot Camp, 2:30-4:00  *All trumpet playing band students should plan to attend.
Tuesday, September 17: Marching Band, 2:30-4:30 PM
Wednesday, September 18: Low Brass Boot Camp, 2:30-4:00 *All tuba, trombone, and euphonium playing students should plan to attend.

CHILI BINGO NIGHT PLANNING UPDATE
We had a planning meeting last Wednesday, and attendance was quite low. This is our big fundraiser of the year and it takes a lot of parent support to ensure this event's success.  If you were unable to attend the meeting and want to help, we are currently looking for volunteers to call/Facebook message businesses or go visit in person to ask for donations.  Please email me: njacques@carson.k12.nv.us if you are able to contact a few businesses.

I'll post another update this weekend once we see how our rehearsals and our SmartMusic rollout goes. Let the practicing begin!

-Mr. Jacques-