Passionate About Music Education: Music Exam Success, Disney Melodies and Band Camp Adventures!
It’s hard to believe that we are already coming to the end of August of 2024! It’s been another busy month here at Passionate About Music Education. Let’s share what we have been up to and how we are serving our music community!
This August, we’ve been busy offering both group and 1-to-1 lessons to a wonderful set of students who are excited to start their musical journey with the clarinet, saxophone, and flute. They are preparing for their first year in school band with great enthusiasm, and we were excited to provide them with all the necessary foundational knowledge for note reading and instrument playing in a short amount of time. It’s so exciting that these new musicians are going to have a wonderful year ahead in band and have the basics skills mastered already for a great start!
Highlights
Dylan passed his ABRSM grade 1 theory exam with a mark of 74/75! This gave him a distinction in his first internationally recognised theory exam. Did you know that you can do these exams online from the comfort of your own home!
Kosta, Joshua, Jacopo, Alisa and Gavin have all been preparing audition and ABRSM graded music pieces with me over the summer. Joshua just found out that he received a place in his local youth orchestra in Virgina on bass clarinet! I’m thrilled for him and can’t wait to share all my other students’ successes.
A number of my students have been diving into learning Disney songs this summer on their instruments. Each student was able to pick the song they wanted to learn and I transcribed it for them into a suitable key. We have been “Building a Snowman” and learning “Beauty and the Beast” alongside others!
Oliver and I had a lot of fun this summer in his singing lessons learning a song called “Favourite Places” by Adam Gwon. It’s from a musical called “Ordinary Days”. It’s a beautiful and challenging song which Oliver really mastered!! You should definitely check this song out on Youtube – it’s a winner!
Band Camps!
We were excited to be asked to join Horizon High School in Orange County for their band camp. Charlene Cannon, Director of Bands, has an amazing marching band that has grown to 150+ this year. Rachel Hardman, General Manager, went in over the two weeks to help “team saxophone” learn the band music for their first concert on the football field. It was a stormy evening but luckily the weather held off long enough so Horizon High School marching band could showcase their skills to a supportive audience of parents and friends. Congratulations to all involved!
On Saturday 24th August, we headed over to Bridgewater Middle School in Orange County to help their beginner clarinets! Kyle Sargent, Director of Bands, is doing fabulous work and his band program this year has grown to over 300 students! That’s super impressive! This time Rachel was helping “team clarinet” put their brand new instruments together and make their first sounds. Over 30 students in the group and all could play their first notes by the end of the session. We can’t wait to see how quickly these students progress over the forthcoming year and look forward to helping Kyle weekly throughout the year!
Family-Friendly Music Resources
Did you know that we have been creating a wealth of new resources to help our students? This includes developing rhythm reading exercises, sight-reading booklets, and play-along videos. Our videos can be found on our Youtube channel – Music Theory Made Simple! In addition, we are regularly uploading worksheets and pdf files onto our website at Passionate About Music Education to make it easier for families and our students to download and use in their personal practice. Visit the musical resources page on our website as a starting point!
We have numerous thrilling plans in store for the upcoming months to support our music students, parents, and teachers. Be sure to stay tuned to our website as we continue to share these exciting updates!
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