Throughout the week, G5-8 Band students have been working on producing sound with just mouthpieces. While everyone had been eager to play with their entire instrument, there is a pedagogical reason for the slow start. Learning a new instrument means learning new mouth positions, new ways of breathing, new awkward hand positions, new reading skills, new notes, etc. While every professional musician must be able to juggle all of these things at once, it is unrealistic for students to be able to achieve any level of success doing everything once right away.
That being said, as G7/8 had their third official band lesson today, we decided to try putting instruments together. It was immediately apparent to most students how much harder it was play, as most didn’t know which parts connected where, where to twist, where to hold, etc. The attached picture is just a small taste of the chaos of the first time holding full instruments. There is definitely a long way to go, but it was great progress for now! Onwards and upwards… 🙂 and at least it as fun!!!