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The oldest professional music organization in the United States of America is the US Marine Band, also known as "The President's Own." This concert band has a long and rich history of excellence and has been conducted by some of the most famous names in music history including John Philip Sousa. To be in “The President's Own” is to be the best of the best, and everyone that has ever played in it has worked their way up through other smaller bands until finally being called up to serve in the band that performs for almost every presidential function at the White House and abroad. We are going to learn more about this band over the course of the year but we will also look up to them as a role model of sorts. Based on the traditions of this ensemble we are starting our own special set of achievements for each member of our band. Our band will be known as The “Principal’s Own” Band.
During their second lesson, every band member moved up in rank to become a “Private.” The band members will continue to move up in rank all school year by performing specified songs from the book. On the bottom of this page, there is a chart which explains each rank and what the band students must do in order to achieve the specific ranks. There are also other special awards that students may achieve that are not performance-based.
I’m very excited to start teaching the students about The “President’s Own” Band and about being able to incorporate this historical ensemble into an incentive program. It is my hope that the students will start becoming intrinsically motivated to practice because of this system. If you want to learn more about the “President’s Own,” click on the link to look at their website. There are recordings, pictures and a lot of information about the band and it’s history.
Sergeant Major: Page 42—Eb Concert Scale, 3rds & Arpeggios Master Sergeant: Page 42—Ab Concert Scale, 3rds & Arpeggios Staff Sergeant: Line 116—Allouette Sergeant: Page 42—Bb Concert Scale, 3rds & Arpeggios Corporal: Line 81—Frere Jacques Lance Corporal: Line 60—Star Search Private First Class: Line 23—Merrily We Roll Along Private : Properly assemble/disassemble instrument, get a good sound, have good posture & hand position
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