Welcome to our F.A.Q.'s page! Most of our most frequently asked questions appear below. Don't see your question? Reach out to you school's music teacher via email! All teacher's emails can be found below!
For a parent's perspective check out Why I Make My Kids Take Music Lessons on the Scary Mommy blog:
... research shows that music will help our kids develop other skills we consider more “essential” – things like math, spelling, and grammar. A two-year study by researchers at the Brain and Creativity Institute (BCI) at the University of Southern California found that “exposure to music and music instruction accelerates the brain development of young children in the areas responsible for language development, sound, reading skill and speech perception.”
Instrumental music is more than just playing an instrument. It is immersing your child in a culture of successful students and teachers who care about education. It challenges each child to use the creative side of their brain while, at the same time, learning a foreign language…MUSIC! Music is a discipline that involves the mind and body, it requires practice and skills that will carry over into all other aspects of their life. Research confirms that students who are involved in music academically out perform their non-musical counterparts. Music is an academic pursuit that your children will enjoy and have fun learning!
"Band" refers to a school band that uses woodwind instruments like the flute, clarinet and alto saxophone, brass instruments including the trumpet, trombone, horn and tuba, and percussion instruments like the snare drum, bass drum and bells.
"Orchestra" in school usually refers to a "string orchestra" — an ensemble made up of string instruments including the violin, viola, cello and bass and sometimes percussion as well!
Beginning musicians on strings and winds learn to play in different keys, so most schools separate string orchestra from band in order to create the most optimal situation for learning.
Measuring your child for the correct instrument size is easy! Just visit Elefante Music's How to Measure for a String Instrument web page! It's very simple!
Our music instrument provider, Elefante Music, sets prices each year. Price depends on the instrument value and size. To check this year's pricing please visit Elefante Music's Rental Page and use our district code found in Step 2!
Many school instruments are already being used by other students so availability is limited and different from school to school. Midtown probably has one of the largest instrument collections in the city, but we also have one of the largest ensembles. If you want to request a school instrument, please be aware and be willing to accept an instrument that might not be your first choice.
YES! All of the LOUDER instruments like trumpet, trombone, saxophone and drums have options to make them softer sounding for at home practice! The trumpets and trombones can have mutes inserted to make them softer sounding and drummers can use a practice pad instead of a real drum! When using these methods the practice noise won't be louder than an television show!
Music lessons occur during the school day. At Midtown we have a rotating schedule, meaning that your child will have a set day for their lesson, but their lesson period will change each week so that they are not always pulled from the same class.
All of Bayonne runs instrument lessons on a "pull-out" program, meaning that students are required to miss a class and make-up that work in order to attend their instrumental lesson. At Midtown, hoever, we are very lucky to have a full time teacher and we have make-up lessons! If your child has to miss their lesson because they simply cannot afford to miss a certain class on a certain week, they can message Mr. Puchinsky and request a make-up for that week. They can also create a FLIP Video and submit that for feedback as an optional virtual make-up lesson!
there are no after school rehearsals, but we do encourage our more experience members to join the Bayonne Youth Band & Orchestra which rehearses at MCS on Wednesday (and sometimes Tuesday) evenings. Students in the BYBO also get to perform at other schools, and go on trips to perform at music festivals! Membership in the BYBO is open to all students who play an instrument in grades 6 through 9.
Parents can contact Mr. Puchinsky at spuchinsky@bboed.org - students can message him directly on Schoology messages!