Dear Germantown 5th Grade Families,

Welcome to the KMS Beginning Band Website!  This page will be your information hub for joining band at KMS.  You will be able to see and hear all of the instruments, follow a link to submit your Band application form, and follow a link to Signup Genius to schedule a Beginning Band Conference in April.  Students, be sure that your parents are filling out the forms.  If you have any questions, please email Mr. Prior at zprior@gsdwi.org.  Thank you, and we're looking forward to meeting you!

Mr. Zach Prior & Mrs. Kelsey Shook, KMS Band Directors

About the KMS 6th Grade Beginning Band:

• At Beginning Band Conferences, we offer each student a one-on-one conference for 15 minutes with a music specialist.  Students will be able to try the different instruments and select the instrument of their dreams!  Once families have an instrument picked, a Summer Lesson Group can be selected. 

• The Band program at Kennedy begins during the Summer before 6th Grade.  We're very fortunate in Germantown to be able to offer summer lessons free of charge to families.  Students receive two, 50-minute lessons per week for four weeks, running from July 13-August 6.  Families will need to arrange transportation or carpool to KMS for lessons.   As a result of summer lessons, we're able to begin the school year strong, with a very capable band.  Please click to view the Summer Lesson Schedule.

• We strongly encourage students to attend all lessons during the summer, but we understand that vacations and other events also occur in the summer.   We're able to work around those with good communication, and we always come up with a solution.  Try to miss no more than two lessons.  The fewer lessons missed, the more success the students feel.  If a student will miss a significant number of lessons, we require that they receive private music lessons from a qualified teacher, usually from a music store.    Students must have summer instruction (either lessons at KMS or private lessons) in order to be scheduled into 6th Grade Band for the school year.  

• All students will need to rent an instrument, with the exception of Baritone and Tuba, which are available to rent from school.   We suggest renting an instrument instead of buying one,  as instruments are expensive and your investment is minimal with a rental.  Please, please, do not purchase a cheap, (less than $300) new instrument from an online retailer.  We can't emphasize this enough.  These instruments are made of inferior materials and break quickly.  If you need advice about purchasing an instrument, please ask us!  If you already own an instrument, please bring it to your band conference and we can take a look at it to make sure it's in good shape, or give you an idea of what needs to be repaired to put it in playing condition.  

• In addition to an instrument rental, students will need some supplies.   

  • Lesson Book:  Sound Innovations Book 1 for their instrument.  (The book will come with the instrument rental)

  • Care Kit, which includes cleaning supplies and reeds (if applicable), and a music stand for home practice.   (Care kit and music stand will come with rental)

  • 1" binder for their lesson books, sheet music, and class handouts.  Please get a quality binder, as they'll be used all year and take a lot of abuse.  The binder with the clear plastic sleeve on the front is nice for putting a name tag inside. 

  • Click here to find supply lists for each instrument.

•  Our preferred music store is White House of Music.  White House provides online rentals, excellent products, fantastic service, speedy repairs, and school delivery of instruments so they're ready for summer lessons.   All of the supplies listed above (minus the binder) can be obtained from White House of Music.  

• Playing in Band makes you smarter!  Check out this brief Ted ED Talk about the brain's activity levels while playing a musical instrument.

Band Application & Conference Sign Up

Be Sure to Complete Both Steps Below!

STEP 1:  REQUIRED--Beginning Band Application Form (COMPLETE BY MARCH  19)

• Please click HERE to complete your child's application.  Please fill it out completely.  We'll need an application for each child to schedule a Beginning Band Conference.

STEP 2:  REQUIRED--Schedule a Beginning Band Conference (COMPLETE BY MARCH  19)

• After completing the application above, please click HERE to visit Signup Genius to schedule a 15 minute Beginning Band Conference at Kennedy Middle School on Thursday, April 23rd  (4:00-8:00 PM),  Friday, April 24th  (4:00-8:00 PM),  or Saturday, April 25th  (9:00 AM-12:00 PM).    

See you on April 23rd, 24th, or 25th!   More info to come in the meantime.   

Thank you for visiting this page and giving your child the opportunity to learn a new instrument in the KMS Band!