Victor Music Distant Learning

Saxophone Lessons

ATTENTION 6TH GRADERS: Our 6th Grade Band Zoom Party will be held this Thursday, June 4th, from 1-2pm!!!

We would love to see as many students as possible, so spread the word!!! Hope to see you there!!! :)

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/93579793234?pwd=Um1HUmpJYzE2L2VHRVkyUmFUNmUzdz09

Meeting ID: 935 7979 3234

Password: visband20

Welcome Saxophonists,

As we continue to work on our solos, it is important to keep on working on the skills that make us outstanding musicians. Below are tips for keeping our skills sharp as well as guidelines for independent learning on our instrument.

UPDATE:

Going forward, I won't post a lesson sheet, I will be using the Essential Elements website to post our examples and using this page to add any extra details that will be helpful for practicing during that week as well as any additional activities I want you to practice.

How can I submit my work?

Use the recording program on Essential Elements, it works great and I will be the only one that listenings to the recordings. Plus I can see when you upload anything!
Send a separate recording via E-Mail with you playing the examples, I will respond to your email with comments, just make sure you tell me which example you are preparing before you play!
If you are uncomfortable with recording and/or don't have access, send me an email on your lesson day telling me how many minutes you practices and what went well with your practicing that week and what could use improvement.

April 20th - Book examples from Book 3, use the website you should be able to view them, please e mail me if you can't!

April 13th - Book examples 171 - 174, 185 -186 and 187

What keeps our skills up?

PRACTICE! Picking up our instrument everyday will continue to improve our skills as musicians.

Keep a routine: Keeping a consistent routine in anything we do will make improvements, this goes for not only practicing but how we practice too.

How should my practice routine look?

Warm up -

Long Tones (use the saxophone warm up sheet)

Scales and Thirds

Remember for solo festival you will need to prepare and MEMORIZE scales here is a guide for you at home
- - - Level 1/2 solos - prepare 3 scales from memory
    - Level 3 solos- prepare 7 scales from memory, you will be asked to play three.

Start to memorize your scales now, think of memorizing scales like a spelling test, a little a week will help make you successful. Review the scales you memorize every time you practice, have a family member test you!

After you warm up, time to get down to business:

A good practice session isn't about how much time you played or about how many songs you played through, it is about the quality of your time.

Focus on small chunks, practice a phrase at a time
- Focus on notes and rhythms first, make sure you have the notes under your fingers and a good understanding of the rhythm. Remember if it is a note you haven't seen or forgot how to play look at the back of your lesson book!
- Keep a steady beat when you practice
- Look at the details - focus on putting in the dynamics, slurs, ties, articulations!
- Put it all together - play through your phrase at least 3x's to make sure it becomes a memory!
- Record yourself and send it to Mr. Pelton for feedback at peltonz@victorschools.org. I will email you back with specific areas for you to focus on, and some corrections of notes, rhythms, articulations, etc.

Finishing a practice session: End your day by doing the following

End your time by focusing on your band music, pick a section that challenges you and see if you can make progress by using the skills you applied to your solo! Check out the 6th grade band page to see details on your music!

Sight Reading - One of the most important skills you can improve upon is your ability to sight read, use websites like:

https://www.sightreadingfactory.com/ - great website to try for free

Cool down with something fun - end on a positive note, play a tune or book example that you love it will have you leaving your time feeling great about what you accomplished!

Putting it all together -

After you have two or more phrases/sections learned, put them all together to see your progress! Remember to put your breathing between the phrases, this is a great time to practice your air support.

Give a performance - play your progress for your family, this will give you great practice playing in front of people!

Resources:

Metronome:

https://www.google.com/search?q=metronome

https://www.metronomeonline.com/