Advanced Band

What is Advanced Band?

Advanced Band is the TOP band at Orion and will participate in the most activities including concerts, assemblies, elementary performances, videos, etc. Students will continue to learn and develop their instrument playing skills and abilities! All students will continue to learn how to read music and play their instruments with good tone and musicality. Classroom activities will include playing, music reading, music writing, etc. Students will gain the ability to play, read, create, and perform at a higher level. This group will perform in four or more concerts during the school year. Field trips are a part of this class. (At least one year of Band required. Audition may be required.)

Practice is imperative to the success of a Advanced Band member. Students are expected to practice every day for 20 minutes. For students who find taking their instrument to and from school every day inconvenient, the band room practice rooms are available before and after school. The band room is open from 7:15 am-4:00 pm daily, with only slight variations. Playing an instrument involves the development of hundreds muscle fibers acting in unison to perform a specific task. Much like throwing a football, shooting a basketball, or kicking a soccer ball, muscle-memory is required to ensure that every aspect of playing an instrument is performed the same, proper way every time. Practice doesn't make perfect....Practice makes permanent.

What is Advanced Band?

Advanced Band is the TOP band at Orion and will participate in the most activities including concerts, assemblies, elementary performances, videos, etc. Students will continue to learn and develop their instrument playing skills and abilities! All students will continue to learn how to read music and play their instruments with good tone and musicality. Classroom activities will include playing, music reading, music writing, etc. Students will gain the ability to play, read, create, and perform at a higher level. We have a lot of fun in Advanced Band, but we work A LOT harder than beginning band. Students need to be dedicated in order to be in this group. This group will perform in four or more concerts during the school year. Field trips are a part of this class. (At least one year of Band required. Audition may be required.)

Practice is imperative to the success of a Beginning Band member. Students are expected to practice every day for 20 minutes. For students who find taking their instrument to and from school every day inconvenient, the band room practice rooms are available before and after school. The band room is open from 7:15am-4:00 pm daily, with only slight variations. Playing an instrument involves the development of hundreds muscle fibers acting in unison to perform a specific task. Much like throwing a football, shooting a basketball, or kicking a soccer ball, muscle-memory is required to ensure that every aspect of playing an instrument is performed the same, proper way every time. Practice doesn't make perfect....Practice makes permanent.

What do I need for Advanced Band?

Instrument! Ms. Shinney recommends renting for your first year. Sometimes you'll change your mind about what instrument you want to play. Please see the Instrument Rental Page under Resources.
Foundations for Superior Performance Book! If you go to Amazon, type in "Foundations for Superior Performance" then type in your instrument, you'll find one! I recommend getting your own, because then it's yours to keep forever, and you get to write in it if you want to. We will use this for BOTH years you do Advanced Band. We do have some at the school that are free to use as needed.
Pencils! You need a pencil EVERYDAY! We only use pencil to write on music, because it gets reused. (It actually costs money to replace music if it gets ruined. When you buy a band song, you only pay for a set number of trumpet parts, so if it gets ruined or lost, you have to pay to get more copies.)
Reeds? If you play the saxophone or clarinet, you need to get your own reeds! You can also get them from Amazon. Ms. Shinney recommends a 2.5, but would love for you to switch to a 3 by the end of the first semester. (Rico is a cheap but good brand, great for learning! Royal is a little bit more, but worth the price for the quality! Start discovering what kind of reeds that you LOVE. ) Ms. Shinney keeps a few at the school, but they're for emergencies/available in the class store. Plan on getting your own reeds, and ALWAYS keeping at least one backup.

Am I ready for Advanced Band?

You're ready for Advanced Band if you've had a year of Band! Advanced Band is a group for our most motivated band students, who want to keep being a part of band. Being in band is all about being a part of a team, and doing your part to make sure the team is successful. If you have any questions about Advanced Band, come and talk to Ms. Shinney

We do have a percussion class at Orion, that is made for percussion specific learning. There is SO much to learn as a percussionist, so that's why we have a percussion class. Percussionists are a specialized group that needs to have more motivation and self discipline than any other musician. Percussionists are the heartbeat of the band, they change the mood, and add to the groove. However, percussionists also need to be able to count extremely well, because sometimes they have a lot of rests. Percussionists need to be focused enough to count rests, play on cue, and be able to sit for periods of time without getting distracted, or distracting others, and be self-motivated to learn and rehearse parts. Because of this, currently only select percussion students are allowed to be in Advanced Band rather than percussion. Here are a few requirements to register for Advanced Band as a Percussionist.

Student must contact Ms. Shinney with interest in registering for Advanced Band over Percussion
Student will need to do an audition. This will include excerpts on the Snare, Bass Drum, and Mallet instrument. Students will also be asked to sight read rhythms and a mallet excerpt. During this audition students will be interviewed
Students must have a letter of recommendation from an adult (teacher, activity leader, coach, etc.), explaining their attributes that would make them a good fit for Advanced Band. (Self starter, self-motivated, focused, driven, etc.)
Since this is an Advanced Group, there is an expected threshold of knowledge and skill you must demonstrate.

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