SENSE Band

2008 Plans Boiling...

2007-12-31T10:27:00.000-08:00

SENSE students, families, friends of the SENSE Band -- and Boilermaker fans -- have reason to be excited for 2008.

The physical space SENSE occupies has an interesting musical history, including the fact that it is the birthplace of the famed Big Bass Drum of Purdue University, long considered the largest drum in the world. Select percussionists in distinctive helmets play the drum at every home football game, as well as parades and other special events.

Motor City Bowl, 2007. Purdue prevailed in the last seconds, 51-48.

Mrs. Chase, an alumna of Purdue and Kindergarten teacher here at SENSE, suggested the wonderful idea that we contact Purdue bands to let them know about our school history and forming band. Long story short: in March we might have a special visit from one BIG drum. What a great opportunity for our students.

Completed Mr. Holland's Opus Grant

2007-11-09T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well, thanks to Diane Hanebutt, our Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation grant is completed and sent. I'll keep you posted on our fate!

Student's Family Donates Trombone

2007-11-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

A family member of one of our fourth grade students donated his trombone this Wednesday. It is exciting to see people pulling together to make this band happen. As we get more information about the donation, I'll pass it along! It was something of a surprise to see this student walk in the music room with a trombone for the band this morning, as you might expect.

This student has been most excited this week about the drums, but who knows what instrument he might eventually play!

As the 2008-2009 year approaches, I find myself lapsing into more and more pleasant reveries of teaching students to play their first band instruments. For now, we're happy practicing for our singing/filming Christmas production for 2007, "Tracking Santa"...

Indianapolis Children's Choir (ICC)

2007-09-28T10:38:00.001-07:00

While many students rest over the next two weeks, the SENSE music department will be gearing up for big events: we'll start ICC auditions, finalize our holiday program script and music, and plan the SENSE after school Acting Club (more details later)!

Fall Break is here!

The Indianapolis Children's Choir is an extremely healthy activity for band students (or any students at all). ICC has over 20 choirs, some of which are among the best children's choirs in the country. They have recorded for the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill music textbooks, performed for U.S. Presidents, and toured every year at the greatest halls in the world from Carnegie to St. Mark's Cathedral to the Vatican. For SENSE students last year, though, joining a beginning ICC choir was exciting for a different reason: first, they rehearsed on a college campus and none of them had been to one before; second, they learned difficult music, developing independence and pitch sensitivity they didn't know they had; and third, they discovered how exciting it is to work with peers in a focused, progressive atmosphere.

We have 35 students from 4th-6th grade who have asked for more information about auditions! Wow! There are only about 80+ students in 4th-6th grades here, total. I hope that we end up with at least 10-15 students who are accepted and who can make the transportation and financial arrangements.

There is a mandatory meeting to discuss these details on Friday, October 5 at 5:30pm in the SENSE music room. We will arrange carpools if possible and we enjoy refreshments. Be there!

A Little Bit about Reeds

2007-09-25T08:53:00.001-07:00

Arundo donax, a species of giant reed plant (cleverly called "Giant Reed" in English) has a long and important musical history. Flutes and pan flutes have been carved from these wooden tubes for at least 5,000 years. Musicians now use arundo donax primarily as the material for the "reeds" that are vibrated with breath in many woodwind instruments.

Giant Reed (arundo donax) is used for musical instruments from pan flutes to saxophone reeds.

An alto saxophone reed strapped to the mouthpiece.

Warps, grain variations, density variations, shaving imperfections, and even the variations of different musicians' mouths make finding that perfect reed quite complex for experienced musicians. But for beginners what is needed is just a new, well-seated, un-chipped reed of the correct strength. Having a nice reed makes all the difference in how fun and productive playing is!

Since cane reeds last about 2 weeks to 2 months, depending upon the size of the reed and the frequency of playing, some companies have begun making synthetic reeds out of proprietary formulas. Some of these sound OK, but of course the main attraction is how durable they are.

Synthetic baritone sax reeds. Synthetic reeds are valued for their durability, not quality of sound.

New! Online Payments

2007-09-25T07:21:00.001-07:00

If you have considered donating to SENSE Band but never felt like there was an easy enough way to do it, avail yourself of the new opportunity to quickly and safely make a tax-deductible contribution! There are lots of non-instrument items that the band must buy regularly including music, reeds, and repair services.

PayPal is one of the most common, safe, and trusted ways to send money online. (In the last quarter of 2006 alone PayPal handled $11 billion -- yes, billion -- in consumer transactions.) (PayPal: Aquisition by Ebay, Wikipedia, accessed Sept 25, 2007)

How to Donate

Click the "Donate" button on the side column of the website.
Enter any amount, press Update Total.
Log in, or click "continue" without logging in.
Enter billing and shipping info (we will mail a receipt for your taxes)
Type special instructions, if you wish.
Done!

Whether you send $3 for a box of reeds, $30 for a repair, or $300 for a trumpet, the process is really easy--and really important! Curious about financial records? Our books are kept accurately and up-to-date online. Click the link by the Donate button!

Learning Band Skills, Having Fun

2007-09-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

From third grade students prepare to play in band in part by practicing the recorder, an inexpensive (ca. $7) woodwind that is fingered much the same way as the flute, oboe, clarinet, and saxophone.

In Recorder Karate, students associate learning an instrument with mastering martial arts skills.

Students love playing the recorder. Primarily, we learn from the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill workbook, which provides a short new obbligato (play-along) piece every day. Since there is a new song every day, students are forced to read music, not just play by rote! Moreover, the play-alongs are fun because the sound is good when accompanying a full-orchestra recorded piece. But the most fun part of our recorder curriculum for students, however, is Recorder Karate!

In Recorder Karate, students work over a series of class periods to master the next of a series of progressively difficult songs. Just as in real karate, when the next set of skills is mastered by the student, a colored belt is awarded. Our yarn belts tie around the bell (base) of the recorder!

Students demonstrate mastery by playing the target song individually before the class with 100% perfection. Learning that it takes patient, repeated practice to succeed is easy to grasp in the context of this analogy with athletic training. In fact, no students have suffered undue anxiety during testing because they find safety in this room where using multiple tries is "par for the course". I love hearing kids encourage each other with words like, "Never quit!"

Playing recorder successfully requires fine motor coordination when reading music and responding with tonguing and fingering choices. The recorder is an open-holed instrument (fingers cover holes instead of pressing keys), so students are also learning difficult hand positioning fundamentals, such as using slightly curved and relaxed fingers. I can't think of a better way to prepare students for the challenge of playing band instruments.

Brownsburg Couple Donates via Freecycle

2007-09-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'd like to thank a handful of people for our most recent donation! First and foremost, the anonymous donors of our new hi-hat, ride cymbals, bass drum pedal, and folding music stand! This nice young couple from Brownsburg heard about SENSE Band from a listing at the Indianapolis group of the Freecycle Network. Both of the couple are percussionists, as are some of their family members, who donated the equipment. They were really excited to put their equipment to constant good use. That's just what we'll do!

Special thanks should go also to my great-aunt Janet and our SENSE School Title I coordinator, Mrs. Harmon, who let me know about Freecycle and suggested that we list our needs there.

A Wonderful Coincidence!

2007-08-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

Ms. Horner, one of our SENSE 4th grade teachers, today informed the band that she has procured a flute, trombone, and snare drum from herself and members of her family. That is wonderful! And a coincidence...

(We're up to thirteen instruments now!)

SENSE Anyonymous Gift!

2007-08-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

SENSE received an anonymous gift from a woman moving out of our Fountain Square neighborhood this weekend. On her way out of town she stopped by Arthur's Music Store (Shelby Street, one block north of Fountain Square) and dropped off a music stand a 3/4-size violin with the instructions to donate the equipment to SENSE. We are amazed by her kindness and grateful for this gift. Whoever you are, we wish you the best as you travel and in your new home!

SENSE now owns five music stands and its very first stringed instrument. The instrument donated today is a student instrument made in Germany in 1963 (thanks to Linda at Arthur's Music for the research!). We do not have immediate plans to begin an orchestra, but there are a number of students who have expressed interest in learning the violin this year as we studied composers and classical music. They couldn't make a better choice: first, with scaled-down instruments students as young as two or three can begin lessons; second, playing violin, like singing and other musical activities that require students to "find" the pitch, improves ear sensitivity; and as with any instrument, students learn to read musical notation.

Email Syndication Now Available

2007-08-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

Keeping up with activities of our SENSE Band is easier than ever! Content from this site can now go straight to an email inbox. To do this, click the link at left, enter your email, and click the confirmation link coming in your first email, which will be from confirmations@emailenfuego.net. Done!

No more trying to remembering this web site address! No more forgetting what SENSE Band students are up to! Conveniently receive encouraging blog updates in your inbox. Unsubscription is easy, should you need to!

(Click to enlarge.)
This very post, as it appears in an email! Email syndication makes it more convenient for you keep up with the SENSE kiddies' activities by taking the content of this blog to your inbox!

Perfect Time for a SENSE Band?

2007-08-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

We're really excited about the progress Indianapolis Public Schools is making in their music program. This last year they held their first distric honor band in about two decades! The excitement at that concert was electric.

Why does the IPS band program matter to our SENSE students? Many SENSE elementary school students will attend an IPS school after graduating from our elementary school. It is gratifying to know that they will have a strong music program to continue the training begun at SENSE.

Elementary school band experience allows kids to learn to control their instrument (instead of the instrument seeming to be in control of itself!), blend with a group, and play a limited range of notes. In Junior High, students will expand their range, begin to strengthen their independent note-reading abilities, develop the "characteristic sound", and vastly improve their dexterity. In High School, most students achieve great autonomy in their playing, the ability to balance their instrument volume and tambre within and between sections, and most importantly of all, the sense to play "musically" with good style and control. A good high school band is the kind of group that can put on public concerts that non-relatives attend. And then there is college for those who choose...

The timing for us to start the SENSE band is perfect. The momentum is building at IPS to re-fund and reemphasize the arts, and we'll be benefiting. And so will IPS because of us: we'll be feeding them students with one to two years of playing experience before Junior High.

Great Help from our Fifth Grade Teachers!

2007-08-16T04:55:00.001-07:00

5th grade teachers Mrs. Passarelli and Ms. Ray have donated a number of instruments to the SENSE Band this week.

Mrs. Passarelli took a music course in college that required making percussion instruments. These she has kindly lent instruments to our band: shakers, rhythm sticks, and a beautiful hand drum.

A tenor trombone with F attachment, which is a set of extra coils and thumb trigger allowing lower notes to be played.

Ms. Ray, an accomplished musician on a variety of instruments including piano, flute, and drums, has donated a drum set, a trombone (thanks to Mr. Ray, her brother!), and a flute! This donation is the first of a brass instrument as well as the first flute! I'm sure it will be very difficult, however, to find a kid who wants to play drums... ;)

Musical History of SENSE Building

2007-08-15T13:53:00.001-07:00

Longtime residents of Indianapolis--and I mean longtime!--may recall that the building now occupied by SENSE Charter School and 21st Century Charter School was not always a school building. Over the years, this large space has had many guests, but the original occupants were none other than the Leedy Drum Company.

The Purdue Drum, still the largest-diameter drum in the world, was created in the SENSE building in 1921.

The Leedy drum company, started by U.G. Leedy at the turn of the last century, was the country's leading drum manufacturer during the golden age of jazz, swing, and modern classical music. Notable endorsees who would only play Leedy include Sonny Greer (Duke Ellington's drummer); the Green brothers (mallet percussion experts); George Way; George Braum (Metropolitan Opera of NY); and John Philip Sousa's whole drum section (including bass drummer of all those legends, August Helmecke). Leedy invented the vibraphone as well as the snare drum stand (snares heretofore were slung around on the side, as in the army, or set on a chair); and they built the Purdue Drum, the largest bass drum in diameter in the world (yes, it took a long time to find two cows that would produce 7'2'' diameter heads!). All of this took place in the building SENSE students attend every day. We have an awesome musical legacy that we would like to continue!

A Pair of Clairs!

2007-08-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Students are fortunate to have two more clarinets now! Our school has many, many musically talented staff members, including the Spanish teacher, Ms. Canady, who was an avid clarinettist in high school. In fact, she almost chose to teach music instead of Spanish when in college.

Ms. Canady owned two clarinets, a plastic one for outdoor events and a wooden one for indoor concerts. She generously donated both of them to our students, which we are grateful for. Gracias!

Grant App: Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation

2007-08-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

We've begun to fill out our second grant application, the Melody Program at the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation.

This foundation was started, you guessed it, after the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. In fact, the composer of the film score, Michael Kamen, began the foundation. According the MHOF website,

THE MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS FOUNDATION (MHOF) supports music education and its many benefits through the donation and repair of musical instruments to under-served schools, community music programs and individual students nationwide.

MHOF was inspired by the acclaimed motion picture Mr. Holland’s Opus, the story of the profound effect a dedicated music teacher had on generations of students. The film's composer, Michael Kamen, founded MHOF in 1996 as his commitment to the future of music education.

This grant application is an in-depth one that will require two to four weeks to put together, with the help of our PTO president and administrators.

Of course, I think that we would be a great place for the MHOF to invest its donation resources: our band-aged students have been playing recorder, a pre-band instrument, for two years or more in preparation for band; our music teacher (me :D) specializes in band instruction; we have systems and facilities for repairing and protecting instruments; and most of all, of course, our students are excited about playing in band. We're really committed to this band program! Keep checking back on this blog to see what activities YOU can help with in small, medium, or great ways because every bit counts.

Grant App: Reading, Writing, and Rhythm

2007-08-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've put in a first grant application at the website of country musician Chely Wright. The time frame of grant cycles is not clear, however it seems that donations are disbursed once per year, presumably in the Spring or Summer.

Ms. Wright has donated thousands of dollars to schools across the country because she values music education so highly. Click here and here to learn why she cares so much about music education in the school system.

I hope we are selected as a recipient of a grant!

Thank You, Mrs. Moon!

2007-07-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Our sixth grade teacher, Ms. Moon, is an avid music fan: many in her family and and have been heavily involved in marching band, color guard, and other band groups while in school. When she learned about our instrument drive, she gave our students an alto saxophone that her son no longer uses. We are very grateful that she and her son care about SENSE students' music education so much. Thank you!

Sixth Grade Parent Steps In!

2007-07-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

A SENSE fifth grader and his father donated a gorgeous bass clarinet, bringing our band instrument total to 4: we already have miscellaneous percussion, a snare drum, and a clarinet.

The bass clarinet is the second-largest and second-lowest sounding instrument in the clarinet family. (The only one larger the contra-bass clarinet.) When we tried out the instrument, we could feel the vibrations throughout our body as it played its full, deep sounds!

The instrument is in near perfect condition. With a few adjustments, it will be in tip-top shape. We are very grateful to Mr. Norton and his son for the excellent contribution. It is really exciting to see how involved people are becoming in donating to our program.

Thank you, Mrs. Manley!

2007-07-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

This donor is near to my heart--she is my wife!

Mrs. Manley agreed last month to loan one of her clarinets to a SENSE student. She played this fine wooden Yamaha throughout high school, and she is excited about the chance for another to learn to play with it.

Thank you, honey!

Thank You, Mrs. Harasim!

2007-07-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Our curriculum director pledged our band's first instrument! SENSE will be the grateful owner of a snare drum in the Fall of 2007. Thanks, Mrs. Harasim!

Welcome to the SENSE Band Blog

2007-07-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the SENSE Band blog. Check here for updates on what SENSE students are doing inside and outside of music classes as they prepare for the launch of our band program in 2007-2008!