Band Methods

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I am not as crazy about EE book 2 as I am about EE book 1,
but I still use it.  

The way I see it is that, if your kids can really play the
last 60 or so of EE 1, they have all the tools to play grade II music.  I mention that because most band directors
seem to stop in book one around the 130 range, making book 2 ( and grade II
music) nearly impossible. Also, coming back to finish up book 1 and the start
of a new year doesn’t work very well, so it is important to get the kids over
the grade ½-1 hump by the end of year one, if not you will be stuck there for
most of the next year.  

For those reasons I aim to start with book 2 and the
foundations book at the start of year 2. I use the foundations book to make all
7^th graders to be district honor band audition ready by Dec. I use
EE book 2 to help with building fluency and reading, teaching new things, but
it is only a small % of the day compared to 6^th grade band. With 6^th
grade we will spend almost the whole day in EE book 1, with 7^th graders
I spend maybe 15 minutes tops. 

I leave out all the arrangements from EE 2 and use only the exercises,
 I comeback and do the high points of the
book again for 8^th grade during the first semester since 2/2 and 6/8
can be hard to get the first time around. 

In all cases I try to make sure each exercise is mastered,
can be buzzed, sung/solfeged, and played in the right style or even different
styles, before I move on.  The trick with
both books is to be juggling 4 or 5 exercises at the same time, all in
different stages of mastery. That way the kids don’t lose what I call the
fluency factor. 

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Jason Royal Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 317	Quote Reply Topic: Band Methods Posted: 13 Apr 2008 at 11:09
	I am not as crazy about EE book 2 as I am about EE book 1, but I still use it. The way I see it is that, if your kids can really play the last 60 or so of EE 1, they have all the tools to play grade II music. I mention that because most band directors seem to stop in book one around the 130 range, making book 2 ( and grade II music) nearly impossible. Also, coming back to finish up book 1 and the start of a new year doesn’t work very well, so it is important to get the kids over the grade ½-1 hump by the end of year one, if not you will be stuck there for most of the next year. For those reasons I aim to start with book 2 and the foundations book at the start of year 2. I use the foundations book to make all 7^th graders to be district honor band audition ready by Dec. I use EE book 2 to help with building fluency and reading, teaching new things, but it is only a small % of the day compared to 6^th grade band. With 6^th grade we will spend almost the whole day in EE book 1, with 7^th graders I spend maybe 15 minutes tops. I leave out all the arrangements from EE 2 and use only the exercises, I comeback and do the high points of the book again for 8^th grade during the first semester since 2/2 and 6/8 can be hard to get the first time around. In all cases I try to make sure each exercise is mastered, can be buzzed, sung/solfeged, and played in the right style or even different styles, before I move on. The trick with both books is to be juggling 4 or 5 exercises at the same time, all in different stages of mastery. That way the kids don’t lose what I call the fluency factor.