Baby Band Concert

Can I tell you about one of my favorite concerts of the year? It's our first concert with beginners. Why? Because it's so much fun for the kids, parents, and directors! I can't remember whether the director I was working with at the time, Jared Brown, or I, had read an article from NAfME (MENC at the time) that stated that band students who performed a concert within the first 6 weeks of beginning band were more likely to stick with band for the long term. We talked about it and thought, "Let's give it a try!"

How do you do a concert with students who have only had instruments for six weeks you ask? It's actually easy. You invite their parents to a concert, and, depending on your space, have one or both parental units sit next to their student. The first year we did this we had a relatively small class and hosted the concert in the band hall with both parents sitting with the student. We packed the room and it was tight. However, the parents really got to experience class in the true setting. Since then, I have held this concert in both a gym and a cafeteria. Just give yourself room for a set up that is double or triple your norm.

Once you have everyone settled, it's time to start the concert. We literally hold a day of class in abbreviated form. We start with students performing on their mouthpieces, breathing exercises. Then we go through our long tone and lip slur routine, review the first five notes and go into the book. During this time my colleague and I give students feedback, as well as use the metronome and Harmony Director just as we do each day in class. Doing the concert this way allows us to "educate" our parents about how students should be practicing, what they should be practicing and why they do the various exercises.

We also talk to our parents about what their student being part of the band family means. In our program, family means meals together before concerts, weekly grade checks, a safe haven for their student and directors who are invested in their child for the three years. We are a Title One community with about 1,000 students on campus grades 6-8, with many of our parents working multiple jobs. Knowing that their student is involved with a program that is watching out for them both academically and socially throughout their time on campus is a comfort to our parents.

At the end of the concert comes the best part! Students teach their parents how to make a sound on their instrument, how to hold the instrument, and even how to play a note or two. The students are so excited to be able to teach their parents something that they don't know. We also invite our teachers and older band students to the concert as well to be "parents." There is much laughter and a whole lot of noise! This year I discovered that an 8th grade tuba player has an amazing clarinet sound when he sat in with one of our beginners!

This concert only lasts for about 25 minutes, however, it has a massive positive impact on how parents perceive the band program and its benefits for their students. The students have a very positive first performance and are excited about concerts from that point forward. It's a win and anyone who hasn't tried it should consider doing so!

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After I shared this article with a band director friend, he had many excellent questions. As we talked through his questions a second article with the details seemed to develop.

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Danika White is currently the band director at Rayburn MS in Northside ISD in San Antonio. She spent the first seventeen years of her teaching career in Missouri where her bands received numerous I ratings at State Contest, her solo and ensemble students were very successful at both the district and state level, and she had All-State Band members on flute, clarinet, and French Horn. Her marching bands were honored to represent Missouri at the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington D.C. twice in five years. Ms. White holds degrees from Central Methodist University and the University of Arkansas.