Music

Current Covid situation

Congratulations to all the instrumental music students who managed to get to their WebEx lessons last week. While WebEx is not the ideal way to manage music lessons, it provided continued contact between teachers and students.

In line with recent education department guidelines, all brass and woodwind lessons have to take place outdoors. Lessons will continue to go ahead and if the weather is too bad, non-playing lessons will take place indoors. All concert band and choir rehearsals and are currently cancelled. Both the String Ensemble and the Senior String Ensembles will go ahead as usual.

Instrumental music families are reminded to regularly check the Compass news feed to see when things change.

Disappointingly, we have had to cancel/possibly postpone the East Gippsland Music Festival which was scheduled for the last week of term.

Music Practice

Having seen how many students play their instruments at home, we have realised that many students could be thinking about their practice space more carefully. We understand the constraints of practice in a busy family home but there are a few things which can easily be fixed and should be considered.

Students need to find times in the week to play their instrument when it suits the family. This may mean some negotiation. A drawn-up timetable, stuck on the fridge, is a good reminder to the whole family.
A practice space needs to be quiet, well-lit and at an appropriate temperature.
Students should have their music propped up so they can see it while maintaining appropriate posture. A music stand is a good idea and is relatively cheap. The local music shop has several types for sale in a range of price options.
A combination of standing and sitting during a practice session is good because students need to play in both positions. A hard, straight backed chair is best for all instruments.
Students will all have a sequence of activities to do when they play at home. Wind instruments should always start with long notes. All students will have a range of technical work, pieces and ensemble music to learn.
Please be aware that the most productive practice involves the repetition of difficult passages. Initially these will not sound great but fluency comes with patient repetition and with the encouragement of family members. Music teachers provide students with a range of strategies to help them continue to make progress.
Time is not as important when practicing as making progress. Students should focus on achieving goals rather than spending specified amounts of time on the instrument.
Playing and practice are not necessarily the same. Both are important but practice is what moves us forward.

Check out these sites for further information:

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/practising-musical-instrument/

http://www.hopestreetmusicstudios.com/articles/how-to-practice-a-musical-instrument