HS Band WarrmUp

Adam, Shannalee, and myself engaged the band in a set of three rousing warmups, in that order. Adams warmup was very involved and had a lot of moving parts that he obviously spent a lot of time planning out. It seemed very effective though to achieve good intonation with the group, and they also seemed to enjoy it. After being made an example due to her chewing gum, Shannalee took to the podium and performed her warmups with the group. Considering the fact that she was never a band person, I thought they went well. Then, it was my turn. I did a one octave B flat major scale, in eighth notes, up and down the scale thrice, like you do, Dr. Stark. I varied the tempo to make sure the group was paying attention to my conducting, and after doing that a couple times, I was able to get the group focused on changing speed and watching me. I then did the LightHouse technique, in which I hold my arms out in front of me and sweep across the room, having people enter on a B flat when they are in the "Beam". This is good for working on entrances and also for dropping out, and to also work on blending. It also works well because there are fewer students in the beam, which allows the ones who are playing to really be able to hear themselves and their neighbors.