HSCS BAND

Local Information

• High Springs, FL
• High Springs Community School
• School Board of Alachua County
• Alachua County Fine Arts Calendar
• Santa Fe High School Band
• University of Florida
• Santa Fe College

Brass

• Horn - The Horn Players' FAQ
• Horn - The Thomas Bacon Horn Page
• Horn Planet Ask Miss Karen
• Trombone - The Douglas Yeo Home Page
• Trombone - Online Trombone Journal
• Trumpet - The International Trumpet Guild
• Trumpet - Trumpet Player Online
• Trumpet Topics Bryan Goff. (FSU)
• Tuba - International Tubists and Euphonium Association (T.U.B.A)

Woodwinds

• Bassoon.org
• Bassoonist on the Internet
• University of Georgia Bassoon Site
• Clarinet - International Clarinet Association
• Clarinet J&D Hite Site
• Clarinet - Michael D. Moors: Mega List of Clarinet Links
• Clarinet - Online Clarinet Resource
• Flute - Larry Krantz Flute Page
• Virtual Flute Fingering Chart
• Saxophone - J & D Hite Site
• Saxophone - The International Saxophone Home Page

Percussion

• Percussion - Marc Zoutendijk Percussion
• Modern Drummer
• Percussive Arts Society
• Vic Firth  Valuable resources for percussionists: includes rudiments and percussion playing techniques.
• Percussion Source  Extensive inventory of Percussion equipment and accessories. Great deals!    
  

Middle School

• Chain of Lakes MS Orchestra - Orlando
• High Springs Community School
• Oakview Middle School
• Howard Bishop Middle School
• Kanapaha Middle School
• Baker County MS - Baker County

High School

• Gainesville High School Band
• Buchholz High School Band
• Chiefland High School Band
• Santa Fe High School Band

Universities/Colleges

• University of Central Florida Marching Knights
• University of Florida Pride of the Sunshine Marching Band
• Florida State University Marching Noles
• Miami University
• University of South Florida Marching Heard
• Marshall University 
• University of Colorado Band
• USC Trojan Marching Band
• Bethune-Cookman College
• Clark Atlanta University Band
• Morgan State University Bands
• Western Michigan University Band
• The Michigan Marching Band
• Grambling State University
• Southern University and A & M

Semi-Professional  

• Gainesville Community Band
• Community Band Links from around the World
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Professional  

• Canadian Brass Quintet
• Dallas Brass

 Service Bands

• The President's Own Marine Band  Official site of what many consider to be the top wind ensemble in the country. I would recommend checking out the Audio Resources sections.  
• Army Band
• U.S. Army Band
  AMC's Own (389th Army Band)
  Army Field Band
  Fort Lee Band
  The United States Continental Army Band (TUSCAB)
  312th United States Army Reserve Band
  The 62d Army Band
• Navy Band
• The U.S. Navy Band
  The U.S. Naval Academy Band
  The U.S. Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps
  The U.S. Seventh Fleet Band
• Air Force Band
• The U.S. Air Force Band of the West - Lackland AFB, TX 
  The U.S. Air Force Band of the Rockies -Peterson AFB, CO
  The U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty -Hanscom AFB, MA
  The U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band -Langley AFB, VA
  The U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America -Scott AFB IL
  The U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West -Travis AFB CA
  The U.S. Air Force Band of Flight -Wright Patterson AFB OH
  The U.S. Air Force Heartland of America Band - Offutt AFB NE
  The U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific-Hawaii - Hickam AFB HI
  The U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia - Yokota AFB
  The U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band
• The Band of the United States Air Force Reserve -Robins AFB GA
  
  

Drum and Bugle Corps

• DCI
• Drum Corps Planet
• Drum Corps Associates
• http://www.marchingarts.com/
• Rosemont Cavaliers
• Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps
• Hawthorne Caballeros
• Concord Blue Devils
• Santa Clara Vanguard
• Teal Sound Drum and Bugle Corps

Orchestras  

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• New York Symphony Orchestra
• Clevland Symphony Orchestra
• Altanta Symphony Orchestra
• Orlando Symphony Orchestra
• Florida Orchestra
• Dallas Symphony Orchestra

• Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA)
• Music Educator National Conference (MENC)
• http://www.menc.educationnow.com/
• Worldwide Internet Music Resources
• Facts on the Benefits of Music Education
• Brain-Area Research Shows Correlation Between Music and Language Mechanisms
• Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA)
• Music Education Facts
• VH1 Save The Music
• Marching.com
• Florida Marching Band Championship
• Music Advocacy Maestro
• http://www.flmusiced.org/
• http://www.musictheory.org/
• National Endowment for the Arts
• PBS Online

• Jazz - Jazz Central Station
• Jazz - The Jazz Web
• John Coltrane  Students can learn about one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all-time.    
• Jazz - a Film by Ken Burns   Companion material with audio samples, photographs, and jazz history. Very informative!    
• Red Hot Jazz Archive  Offers information, history, discographies, and pictures from Jazz history prior to 1930. Information on Jazz history and the make-up of a jazz band specifically geared towards kids.    
  
• Duke Ellington's Washington  Companion site from PBS based on Duke Ellington and African-Americans that were prominent in the arts and politics. For our purposes, check out "The Music Scene" for information on different musicians.    
• NPR's Jazz Profiles  A site put together by National Public Radio that includes profiles on many jazz musicians. Each profile includes audio clips of the musician.    
• PBS KIDS - Jazz
• Jazz Diaspora  An online, commercial free, multimedia webcasting website that showcases Jazz music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

 Practice - Tips - History

Practice

Basic Rhythms Review - A great place to practice your rhythm skills. I STRONGLY recommend this page.

Posture and Practice - Here you will find a listing, by instrument, of tips for troubleshooting any problems you might have while practicing at home. Very useful!

Metronome Online - Here you will have a metronome anytime so you can practice at the correct tempo. 

Music Dictionary  - Do not know what that word means...then check here.

Keyboard Trainer - Want to lean about the piano keyboard.   This site will train you on the notes and keys.

Brass Trainer - This is for you brass players.

Note Trainer - Having a hard time learning the notes on the staff?  This site will prepare you to be a staff wizard.

Standard of Excellence Recordings -  OUR BOOK  Tired of practicing by yourself.  This site will accompany you while you play.  Enjoy!

The Scale Cruncher -Allows users to build different types of musical scales starting on any note. 

Practice Spot - NEW This allows you to practice many different things.

Music Tech Teacher - Over 130 different ways to learn music

Teoria - Music Theory Web

Instrument Tips

Texas School Music Project - Tips on  playing their instrument and how to play within an ensemble.

Brian Kay - Private Brass Instructor   - Tips/  instruction on how to play Trombone and other brass instruments. 

*Beginning Trombone players should check out the Trombone Flashcards at the bottom of the page.    

History

Classical Music Navigator   - Listing of composers and their works by genre and/or composition type.          
Library of Congress - I Hear America Singing
Great site with images and historical information about Patriotic music of the United States. Check out the Library of Congress March, written by John Philip Sousa, transcribed by Stephen Bulla. Cool stuff!    
Liveplasma
This cool site offers ways to search for favorite musicians and what other musicians they would be closely associated with in terms of style or genre.    

George and Ira Gershwin
Offers information about these famous American songwriters and composers.    

Music in Our World
An on-line version of this college textbook that highlights the elements of music and music history. 

Pandora - Music Genome Project
A great website that allows the user to learn about and listen to new music related to musicians you are interested in.    

On-line Music Stores for Instruments, Supplies, or Music

• Woodwind and Brasswind
• JW Pepper Sheet Music
• JKS Music
• Northern Music Publications Inc.
• Hoggtowne Music

For more music go to FREE from Music to Software.

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FREE from Music to Software

Music

• Manhattan Beach Music
• Frank Ticheli Music
• BBC3 - Music from the United Kingdom
• Northern Music Publications Inc.
• Alfred Music
• LudwigMasters
• Wingert-Jones
• Curnow Music
• Stanton Music
• National Public Radio (NPR)
• Classical Music Archives
  Affords members access to thousands of MIDI files and live recordings of Classical Music by various composers. Free members can access 5 files. Subscribers have unlimited access.
• NPR - Live Concert Series
  This site presents full concerts by some of today's most exciting and original bands. Hear a mix of smart pop, new folk, country-rock, etc. All performances originally webcast on NPR.org.   
• WUCF – Jazz Music
• Smithsonian Global Sound
  An interesting site by the Smithsonian Institute featuring International artists playing all sorts of culturally-based music. The music can be downloaded for $.99 each. Click on festival free downloads to get a free sample of music offered by this site.    
• Dallas Symphony Orchestra Listening Lab

Software

• Finale Note Pad -  Music Notation Software
  Are you composing music and your hand is getting tired?  Then Finale Note Pad is for you.  You can make professional compositions made by using downloading this free program.
• Noteflight - NEW This is a cool music writing program that is FREE and online. No downloading.
• Audicaty

 Colleges and Universities  

• University of Central Florida
• University of Florida
• Florida State University
• Miami University
• University of South Florida
• University of North Florida
• University of West Florida
• Santa Fe College
• Valencia Community College
• Central Florida Community College

Here are some games and activities from the Web.

Musical Tic-Tac-Toe - Looking for something to fill time. How 'bout an ole game of Tic-Tac-Toe!    
 

BEATS and MEASURES

Rhythm refers to the lengths of the notes you play.  We will discuss rhythms in terms of their length in BEATS.

When you tap your foot repeatedly at an even rate, each tap is a BEAT.  Think of a BEAT as having two parts: DOWN (when your foot hits the floor) and UP (when your foot returns back up).

A MEASURE is a group of BEATS.  A BAR LINE ( a vertical line through the staff) marks the end of each MEASURE.  We will be discussing the very common grouping of 4 BEATS to a MEASURE.

Put on a recording of any music you like and see if you can TAP a steady BEAT to it with your FOOT.  Have your mom or dad check to see if you are keeping an even pulse.

WHOLE NOTE

 The plain, hollow notehead is called a WHOLE NOTE because it lasts for 4 beats, which is the WHOLE measure!  Four beats is four taps of your foot, which would be: Down-Up, Down-Up, Down-Up, Down-Up.

Normally, musicians keep count in their head so they know if they've played the correct length.  For the DOWN beats they say the beat number (such as 1, 2, 3, or 4); for the UP beats they just say the word "AND" (shown by a plus sign below).

Try counting along, saying "1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and," as you tap your foot.

HALF NOTE

 The plain, hollow notehead with a stem is called a HALF NOTE because it lasts for 2 beats, which is HALF of a 4-beat measure!  Two beats is two taps of your foot, which would be: Down-Up, Down-Up.  Of course, it takes two half notes to complete a 4-beat measure.

Count saying "1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and," as you tap your foot.

QUARTER NOTE

 The solid (black) notehead with a stem is called a QUARTER NOTE because it lasts for 1 beats, which is ONE QUARTER of a 4-beat measure!  One beat is tone complete tap of your foot, which would be: Down-Up.  It takes four quarter notes to complete a 4-beat measure.

Count saying "1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and," as you tap your foot.

EIGHTH NOTES

 Like quarter notes, EIGHTH NOTES have a solid (black) notehead with a stem; however, they usually occur in groups of two or four and are joined by thick, black horizontal beams.  A single EIGHTH NOTE lasts just half a beat (either just the DOWN or just the UP), which is ONE EIGHTH of a 4-beat measure!  It takes eight eighth notes to complete a 4-beat measure.

Click on the measure below to hear a measure of eighth notes played (you'll hear four clicks before the measure starts).  Count along, saying "1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and," as you tap your foot.

Look for songs using eighth notes in your lesson book.  When you find a song you like, write the counts in above a measure or two with a pencil and bring it in for your band director to check.
 

QUARTERS and EIGHTHS

 Here's a measure with both quarter notes and eighth notes.  See if you can figure out the counts first, then click on the measure to hear it played.  Count and tap along.

Look for songs using quarter notes and eighth notes in your lesson book.  When you find a song you like, write the counts in above a measure or two with a pencil and bring it in for your band director to check.
 

DOTTED QUARTER NOTE and SINGLE EIGHTH NOTE

 A DOTTED QUARTER NOTE is 1 1/2 beats long.  1 1/2 beats is 1 1/2 taps of your foot, which is: Down-Up, Down.  To count a DOTTED QUARTER NOTE at the start of a measure, you would say, "1-and, Two."  (A lot of young players think that "1-and, Two" sounds like TWO beats, but it's NOT!  TWO BEATS would be "1-and, Two-AND.")

As discussed above, an EIGHTH NOTE is a 1/2 beat long.  However, the eighth notes above were connected by beams to OTHER eighth notes in pairs.  Here, we see a SINGLE EIGHTH NOTE with a FLAG instead of a beam.  Since it follows a DOTTED QUARTER NOTE, it occurs on the UP part of the 2nd beat (and then again on the UP part of the 4th beat).

This rhythm is tricky.  Click on the measure below and first try to tap a steady beat while the rhythm is being played.  Then try to clap the rhythm while tapping your foot.

Look for songs using the dotted quarter and single eighth notes in your lesson book.  When you find a song you like, write the counts in above a measure or two with a pencil and bring it in for your band director to check.

Whole Note Music

The simplest suggestion may make a big difference! Read the suggestions below and see if there is something that you might have overlooked or forgotten. Do not be afraid to try something new!

Flute

1. Flute parallel with lips

2. Flute to head, not head to flute

3. Relaxed embouchure, slight frown

4. Flat fingers, do not over reach!

5. Open mouth and throat. Create a full tone

6. To raise pitch, adjust jaw forward, or roll flute out

7. To lower pitch, drop jaw, or roll in flute

8. Tuning problem? Double check position of head cork.

Clarinet

1. Head up

2. Chin down flat, corners back

3. Do not overwrap bottom lip

4. Fingers flat, angled down

5. Tongue light, quick

6. Teeth on mouthpiece

7. Embouchure firm, clarinet in center of mouth

8. Squeaks? Try less mouthpiece, check reed for chips, cracks, warped

Saxophone

1. Lower jaw, somewhat relaxed

2. Tongue lightly

3. Fill horn with air, practice extreme dynamics

4. Sax to mouth, not mouth to sax-adjust sax strap to bring the horn to correct position

5. Sit up straight, head up, not sideways

Oboe

1. Reed placed between lips which are slightly rolled in over the teeth

2. Lips close around the reed, no leaks

3. Lips firm, do not pinch, allow the reed to vibrate

4. Tip of the tongue touches reed when tonguing

Bassoon

1. Lips are pushed forward, not rolled over teeth

2. Do not pinch!

3. Allow lower jaw to recede, upper teeth forward-overbite position

4. Sit upright, bring bassoon to mouth

5. Use strap that works best for you-Seat strap or neck strap

Trumpet/Cornet

1. Head up

2. Position mouthpiece 50/50 (half upper lip, half lower)

3. Light pressure, do not pinch

4. Chin flat

5. Tongue lightly

6. Open throat, horn parallel with floor

7. Fill horn with air, do not overblow!

8. Trumpet supported by the left hand

9. Finger tips on valve buttons for best fingering technique

French Horn

1. Two thirds, upper lip, one third, lower

2. Pressure more on lower lip

3. Do not suck in lower lip

4. Head up, BLOW!

5. Sit forward in the chair, face director

6. Back of right hand against bell

7. Use right hand to help regulate pitch (intermediate/advanced level)

Trombone/Tuba/Baritone

1. Open lips-Space between

2. Blow!

3. Trombone-relaxed wrist, quick

4. Do not puff cheeks!

5. Open throat

Excellent Suggestions for Everyone

1. Be patient! Success takes time

2. Practice, Practice, Practice

3. Due diligence-if something doesn't come right away, move on and come back to it later

4. Experiment-if something doesn't work for you, try a new technique, position, mouthpiece, reed, instrument, vocal

5. Question experts-can't figure it out? Consult a recognized professional

6. Practice dynamics regularly (softs & louds) The best musicians can play any selection at any volume with ease

7. Take lessons! One lesson is better than none. Get someone who can help you start correctly.  Bad habits will limit your success, and they are hard to break!

8. Practice all tempos. Many people can play notes quickly. A professional can also play it slowly with expression

9. Practice different styles of music. Jazz, classical, rock, pop, folk, religious. It will make you a better, well-rounded musician and improve your technique.

10. Proficiency with scales will improve your technique