Stay Tuned for Exciting Band Events

Holiday Guide for Band Students 

As Black Friday deals have already started to drop, this is the PERFECT time to level up your band student. Here is a guide to help you.  I will expand on private lessons.  My husband is one of the best saxophone players I know.  He studied privately and practiced his fingers off.  In college, he earned a degree in Exercise Science and is a product manager for a group that does cardio telemetry.  He used his sax to pay for college and his bosses have said they look for musicians because they know how detail oriented they can be.  Taking private lessons will not be a waste of money, even if your post secondary plans do not involve music. 

ALL STUDENTS: 

• #1 PRIVATE LESSONS!  The kids asked what some of the other schools do that we don’t and I suspect a large number of them take private lessons. Some music stores have a staff who offer private lessons, you can also ask me and I’ll put you in contact with an instructor.  I play trumpet so my intimate knowledge of other instruments becomes limited at the high school level, such as alternate pinky key fingerings on clarinet, or flute embouchure fixes.  I started taking them in 8th grade and am so grateful to my dad for signing me up.
• Tuner / metronome- can be app on a phone or separate item left in case
• Case with shoulder strap, or wheels for heavier instruments
• Instrument stand so students can safely set their instruments down without them falling over
• Music stand to practice easier at home
• Serviced instruments: after a season of marching band, get instruments cleaned out, pads & corks replaced, rods and keys aligned & reseated, brass instruments chem cleaned. If your child (especially woodwind) says their instrument is hard to play, but it “kinda” plays, that’s indicative of a leak.  Having a serviced instrument makes a world of difference; your child will be amazed at how much easier their instrument can be when it works properly and not “kinda good.”  They may even want to practice more!

Flute

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha, Armstrong, Gemeinhardt; consider an open-holed flute with a B-foot
• Upgraded head joint (gold or silver plated)
• swab, not fuzzy stick

Clarinet

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha, Buffet; wood clarinets over plastic clarinet
• Upgraded mouthpiece & ligature; synthetic is an option
• Neck strap
• Reeds: Legere, Vandoren
• Swab (not a padsaver)
• Pad paper

Saxophone

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha, Selmer, Keilwerth
• Upgraded mouthpiece & ligature
• Neck strap
• Reeds: Legere, Vandoren; synthetic is an option
• Swab (not a padsaver)
• Pad paper

Trumpet

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha, Bach, Getzen
• Upgraded mouthpiece
• Valve oil (Al Cass)
• Berp
• Mutes
  1. Straight- Tom Crown, Stoneline
  2. Harmon
  3. Cup – Dennis Wick

Trombone

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha, Bach, King; consider trombone with an F attachment
• Upgraded mouthpiece
• Berp
• Travel sized spray bottle
• Slide-o-Mix lubricant
• Straight Mute: Stoneline or Tom Crown

Euphonium

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha 4-valve
• Upgraded mouthpiece
• Berp
• Valve oil: Al Cass

Tuba

• Upgraded equipment: Yamaha 4-valve full size BBb tuba (dream big!) 
• Berp

Percussion

• Practice pad: single or quad
• Stick bag
• Essential needs: 
  1. Drum sticks, both nylon and wood tip
  2. Xylo mallets, hard rubber or yarn
  3. Timpani mallets and a pitch pipe

• Brushes
• Drum key

Colorguard

• 6’ aluminum pole (bandshoppe.com) 
• Silk
• Rifle (check with instructor for proper size & weight)
• Rifle gloves
• Sabre (again, check with instructor for proper size & weight)