Our weekly small group lessons are off to a great start! These lessons are very important because they allow Mr. Meyer and Mr. Schraub to hear and provide feedback to each student. Here are some points to remember:

• The lesson schedule is always live and is updated every Friday afternoon for the following week. You can find it on our website at http://www.lisleband.com/lisle-junior-high.html. I've also linked it below. If you bookmark the link, it will automatically update all year.

• Times rotate every week except for Wednesdays. Please check your new time at the beginning of every week. Students will always be the same time relative to the hour (:00. :15, :30, :45) and will usually rotate on hour per week. Mr. Schraub will send an email reminder at 7am on the day of your lesson.

Each of our students has a subscription to an amazing program called SmartMusic. It is an interactive practice software that will make the students feel like they are sitting in the band room with all of their classmates.

We would really appreciate it if you take the time to watch this demonstration video with your kids. Since our meeting time is a little limited this year, this program will be a crucial part of each student's development on their instrument.

Finding time to practice in between lessons is important. We are asking that students find time to practice their instruments twice per week for 20 minutes, ideally using SmartMusic if possible.

All band students are invited and encouraged to participate in jazz band this year! We are proud of our jazz band program, and we are confident that we have a great plan to keep it going virtually this year. We have two jazz groups: Our 6th grade Jazz Band and our 7th/8th grade Jazz Ensemble.

This is a fantastic opportunity for your child to partake in a fun extra-curricular music ensemble that plays jazz, swing, Latin, funk, and rock music! Jazz band instruments include saxophone, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, and drum set/percussion. If your student does not already play one of those instruments but is interested in joining, they can learn a new instrument for Jazz (for example, many flute/clarinet players learn saxophone and baritones/tubas learn trumpet/trombone or bass guitar). We hope your student will consider joining!

The initial plan is that each group will have a 45 minute rehearsal every week. We will also work in a small-group sectional practice for every instrument at least every other week. If your child would like to participate, please fill out the questionnaire below. This will help us craft a rehearsal schedule.

We are planning on starting jazz band the week of October 5th. Once I read through the questionnaires and determine the best rehearsal time, I will communicate that to you.

Many of you know that the IGSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival is always a big event in or calendar every February. However, it will look much different this year. The festival has been moved up to December this year and it will be all virtual. Due to our current reality, we will not be requiring the students to participate in this festival. However, we still think that this is a great thing to do and we encourage as many of our students as possible to participate. Any students who are having an easy time with their band music right now and are looking for additional challenge should definitely consider participating. The district pays the entry fees and there are no piano accompanists this year, so it will be no cost to you to participate.

All students who elect to participate will be assigned a solo that they can practice with on SmartMusic. Mr. Schraub and Mr. Meyer will also help them prepare their solos during our lesson times, and a video submission will be due by Saturday, December 5th. A judge will listen to the recordings and send back written feedback.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form below. We need to know who is participating no later than Friday, October 9th.