2006 – 2007 McCracken Symphonic Band – A Breakdown

I hope the spirit of this post is conveyed correctly. I’m simply trying to give an honest assessment of our starting point next fall. There is nothing I’ve written here that the kids haven’t heard me say to them a hundred times. I do this type of anticipatory evaluation each spring, although I certainly don’t share it with the world. In fact, I generally try to anticipate our roster two years down the road. This keeps us from running into situations where we hit a hole and have no tubas, etc…

FLUTES
9 total (4 eighth graders, 1 seventh grader, and (gulp) 4 sixth graders)

There’s a huge difference in experience between the members of our flute section. 3 of these kids will be 3-year members of our top group. My little ones, although young, are extremely talented and should adjust to the increased technical demands without much trouble. Some of their feet may not reach the floor, but this should be a very solid section next year.

OBOES

3 total (1 eighth grader, 1 seventh grader, and 1 sixth grader)

This is one more oboe than I’d prefer to have in Symphonic Band for our Midwest performance, but the two auditioning members are ready and deserving to be in the band. All three play with good sounds and make nice adjustments for pitch. Never-the-less, I’m obviously concerned about the impact this section can have on our sound. To compensate, we’ll be hiring an oboe specialist for our band camp, investigate instrument upgrades, and do a significant amount of work with tuning CDs early in the year.

CLARINETS (9 soprano, 2 bass)
11 total (3 eighth grade, 5 seventh grade, 3 sixth grade)

Although I’m a little concerned about the inexperience of this section, I anticipate they will make big strides early. Particularly with the newest members, the increased technical demands of our music may take some adjustment.

Frankly, I’m always worried about my clarinet section since their tone quality has such a huge impact on the core sound of the band. I’ve invited Julie DeRoche (DePaul University) to work with our kids as often as she can stand it. Her work in masterclass settings is nothing short of magical. Our clarinetists will sound fantastic in December because of the two or three session she has with them. That is if I can manage not to mess them up.

BASSOON

1 total (1 seventh grade)

Smart, talented kid who needs to practice more (don’t they all?). He gets a nice sound on the worst bassoon ever made in the history of bassoons. Upgrading his instrument is a big priority in the coming months. He’ll do a nice job for us next year. In fact, he probably should have been in the band this year, but chose not to audition last spring.

SAXOPHONES
9 total (5 alto, 2 tenor, 2 baritone)

All of our students begin on alto saxophone. Placement on tenor and bari are determined by the auditions. Most kids only play tenor or bari for one year unless they elect to stay on it. I’d prefer to have eight (or less) total…two on each part. Once again, though, the auditions were too strong to leave one of the nine out. This section will be quite strong, my only concern being getting some of the altos to upgrade their instruments.

CORNETS
6 total (3 eighth grade, 2 seventh grade, 1 sixth grade)

Without a doubt, they will be one of our strengths next year. My eighth graders have all been in the band since sixth grade (one was invited in fifth grade) and are one of my strongest trumpet classes ever. Ideally, I think I’d prefer to have more than six cornets/trumpets in the band. Especially with the duration of our Midwest concert, but the numbers just didn’t support it this year.

We made the switch from trumpets to cornets at the beginning of last year. It made a significant, although not instant, improvement on the quality of their sound. I have to be honest though, I’m not sure whether it’s the cornets or just the fact they’re playing on matching professional horns.

HORNS
4 total (1 eighth grade, 2 seventh grade, 1 sixth grade)

This is the section I’m most concerned about, simply because of their inexperience. There is a tremendous amount of potential here, and I’m certain they’ll rise to the challenge. Actually, they have no choice but to rise to the challenge. We’ll meet a few times this summer. We’ll spend a LOT of time on fundamentals, but I’d also like to get them involved in chamber music to improve their confidence and ability as individual players. Finally, we’ll program a couple tunes on each of our early concerts to feature our horns.

TROMBONES

6 total (3 eighth grade, 3 seventh grade)

Even though I have no “studs” here. They are all solid players and could very well be my best trombone section ever. If they do what they need to do over the summer I could see a couple developing into real leaders by the fall. We’ll have to work on some articulation issues, but nothing they won’t be able to quickly adjust to.

EUPHONIUMS
2 total (1 eighth grade, 1 seventh grade)

Another strong section. 2 lead-type players. We’ll be working on increasing their confidence and projection, but they’ll be able to play anything I put in front of them.

TUBAS
3 total (2 eighth grade, 1 seventh grade)

This is the first time we’ve ever had three tubas in the Symphonic Band, and I can’t wait! The only downside is that we only have 2 full sized horns. I’ve wanted to upgrade our tuba equipment for a couple of years now. The Midwest invite has certainly forced the issue.

PERCUSSION
6 total (4 eighth grade, 1 seventh grade, 1 sixth grade)

Easily our most experienced section, and they’ll sound like it. With almost all of them graduating at the end of next year, you’d think I’d be worried about 2007-2008! My little ones, however, are making amazing progress.

In spite of the strength of this section, our reading skills on mallets aren’t really where we need them to be across the board. We’ll do a lot of mallet work early in the year.

—–