Instrumental Music, Oakland Terrace and Woodlin Elementary Schools Oakland Terrace 301-929-2161; Woodlin 301-650-6440

Updated March 1, 2010

              Bravo!!!

Bravo to Woodlin students for their wonderful winter concert!  Twice delayed due to snow, students gave a fabulous performance Feb 17.

Oakland Terrace had kinder weather for its Winter Concert on January 28.  I must be the luckiest teacher in the world to work at schools with such excellent young musicians!

About Practicing:

    All students have received "Home Practice Calendars."  These are charts on blue card stock (thicker paper).  Students are required to record minutes practiced daily and get a parent/guardian signature before the next lesson.  The practice goal is 5 days a week, 15 minutes a day for a total of 75 minutes. More is better.   Home Practice Calendars are kept in students' music folders.

     It is better to practice smaller amounts over many days than a lot in one or two days only. 

Suggestion:  Some students do well keeping an eye on the clock. Some do not.  All do better playing each assigned line 3 times, more if necessary.  It’s best to repeat until the line feels easy.  If the line is too hard, slow it down.  Repetition is most important at this stage.  Truthfully, at all stages! 

   All students should bring their instrument, folder (with Practice Calendar) and book to each lesson.   

 GENERAL PRACTICE ADVICE:

Repition, repition, repition (don't play fast until the passage is comfortable slowly)

• 10 times slowly is not too much.  
•  Sometimes 5 times does the trick, sometimes 25.  Whatever it takes!
• Slow with the right notes is better than fast practice with wrong notes. 
• Slow practice wins the race!

   I check my email regularly.  Feel free to contact me at:

               susan_c_mathis@mcpsmd.org

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