Yesterday morning I watched and heard the coolest thing ever!...a high school steel drum band. The Greenville High School Steel Drum Band from Greenville, Pennsylvania had 36 members in it. The band was comprised of the lead, double second, guitar, four-cello, and bass steel drums along with drum-set and aux. percussion. They performed seven pieces, one being "Pan in A Minor" by Lord Kitchener Roberts. This piece was very intense and is a song that is often played in a pan drum competition. The group also performed an arrangement of the "Carmen Suite," by Georges Bizet. It was fantastic to hear classical music performed so well on steel drums. The group ended with a crazy and fun piece known as "Santana," by Fernando Filazola.
While at the conference, I attended a clinic focussing strictly on the clarinet. I learned some pretty cool tricks to help young clarinetists sound great. I learned that elementary and middle school clarinet players tend to lean their right elbow on their thighs which is not good. Additionally, they usually have their chins pointed down which cuts off the amount of air they can get through the instrument. The clinician gave a great idea for explaining just how much breath is needed for good air support in clarinet playing. She told us to tell the students that they need to pretend they are 100 years old and that they need to be able to take a deep enough breath to blow out 100 candles. A question I asked was how to handle clarinet playing with students who have braces. When playing a clarinet, the lower lip should curl in over the lower teeth, but if you have braces in the way, what do you do? The clinician was stumped! Someone in the audience told us all her method, which was
Comments
High Wycombe Steel band