Back to the Basics

This is my theme for the next few weeks or maybe even more with the band. We will be relearning how to do a few things...The Brady Way of course. The topics will be breathing, counting, sightreading, tuning, all the good stuff. We may not even go to concert festival this year or may even not play very difficult music but we will learn. I think far too many bands and band directors are too concerned about what they are going to play at concert festival. I would love to go to festival and play grade 6 music but I would like even more to not worry about picking music until about mid February at the earliest. Which is a better band: 1. the band that plays grade 6 music from mid November until festival and might get a Superior or 2. The band that learns a lot about playing and reads a lot of music and then picks 2 compositions out of the many they have played and goes in grade 5 and might get a Superior. If you you know me at all, you know I will side with choice 2 any day. So teach I will. Now the learning is up to another group but if the teaching is done right, they may not have a choice but to learn.