GHS PEP! Summer Spectacular!

Let's not let summer get in the way of some music making. GHS PEP! will end the summer with a mini-camp to help get us ready for the 16-17 school year. Check out the info below. All are welcome!

Graduation Information for Band

Graduation will be held at the Hanover Theater on Friday June 3rd. The Hanover Theater is an absolutely beautiful venue and we are honored to have the opportunity to play there again this year. Unfortunately, space constraints in the pit at the theater will limit participation for band members this year. We will plan to have a group of about 35 student musicians. That list will be sent out in the coming days.  This will give us a relatively balanced instrumentation and numbers that should allow us to fit in the pit.

The schedule for the upcoming graduation rehearsals and ceremony:

Thursday June 2nd
 9am Graduation rehearsal in the GHS Auditorium

Band members performing at graduation will be part of this rehearsal

Friday June 3rd

8am Band students will load bus to go to the Hanover Theater for morning rehearsal

Students will return to the school by 11am

4:30pm Band students will load the bus to bring us to the Hanover Theater for the graduation ceremony

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a bus will return us to GHS (approx. 7:45-8PM)

Concert attire is BLACK AND WHITE!

2016 Memorial Day Parade Information

On Monday May 30th the students of the GHS Band have been given the honor of marching in the annual Memorial Day Parade. Students will meet at the high school at 10am. The schedule is as follows:

10:45am: Buses leave the GHS parking lot
11:15am: Groups begin the parade at Norcross Park to the Commons.
After a ceremony on the Commons, the parade continues to the High School.
12:00pm: J.F. Kennedy School Flag Raising

Students will wear khaki pants/ shorts with a green top. 
We will be boarding the busses at 10:30am to go to the staging area at Norcross Park

It is important that band students have their music memorized or have printed copies and a lyre to hold their music.

The trumpeters for taps will meet at the American Legion Delisle Goulet Post 92 at 7:00am. They will rejoin the band at Norcross Park.

The Memorial Day Parade is a required performance as per our course expectations.

Grafton High School Students will be able to: Understand and demonstrate the duties and responsibilities that come with citizenship

Hershey: Day Two Recap

Hershey Day 2 did not have an auspicious start. The weather was cool and rainy as we ambled out of our rooms towards breakfast. The breakfast food was great, though they had a hard time keeping up with the ravenous pack of high schoolers in attendance.

He weather actually cooperated through the the morning. It was cool and overcast which helped to accomplish two important things: smaller crowd and less chance of heat stroke. It did offer shorter lines at rides like this monstrosity...

My legs are still trembling after that one.

After lunch we headed over to the awards ceremony (cue the rain). Fortunately the awards were in the hockey arena just outside the park.

The groups did very well at the festival. In follow up posts we can get into the details... 

Suffice to say we took home some nice shiny baubles.

And even though the weather did not improve throughout the afternoon, there were still plenty of smiling faces to be found.

One more day to go. See you in New York!

Hershey: Day One Recap

Well, it's just after midnight and our first day of the Hershey trip is behind us. We got off to a smooth start, leaving the school at approximately 6am. A quick six hours later we were pulling into Miller's Smorgasbord in Lancaster County PA. Judging by the Twitter poll, students were in need of sustenance  (though I am still not sure how they answered this poll based on their responses...)

The food was excellent and by all accounts the students enjoyed their meals. We next took a bus tour of Amish Country and our guide was excellent. Apparently one of the highlights was the camel sighting...

We did get to making music late into the evening. The groups had wonderful performances and the band even stood clumped together on a hill.

Tomorrow (well, later today) we will be spending the day in Hershey Park. Earlier in the day I tweeted out what I believe to be a perfectly plausible explanation for the founding of the town of Hershey, but I am wondering if the students are questioning the veracity of my story...

Stay tuned for a day 2 update...

Overview of end of year events for Band 2016

This information was posted on the board in the band room, but I wanted to commit it to a more mobile location...

End of Year Events for Band:

• Hershey Parent Meeting
• Wednesday May 4th 7pm in the auditorium
• Trip Guidelines/ Itinerary/ Emergency- Medical Form

• Spring Concert/ Arts Night
• Thursday May 19th (Doors open at 6pm Concert begins at 7pm)
• Possible Titles
• Fanfares and Flourishes
• Amazing Grace
• Walking Frog
• Caribbean Rondo
• Genius of Ray Charles
• Original Dixieland Concerto
• Concert Attire: Black and White

• Hershey Trip
• May 20-22
• Hershey Packing List
• Possible Titles
• Amazing Grace
• Walking Frog
• Caribbean Rondo

• Memorial Day Parade
• Monday May 30th
• 10am-12noon
• Attire is Khaki pants w/ green shirt
• Music Needed
• Service Songs
• National Anthem

• Graduation
• Friday June 3rd at the Hanover Theater
• General Information on Graduation
• Music Needed
• Pomp and Circumstance
• National Anthem
• Alma Mater
• Stars and Stripes Forever

Graduation Information for Band

Graduation will be held at the Hanover Theater on Friday June 3rd. The Hanover Theater is an absolutely beautiful venue and we are honored to have the opportunity to play there again this year. Unfortunately, space constraints in the pit at the theater will limit participation for band members this year. We will plan to have a group of about 35 student musicians. That list will be sent out in the coming days.  This will give us a relatively balanced instrumentation and numbers that should allow us to fit in the pit.

The schedule for the upcoming graduation rehearsals and ceremony:

Thursday June 2nd
 9am Graduation rehearsal in the GHS Auditorium

Band members performing at graduation will be part of this rehearsal

Friday June 3rd

8am Band students will load bus to go to the Hanover Theater for morning rehearsal

Students will return to the school by 11am

4:30pm Band students will load the bus to bring us to the Hanover Theater for the graduation ceremony

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a bus will return us to GHS (approx. 7:45-8PM)

Concert attire is BLACK AND WHITE!

2016 Memorial Day Parade Information

On Monday May 30th the students of the GHS Band have been given the honor of marching in the annual Memorial Day Parade. Students will meet at the high school at 10am. The schedule is as follows:

10:45am: Buses leave the GHS parking lot
11:15am: Groups begin the parade at Norcross Park to the Commons.
After a ceremony on the Commons, the parade continues to the High School.
12:00pm: J.F. Kennedy School Flag Raising

Students will wear khaki pants/ shorts with a green top. 
We will be boarding the busses at 10:30am to go to the staging area at Norcross Park

It is important that band students have their music memorized or have printed copies and a lyre to hold their music.

The trumpeters for taps will meet at the American Legion Delisle Goulet Post 92 at 7:00am. They will rejoin the band at Norcross Park.

The Memorial Day Parade is a required performance as per our course expectations.

Grafton High School Students will be able to: Understand and demonstrate the duties and responsibilities that come with citizenship

Music Boosters Seeking Bake Sale Items!

The GHS Music Boosters are looking for donations of baked goods at the upcoming Jazz Night Concert. The concert is on Monday March 21st.
If you are able to donate an item, please fill out this Sign-up form.

Thank You!

Jazz Night Concert Monday March 21st

Jazz Night Concert Monday March 21st

Grafton High School will once again host the annual Jazz Night Concert on Monday March 21st at 7pm.

The music boosters will be selling tickets for the Jazz Night Concert at the door.

Tickets are $5 each with a family cap of $15.

We are once again excited to announce that the Hot Cat Jazz Band will be our guest artists for Jazz Night. The Connecticut based band will perform a set of traditional and big band style jazz. Along with the Hot Cats, there will be performances by the Jazz Workshop, Chamber Choir and a combined performance with the GHS Band and our guest artists!

We are grateful to the GHS Music Boosters for once again sponsoring our Jazz Night concert.

Major and minor: It's All Relative.

If you have access to a circle of fifths you may have noticed how the key signatures are ordered and paired.

On the outer edge of the circle you have the names of the Major scales associated with the illustrated key signature. Did you notice that another key signature, a minor key signature, is indicated in one of the inner layers?
We call that minor scale the relative minor scale of the Major key. You will probably see why the two scales are related based on this image...

The scales use the same notes but simply start and end on different notes. That's all it takes to transform the sound of the scale. It moves the order of W(hole) and H(alf) steps (the distances between the notes) just enough to make a big difference.

When composers use a Major or minor tonality, they need to be aware of the differences in these scales and choose notes accordingly. Composing an a minor piece that focuses on the notes C, E, and G will thwart the minor sound as the listener will hear a Major tonality. A melody in the key of a minor will probably highlight notes such as A, C, E to help establish the minor tonality.

EXIT TICKET

Music Booster Scholarship Winners Announced

Once again the GHS Music Boosters have sponsored 2 scholarships to high school music students looking to get private lessons. This year we are excited to announce that the scholarships have been awarded to Sarah Cacciapouti and Ceili Bowen. They will have an entire semester of private lessons at Apple Tree Art fully funded by the booster scholarships. Our program and students are grateful to have the strong, continued support of our booster program.

Two Grafton HS Students heading to Symphony Hall!

Congratulations go out to Omar Sandakly and Jenna Lee. Both were recently selected to perform at Symphony Hall in Boston as part of the All-State Music Festival. Omar was chosen for the Chorus and Jenna for the Orchestra. The students will perform in concert on Saturday March 12th at Symphony Hall to culminate the Massachusetts Music Educators Association state conference.