Good evening,

We have had a very successful start to our semester in band class. Our concert cycle for early Spring involves more than one rehearsal so please take some time to check our calendar on our website and let me know if you see of any conflicts.

Instrument/Mouthpiece Upgrade:

When our students begin band in 5th grade we like to place them on high quality instruments that are designed specifically for beginners. They are developed to allow students to make a sound on their instrument easily so that they can gain confidence at the beginning stages. Some instruments are made at a lighter weight and smaller so that young students can hold and play them without any limitations.

As students become more advanced and mature in their playing, those beginner instruments actually can begin hindering their playing. Students begin to notice that some notes become difficult to play due to the limitations of the beginner instrument, some notes are unplayable due to a missing key available on ore advanced instruments, and they begin having intonation issues as their music requires a more expanded register.

A great and much cheaper upgrade for our brass and woodwind players is simply upgrading their mouthpiece. This one upgrade can change their playing completely. Students will be able to play louder, softer, more in tune, and sound better all with so much more ease!

A more expensive upgrade would be finding a new or used instrument that is an intermediate or advanced model. I have added a PDF with suggested instruments and mouthpieces for more instruments that I would love for you to read through.

Rental companies also allow for you to begin renting a more advanced instrument and apply your payments on your current instrument towards the upgrade. This is a very common option.

I hope that you will consider one of these upgrades for your student so that they can continue growing even more than they already have. I would love to answer any questions or provide more suggestions if needed. This would be a great birthday present from a relative or loved one!

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Upcoming Rehearsals and Concert:

2/7: 7th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

2/8: 8th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

2/14: 7th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

2/15: 8th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

March 1: Pre LGPE Concert at Mabry Arts Center. Report time at 6:00 PM

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday night!

Sincerely,

Ms. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good evening,

Two quick reminders:

• All jacket orders are due tomorrow evening. Please visit: https://ozierapparel.com/cjhsband/shop/home to order.
• 8th grade has a $50 payment due for all students and chaperones attending the trip next Friday, the 28th. You may pay online here: https://carrolltonjuniorhs.revtrak.net/

Chair Test

Congratulations to all of our students on a wonderful chair test! The results are posted below.

Sincerely,

M. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good evening,

Please take a moment to read through the following reminder.

Jacket Order:

Only five days left!

https://ozierapparel.com/cjhsband/shop/home

Special Notes:

• Note that the Eddie Bauer Jacket is recommended for 8th graders who intend on participating in the marching band at the high school level next year. Owning that jacket is part of our uniform. Personally speaking, that is my favorite jacket and is the most durable jacket that many adults have even purchased, including our principals!
• Consider paying the extra $5 to add the student name and instrument. Totally worth it so that the jackets do not get confused or accidentally stolen by someone with the same jacket.
• There is a countdown on the website to make purchases and all sales will occur through there. The jackets will be delivered to the band room once they are ready. I will notify you of that date once I receive it.

Although this is not a fundraiser for our band program, it is a great way to support our band program to the public. I hope that you will consider purchasing a jacket for you and your student!

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Carowinds:

The next installment of $50 is due on the 28th of January. All accounts should be paid up to $150 in total by that date. Please begin sending in money for all students and chaperones at your earliest convenience.

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Chair Test:

We will have our next chair test this Thursday, January 20th during class. 7th grade will play one as many major and minor scales as they can in 1 minute as well as their etude that was handed out in class. 8th grade will play as many major and minor scales as they can in 2 minutes as well as their etude that was handed out in class.

A copy of the etude as well as a recording can be found in the following Google Drive folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gl3zEDbLTr1Pv373FxYnu-rSei-yydHb?usp=sharing

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We are honored to have our campus host the first season of the brand new West Georgia Winds! This is an audition based ensemble for any 6th-8th grader in the state that rehearses once a week at the CHS band room and performs concerts at the Mabry Arts Center. Students will play challenging and fun music with band members from across our area and will get to play under the baton of Dr. Josh Byrd, director of bands at the University of West Georgia! This is a tremendous opportunity for our band students and I encourage those that are interested to apply at http://www.westgawinds.com

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Sincerly,

Ms. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good morning,

I am so excited to announce that our annual Trojan Band Jacket order is live and ready to begin!

https://ozierapparel.com/cjhsband/shop/home

Special Notes:

• Note that the Eddie Bauer Jacket is recommended for 8th graders who intend on participating in the marching band at the high school level next year. Owning that jacket is part of our uniform. Personally speaking, that is my favorite jacket and is the most durable jacket that many adults have even purchased, including our principals!
• Consider paying the extra $5 to add the student name and instrument. Totally worth it so that the jackets do not get confused or accidentally stolen by someone with the same jacket.
• There is a countdown on the website to make purchases and all sales will occur through there. The jackets will be delivered to the band room once they are ready. I will notify you of that date once I receive it.

Although this is not a fundraiser for our band program, it is a great way to support our band program to the public. I hope that you will consider purchasing a jacket for you and your student!

-M. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good evening,

West Georgia Winds:

We are honored to have our campus host the first season of the brand new West Georgia Winds! This is an audition based ensemble for any 6th-8th grader in the state that rehearses once a week at the CHS band room and performs concerts at the Mabry Arts Center. Students will play challenging and fun music with band members from across our area and will get to play under the baton of Dr. Josh Byrd, director of bands at the University of West Georgia! This is a tremendous opportunity for our band students and I encourage those that are interested to apply at http://www.westgawinds.com

Carowinds:

The next installment of $50 is due on the 28th of January. All accounts should be paid up to $150 in total by that date. Please begin sending in money for all students and chaperones at your earliest convenience.

Chair Test:

We will have our next chair test on Thursday, January 20th during class. 7th grade will play one as many major and minor scales as they can in 1 minute as well as their etude that was handed out in class. 8th grade will play as many major and minor scales as they can in 2 minutes as well as their etude that was handed out in class.

A copy of the etude as well as a recording can be found in the following Google Drive folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gl3zEDbLTr1Pv373FxYnu-rSei-yydHb?usp=sharing

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Sincerly,

Ms. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Welcome back!

It was great seeing all of the students today at school! I am excited to continue making music with them.

Each year, we perform a very important concert at the Carroll County Performing Arts Center. This concert is part of our district’s hosted event called Large Group Performance Evaluation. Large Group Performance Evaluation, or LGPE for short, is a prepared concert where our students perform three pieces for a judges panel as well as sight read a piece of music that they only have minutes to study. Due to the importance of this concert we have a slightly more intensive rehearsal schedule for this concert cycle.

7th grade:

• Monday, February 7th: After school rehearsal until 5:00 PM
• Monday, February 14th: After school rehearsal until 5:00 PM
• Tuesday, March 1st: Pre LGPE Concert at Mabry Arts Center
  • Our rehearsal/preview concert
• Monday, March 14th: After school rehearsal until 5:00 PM
  • initially on 3/7 but switched to this week instead
• Thursday, March 17th-Friday, March 18th
  • We will be assigned one of these days for our LGPE performance. Specific date and time to be determined

8th grade:

• Tuesday February 8th: After school rehearsal until 5:00 PM
• Tuesday, February 15th: After school rehearsal until 5:00 PM
• Tuesday, March 1st: Pre LGPE Concert at Mabry Arts Center
  • Our rehearsal/preview concert
• Tuesday, March 15th: After school rehearsal until 5:00 PM
  • Initially on 3/8 but switched to this week instead
• Thursday, March 17th-Friday, March 18th
  • We will be assigned one of these days for our LGPE performance. Specific date and time to be determined

Please double check these dates with any other Carrollton activities and sports and let me know if you see any conflicts. Students who have a Carrollton club or sport activity will need to submit their schedules as soon as they receive them so that we can make a plan to balance both CJHS activities.

Sincerely,

M. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net