The last practice was very good (:
I was more impressed by the way you guys did your drills.
Sectionals well, take it more seriously the next time okay?
You guys know how you all fair during sectionals today so I shall not nag.
PPs, it is up to you guys to make the sectionals enjoyable.
It's kinda boring playing the 2 songs over and over again but work on the details of the songs; dynamics, notes, pitch etc.
Drills. SEE! You guys can do it one!
Really excellent job :D
It's tough and tiring, but hang in there okay?
And one proven theory- When you guys do drills properly and take it in the right spirit, we won't scream and shout.
Amazing :)
I guess Kel Lee's and Timotheus's post really made an impact and you guys really reflected.
I am proud of you guys!
I am going to be honest, I was very demoralised before because of the rate the band was moving at and how you all did not have a sense of urgency.
I admit, a part of me wanted to give up and forget about it, but I am glad I did not.
Because you guys reacted to what Kel Lee & Tim said, and proved to me that you all really care. :)
There's some people I would like to praise because you guys deserve the vast improvement award.
Cheryl;
Attire has been great for the past few weeks/months as compared to before. And she produces a mc/parents' letter to verify that she has to be excused from band for non-lame reasons. Improvement in drills too! (:
Joel, Terngfei;
Became more responsible! (:
Gloria;
Improvement in attire and drills as compared to before. Makes an effort to be punctual for band. And she shows enthusiasm nowadays! (:
Jungan, Zelai;
Less discipline problems as compared to before! (:
Zihan, Yingtong;
Attending practices VERY often! (:
I even have a graph for you to see.
And many many more. These are just the few I can think of now.
Keep it up guys :)
BUT, there is still room for improvement.
For the next uniform check and the ones after it, I hope that the UQMs won't have to pump anyone for bad attire.
In other words, I want EVERYONE to have the best attire.
Having good attire is very basic. Tuck in shirt, pull up socks, have black hair accessories (for girls).
For the next practice, I want EVERYONE to be punctual.
I actually hope that everyone would be early not punctual.
But being punctual for fall in (which is ALWAYS 15 mins before the actual practice- example 12.45pm) is good enough :)
I agree with what Kel Lee said in the previous post; Our band is small, everyone is important. Making the small band smaller is not going to help.
When you guys are late, you will miss the warm ups and tuning.
Tuning, understood, very important. But doing warm ups is just as important.
If you have been in the band long enough, you would know its importance. Don't be ignorant.
I won't elaborate on that.
Attendance. I don't care if you all overslept or whatever. Just come for the practice.
The phrase better late than never explains it all.
Lastly, your playing.
Practice makes perfect. Even though the process is long and tiring, keep on going.
There is no substitute for hard work.
We need everyone to cooperate and we need everyone to give it their all, not just one player per section.
The band is too small for anyone to hide.
Don't regret that you guys didn't practice when the time comes.
Like Tim said, for the Sec 2s, next year will be your first and last time participating in SYF.
And for the sec 3s, next year will be your last year, and you want to make the best out of it.
Okay, I just got some remarks from your PPs and here they are:
For Flutes, Kwung Teng said:
For Joel,
positive - attitude is very nice, willing to learn and is improving by the week
negative - not much actually, his hairdo getting funnier each time. he holds his comb in his pocket. heh heh. hmm, tuning can be better (need a little bit more time)
For Yingtong,
Positive - She is pleasant, doesnt carry any attitude. Attendance is so so much better than last time. Willing to learn, innocent and tries to crack jokes (but sometime overboard). SHE IS DETERMINED, VERY VERY!!! cus she has been trying the Bb major for months, and finnaly gets all notes today, very very impressive!! and she doesnt complain at all.
Negative - her primary school mindset is still there, need to change, if too much, will be abit irritating. sometimes abit irrelevant, cannot always try to be funny, must be serious when needed to. lastly, she cannot always say "very difficult, i cannot do it, i dont know how, i forgot, i cannot play, how to play, is it like that?" cus if she constantly doubt herself, there is no way she is going to make it. she must believe in herself. if she always think she cannot do it, she will never be able to.
For Saxophones, Janis said:
Cyndi has no problem projecting herself and tonguing has improved. :D She tends to go out of tune on the higher register and needs to move her fingers faster. Needs more breadth support too. All these will take time and practice. :)
Mabel's tone is improving and she is much more confident in playing than before. :D Dynamics can be played with more effort and needs improvement on breadth support. :)
Jungan's attitude towards band has improved and is becoming more responsible. Wonderful tone! :D But then, sometimes he cannot control his volume and goes crazy. Tends not to watch conductor and goes at his own pace. Needs to focus more too and pay attention to dynamics :)
Deborah's playing and tone has improved alot :D Needs more breadth support and to watch out for dynamics. :)
Timotheus is awesome! :D
SAXOPHONE ROCKS MORE THAN ANYTHING OKAY! :DDDDD
For Cornets, Jinghui said:
Yunna plays well but she can do better by putting more enthusiasm into both playing&drills& everything.
Rafidah&Mabel have improved tremendously & they both need to work on improving their tone & reaching certain notes. It will also be better if they read the score & not memorise it.
Cassandra needs more confidence in playing out loud & more practise would definitely help in reaching notes.
Overall the section is doing fine & CORNETS IS ZE BEST
(thumbs up emoticon)
For Trombones, Aloi said:
Dom is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious he just need more confident in playing loud and more breathe support.
Gloria is doing well and have improved tremendously and all she needs now is to concentrate a little more. Trombone's The best ~
(I don't have all the sections. So missing sections, if you want your comment to be posted, tell me :D)
These are their actual words okay. No editing. Not even for punctuation.
Work on what your PPs said. Don't know how to work towards that then ask them to guide you.
I am sure they are willing to do it (:
Ask them qns like: How do I improve my tone? How do I improve my breadth support?
Not: "Walao eh, my breadth support where got not good?"
Don't just read and forget about it. If you really just read and forget about it, then it's a waste of my time to post it up here and a waste of your PP's time for writing it.
All the PPs want to help you guys okay, so let them help you.
:D
Playing music is more than playing notes.
I think we have done what we can to help you, and so did Mr Goh. Now, everything is up to you guys.
I want you guys to SHOCK Mr Goh (in a good way) with your improvement in your attitude and playing (PRACTICE DURING THE 1 week hor!) on the next band practice.
Show him that you guys still care and that we deserve his effort and care, like Tim said.
Prove to him that we can still do it (:
Jiayou :D
& Keep up the good work. I hope that you all would really keep that attitude you all had the last practice. I hope it's not a one-time-show.
See you guys soon!
Remember, 3rd Decemeber, Fall-in 12.45pm at the BUKIT BATOK CAMPUS.
If you guys want to come help unpack the band room on 1st Dec, do come! :D
Details of 1st Dec will be said soon, so check out this space! :D
I shall stop talking.
PRACTICE!