Its Wednesday, November 4th, and the day of the first JAMM "informance." As we line up 125 students and their instruments in the Glacier Valley school gym, I am overcome by a tingling feeling. Sure, it's nerves, but it's also excitement. I can tell the students feel it too. In fact the entire school is buzzing with it. This feeling brings me back a few years to the days when I ran cross country in college and high school; well specifically to the race days. |
"Because the race is the biggest party of all."
She was spot on. The best incentive for training is the sense of accomplishment that is inspired by racing. The same holds true for music performance. Performance, being an essential part of El Sistema's social change mission, has an amazing impact on student inspiration. Therefore, as my teammate would have said:
Performance is the biggest party of all!
The experience of performing is just so valuable to our students, their families and the entire community.
Music performance is an experience that brings pride to students and their families. alike. Performances are not just demonstrations of student ability; performances represent hard work, character growth and reaching a goal. Community performances and sharings allow for the students to feel courage and confidence, while demonstrating their new found abilities in front of a supportive audience.
Beethoven worked on note reading which included dotted rhythms, eighth notes, dynamics, and expression. At the JAMM sharing they performed an all time favourite, Dragon Hunter by Richard Meyer.
Copland made many leaps in development. They worked on using an "advanced" bow hold which is more difficult to control but flexible, two distinct left hand techniques (Arco and Pizzacato), and the use of multiple dynamics. Finally, the piece that they played included a Violin 1 and a Violin 2 part; melody and harmony.