Band Goals

MY GOALS

I have many goals for this year in band class. As always, I would like to improve my bass clarinet playing. I want to practice more this year, because I have never practiced very much in the past due to the fact that it is pretty much impossible to transport my gigantic instrument via the school bus. However, this year I get rides from Noah, so it is more possible than ever before to get my instrument home and practice. A major thing that I think I should work on is my volume. I can be really loud, but that is bad, and sometimes I am not loud enough, and that is bad. I will try to pay more attention to volume signs and crescendos this year. Also, a more minor point is that I need to learn how to read notes above the break. I am fairly capable of playing them (albeit not as well as the low notes that my instrument is naturally predisposed to playing), but I don’t actually know what notes on paper signify which note once the notes get up too high. I have been able to get around that aspect of my instrument for some time, and I thought that my high school career might see my music as including just the low notes that I like playing and none of the bad high notes that I generally tend to think of as being in the clarinet and flute department. Those are some more acute concerns for this year, and obviously I always need to work on playing the right notes at the right times, as always. I am very happy to at least have a part-time Bass Clarinet Buddy, but he’s leaving next year, so I know that I will need to work hard this year to prepare to be the oldest bass clarinetist in the school next year.

I believe that I have accomplished the goals that I set out for myself. I believe that my bass clarinet playing has improved this year, and I hope to be somewhat competent next year. I play less obscenely loud now than I have in the past which is good. I feel that I have made a lot of progress as far as playing above the break. Before this year, I really couldn't play high notes at all, and now I can play them, albeit not very quickly. I will work on that next year, though I still believe that BASS clarinet should play lower notes. I hope to have a new Bass Clarinet Buddy next year, because it is always fun to have someone else play your instrument. If that other kid quits, I suppose I can just do some hard core recruiting at that pick-your-instrument thing. Overall, I feel that myself and the band as a whole have made very good progress this year