Bronxville Elementary School fourth graders are making strides in their musical education, building foundational skills in band classes led by teacher Sharon Slote. In recent lessons, the students focused on understanding their instruments’ parts, proper storage and maintenance, as well as learning to assemble their instruments and produce their first sounds.
Clarinet and saxophone students worked on key components, such as the mouthpiece, ligature and reed. They practiced how to handle and store these parts, correctly place the reed on the mouthpiece and secure it with the ligature to allow for proper vibration. They also worked on forming their embouchures and positioning the mouthpiece in their mouths to produce an idiomatic sound.
Meanwhile, trumpet and trombone students focused on developing their embouchures, learning how to first produce sound using just their lips, then moving to the mouthpiece, and finally assembling their instruments to play their first notes.
“Over the next several weeks, we will work on developing strength and endurance with our new embouchures, producing quality sounds, sustained pitches and articulation, and learning proper hand and playing positions,” Slote said. “Woodwind instrumentalists will also work on assembling and disassembling their instruments.”
Slote emphasized the importance of students appreciating the time and effort required to create quality music while also finding joy in their growth.
“Many beginners think playing an instrument is easy, but they quickly realize that it isn’t the case,” Slote said. “I hope they enjoy seeing their skills develop exponentially as they embrace the challenges and celebrate their progress.”