M.U.S.E. Instrumental Programs
Dear Band Parents,

I want to welcome all of our new students and parents to our program. We are excited to have you on board for this 2016-2017 school year. Our goal is to make this a fun and positive experience for your child. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your instructor or the M.U.S.E. office. Teachers emails are listed in the class schedules page on our website at: Class Schedules

We would also like to welcome two new schools to our program this year: St. Philip Neri Alameda and Holy Name school in San Francisco. 
Upcoming Band Workshops
(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
November 5th and 6th

* Includes Beginning Band orientation for parents

These band workshops are designed to not only give your child extra help on their instrument, it's also a motivational session. Bryant Allard, Director of M.U.S.E. will be flying down from Portland to conduct these sessions. Bryant has been teaching for over 30 years and is the founder of the M.U.S.E. Band Program. Parents are encouraged to stay and watch. There is no cost for these sessions. In the bay area, we cover a lot of territory from Pinole, Antioch, and as far south as Santa Clara.  We realize for some parents it is some distance to drive to these events. We appreciate your efforts to try to get your children to some of these events and we will do our best to insure that the trip is well worth your efforts. 

East Bay Location:
(Band Room behind Theater)

11:00-12:15pm  
Beginning Band Workshop and Orientation (Mr. Allard will give a brief run down of the program including teacher expectations for home practice, incentives for students, and upcoming concert performances followed by a one hour workshop). 

12:30-1:30pm    
Returning students (Intermediate and Advanced Students)

M.U.S.E. Students Rocking out at a high school basketball game


Click here for Video
 
School Calendar

We are working to finalize dates, locations, and times for our annual winter and spring concert.  These are multi-school events where students will have the opportunity to perform in a large ensemble. These are very exciting events. Teachers will also be planning individual school performances. We will have this calendar finalized in the next few weeks and we will post on our website as well as send an email with links to the website page. 
 
Practicing and Incentives
Please help your child set up a practice routine of at least 3-5 days a week for 20 minutes a session. Students are asked to log in their practice time in their Practice Journals in the back of their books. There is a spot for parents to initial each week. Students will receive "Band Bucks" or "Points" for their practicing which can be turned in for rewards. We are also doing something this year called Band Karate. Students can earn "colored belts" for mastering certain songs in their books. These belts are small ribbons that the students can hang on their instrument or music case. 


Help Videos (Highly Recommended)
We also recommend some of the "help videos" on our website. These can be very helpful especially here at the beginning of the year. We recommend that you look at these with your child. The videos explain how to put your instrument together properly and how to play your first 3-5 notes. It could be helpful for parents to understand some of this if your child feels a bit overwhelmed.   Beginning Band Videos (Link)
Accessories for Woodwinds

If you need to order reeds for clarinet or saxophone we would suggest Rico size 2 reeds (box of 10). Here are a few links:

Clarinet reeds

Saxophone reeds
Click here: Interesting Article on the Brain and Music. 


Please let us know if you need anything. Thanks!!

Bryant Allard
Director- M.U.S.E. Instrumental Programs