ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT FITTING PROCESS:
CONGRATULATIONS! Your child has decided to join the NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED, NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING Reynolds Eagle Band program! Your child will soon be a member of one of the very best band organizations in the country. We are so thrilled that you have decided to join us, and we cannot wait to help your child have FUN and experience a ton of SUCCESS in our program!
Your child's first step to becoming a member of the Reynolds Band is to complete an instrument fitting session with one of our Instrument Fitting Specialists on Saturday, February 28th. The Instrument Fitting is the single MOST important thing we can do for your child prior to joining the band.
Often, students want to pick an instrument they know a lot about through pop culture (drums, saxophone, trumpet), but there is a whole world of instruments out there and there might be one that your child is PERFECT for that may not have crossed your child's mind! That is what our Instrument Fitting Specialists are here for!
Think of an instrument fitting like Harry Potter's wand fitting session - the wand chooses the wizard. Much like in Harry Potter, the instrument chooses the child! During the fitting, our fitting specialists will take some measurements, will check your child's finger dexterity, will check your child's ability to hear pitch, and will of course guide your child through how to make a sound on every single instrument. Throughout the session, our specialists will ask your child questions meant to guide your child to the top THREE instrument choices.
Please note: If your child is interested in PERCUSSION, your child will be required to complete a pre-screening on February 28th as well as an additional percussion audition with our percussion directors at a later date. Only 10% of beginning band students are selected to participate in percussion class each year. As such, please note that all students who list percussion as a top choice will be required to select 2 additional instrument choices.
After all fittings have been completed, the Reynolds Band Directors will speak with the fitting specialists and go over all of the information taken throughout the day to pick out the very BEST instrument for every child in the band, while also observing proper INSTRUMENTATION. The directors are typically able to select an instrument within a child's top two choices; however, sometimes a child is placed onto the 3rd choice if the top 2 instruments are particularly popular (typically this happens if a child's top two choices are percussion and saxophone, both of which make up 10% or less of the band program). This is typically rare and might happen 1-2 times in a year.
Note that the directors spend numerous hours making sure that each and every child is set up to have FUN and experience tremendous SUCCESS in band class - this step is one that we take seriously and we take many hours to complete. We ask all families to please respect that the professional decisions made by the directors are in the best interest of your child's success in band. Our number one goal is for all members to FALL IN LOVE WITH BAND!
What is Instrumentation?
Instrumentation is the balance of needs for every single instrument and it is another very important aspect of the instrument selection process. Much like a football team needs students in every position, the band must have a certain percentage of students on every instrument in order to play the music required for Middle School Band and eventually High School Band. Proper balanced instrumentation is necessary for all students to experience enjoyment and success in the music-making process.
Students may initially prefer the idea or sound of a particular instrument due to its familiarity through pop culture. For this reason, saxophone and percussion are frequently listed as instruments of interests. Please keep in mind that these two groups constitute two of the eleven instruments that make up the beginning band program and only represent about 18% of the overall band. These instruments tend to close quickly to additional enrollments and rarely have openings left after our fitting day. During the fitting processes we will identify the selections that best suit the student's individual physical attributes while we also ensure a balance of proper instrumentation.
Directors, students, and parents share a goal to see the students be successful and to enjoy their band experience. Proper instrumentation of the band program allows for the tremendous success that the Reynolds Band is fortunate to experience each year!
About Band Class
At Reynolds Middle School, all electives are graded subjects just like math, science, ELAR, and social studies. Band class is a structured, graded, curricular class that students attend 4 days of the week just like their other "core" school subjects. Band is a one-year long course, typically taken in 6th grade.
Each individual beginning band instrument is assigned its own class period, which only happens once per day. (Example: Clarinet Class is 1st period and Percussion Class is 7th period).
Band members are asked to practice their instruments at home each day in order to reinforce the new habits learned during class and to gain CONFIDENCE in playing songs on their instruments. Confidence = success = MORE FUN!