Katy Marimba Mini Camp Announcement! July 2019
I'm happy to announce my very first mini-camp!! I have 2 instruments of my own with 5 slots for students. Would you like to fill one of those slots? Now, 2 instruments may not sound the same as the 14 marimbas that I left behind at my old school, but it's a good start. And besides, when I first decided to try some marimba repertoire, we had NO marimbas, just our Orff classroom instruments. The moral of this story--YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE! :) But you may have some questions as a parent.
MY CHILD HAS NEVER HAD MUSIC LESSONS. WHAT WILL MY CHILD LEARN? Having a small ensemble will be a great way to start. What can your child learn in this camp? In 5 days, your child have a hands on experience, learning basic music elements on the marimba. But besides basic rhythm and melody, your child will learn how to work in a group. And with a group as small as 5, it will be hard to hide in the shadows. The beauty of marimba, though, is that from the very beginning, we are a team and we care and support each other's playing. From me, the director, to the player who has mad skills, to the least-skilled player who's never touched a marimba before--we are all in this together. Therefore, your child will learn what it means to make music with a team. Music is a great way to bring people together as a community.
WHAT PROGRESS WILL I SEE IN JUST 5 DAYS? Our goal will be to learn 3 to 5 songs on the marimba. Each person will have their own musical part or pattern in each song. Some may have a partner playing with them, some may be comfortable playing on their own. We will be learning and practicing not only notes, but also study the form--students will all contribute on how the song should be played from beginning to end. They will help decide solos, introductions and codas (the end). My goal is not just for the student to learn marimba, but also to step up as part of a team and work together, maybe even in a position of leadership.
At the end of the camp, we will have a small concert to showcase the group and your child's hard work. We will invite family and friends to come and listen.
HOW MANY STUDENTS CAN SIGN UP? My vision for this first mini-camp is to have not one, but TWO marimba groups; each group will feature different songs based on the skill levels of group as a whole. So I can have as many as 10 students.
IS THERE A COST? The camp for the entire week is $50, paid on site. If you are interested in being a part of this unique musical experience, you can click my contact information here.
I'M STILL UNSURE. HAVE YOU DONE THIS BEFORE? If you want to get an idea of what's in store for your child, click the video below. This is the concert at the end of one of my marimba camps that I did with junior high students. The skill level ranged from some experience to none whatsoever and it was evenly divided. We worked for 4 days and had a concert at the end of the 4th day. The concert begins at 1:47.
In case you were wondering about skill level, each student was unique in their marimba playing. We had some that had some experience playing marimba from the previous summer and we had some that had never touch a marimba before. So it was a well balanced group. And all of this repertoire was learned in less than a week. **FUN FACT** One of the days of this camp was cut short because the A/C shut off unexpectedly and we just couldn't take the heat in our rooms. Marimbas is a full body workout sometimes!
KATY MARIMBA MINI-CAMP 2019
JULY 15-19
9:00-11:30am and 1:00-3:30pm.
Cost is $50.00 per student
Located in Old Katy
Email me at silvasing75@gmail.com for more information
