Video Fieldwork #5

The concert starts off with a percussion feature and uses many different types of percussion

instruments and then the rest of the instruments come in layer by layer. The students are wearing pol

shirts with the school logo and music slogan of some kind written no it. After the first piece, there was

no pause to allow the performers to appreciate the audience clapping and everyone just immediately

went to switch their music and move around. The director also took a second to gesture towards the

ensemble and point towards some of the students. The recording names the piece and the

composer/arranger, which I think is a smart thing for a recorded performance. The second piece is

simple and starts with another percussion soli and moves to a simple quarter note based rhythmic

ostinato/melody that the rest of the ensemble plays. In the middle od the second piece there seems to

be chaos in the percussion, I am not sure what it was supposed to sound like, but the suspended cymbal

really becomes the start of the show. After that the students start to sing and sing a melody in a non-

English language. The third piece is also fairly simple at the starts and develops into a fairly pretty

melody and has a change in tempo right before the end. The next piece is a popular tune and the

director had two students play on the drum set and other play on snare and other percussion

instruments. The students were aware of the camera and even smiled and interacted with the camera,

not necessarily a bad thing but just a funny thing I wanted to point out. At the end of the concert, the

parents and the kids seemed to really be enjoying the music and they got extremely positive reactions to

the music. That really shows that the music program has developed a good relationship with the parents

and students to really encourage the learning and performance of music. This is an elementary school,

so I was not surprised to see they have a title and mascot to help promote the program. I like how a lot

of the environment is laid out but there are a few things I would change. First, I would want my students

to appreciate the audience’s reaction more and not just move around and switch music so quickly and

be able to take the praise from the audience respectfully and then after a little but move to change and
get situated. For me it is a behavioral and respect thing because the parents are there to support their

students and the students are there to perform and be listened to so I feel as though it would be

disrespectful to allow your students to completely disregard the audience for the most part. I like how

there seemed to be a decent variety of repertoire with the singing (in a non-English language), different

styles, genres, and had some changes in tempo. I like the polos, especially for an elementary band

because they do not need to be completely professional and super uptight while giving some semblance

of organization and collaboration that is applicable to the ensemble. The kids seemed to enjoy playing

for the most part and the parents are extremely supportive and excited so I would like to foster an

environment where my students can play and be appreciated for their work by their families and by

themselves.