Give Students Tools To Build Strong Foundational Skills.
Unit 1 - Posture and Breathing
Intuitive pre-notation system helps build rhythm reading skills right away as students practice proper posture and develop good breathing habits. Percussionists learn stick grip and playing from the wrist.
Unit 2 - Mouthpiece/Small Instrument
Students practice characteristic mouthpiece/small instrument sounds with a variety of exercises. The pre-notation system for this unit also includes beginning awareness of reading pitch notation. Percussionists are working on creating beautiful sounds and making good sticking choices on mallet instruments.
Unit 3 - Rhythm Reading
This unit teaches students their first 3 notes (B♭, C, and D) and introduces traditional rhythmic notation (whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests). However, pitch notation is NOT introduced yet. Student are able to focus on becoming adept at reading rhythm first. But, they still get to play since the letter names are written in the note heads! Percussionists develop their rhythmic skills along with the rest of the band playing on snare or pad.
Unit 4 - Pitch Reading
The system of how to read pitches on a staff is explained through a series of diagrams. About half of the exercises in this unit are designed for students to practice saying or singing the letter names of pitches. They are not transposed, but are in the correct range/clef for each instrument making it possible for students to practice letter names together regardless of instrumentation. Percussionists play this unit on mallets to develop their pitch reading skills along with the winds.
A Solid Foundation + Practicing Fundamental Skills = Students With Deep Understanding
Focus On Fundamentals contains all of the Focus on Foundations content and then continues with these units:
Unit 5 - Putting It All Together & Slurs
Students have many opportunities to practice all of the foundational elements combined into traditional notation. Slurs, fermatas, repeat signs, and pick up notes are introduced and reinforced. New notes, including concert A♭ and D♭, are introduced making it possible for students to play in the key of A♭ as well as B♭. However, key signatures are NOT introduced yet allowing students to get comfortable in multiple key settings (using accidentals) before trying to understand and apply key signatures.
Unit 6 - Ties and Dots
Students learn about ties and dotted half and quarter notes. More new notes are introduced, and students regularly play in the keys of B♭, A♭, and E♭ (and F is introduced at the end of the unit) still through the use of accidentals. Several exercises also include short chromatic passages.
Unit 7 - Key Signatures
After experiences playing in multiple keys, students learn that key signatures are a more efficient way of notating music in different keys. An entire page is devoted to explaining key signatures. Several songs in this unit are also present twice in a row in 2 different keys
Unit 8 - Syncopation and the Chromatic Scale
Eighth/Quarter/Eighth syncopation is introduced and heavily reinforced. All instruments learn the B♭ chromatic scale (but not using all of the enharmonic spellings yet).
Unit 9 - Road Map Skills and Review
Students learn about D.C. and D.S. al Fine and practice reading multiple part music notated both as divisi and multi-stave music. They have many opportunities to combine previously learned skills in new and more complicated ways.