"Ago?" "Ame!" ("Are you ready to learn?" "Yes, we are ready to learn!") My music students are familiar with this call and response which, borrowed from the folkloric traditions of West Africa loosely translates to "Listen!" and "I am listening." The students at my school are comfortable with multiple languages. Mandarin, Spanish, Urdu, Russian, Arabic, and Uzbeck make up the first languages of most of my students. Some are still learning English, but that doesn't stop them from having fun in the new music room!
It is no doubt their capacity to understand two or more languages attracts them to music.
A community of immigrants, the students have a wonderful opportunity to bring a bit of their musical culture to our school, sharing their unique experiences and learning to appreciate others' contributions. Our school is large, around thirteen hundred students, with seventy percent of them qualifying for free lunch. This year, our music department received the best gift music students could ever get - a music room! No longer will the music teachers have to push into the crowded classrooms bringing only as much as we can carry. Now students have a large space dedicated entirely to music!
My Project
We have some AMAZING 5th grade drummers this year. In fact, our jazz band employs no less than 3 drummers! The students are great at taking turns on our drumset but it is taking a lot of wear and tear. We were fortunate enough to be gifted a new bass drum and snare this year, but we could really stand to improve our cymbals.
This band loves to swing and in order to do that, we need a quality ride cymbal and stand and a new high-hat stand.
Currently, we are using a cheap crash cymbal as our ride cymbal. The ride cymbal is where the swing pattern sits and my drummers aren't able to feel the correct weight or create a solid tone using the crash cymbal. The other integral part of the swing beat lays in the high-hat. Our high-hat cymbals are actually pretty good but the stand is bent and so is constantly breaking. Having a new stand will save time in rehearsal and allow the students to hit beats 2 and 4 much more easily.
Finally, I'm also requesting a new set of brushes. The brushes get used during ballads and sometimes latin tunes. We'll be able to open up our repertoire and students will be able to learn and experience a new style of jazz music with the addition of these brushes.
Thank you for your help. This band's gotta swing and it won't mean a thing without new cymbals and stands!
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