Hey, kids, it's DHSBMWPCC!

That's right, it's the Deerfield High School Band Mid-Winter Practice Commitment Challenge!

We have only three weeks until our concert, and final exams are looming, so in order to make sure that our performance is the very best it can be, I am challenging every one of our band students to make this commitment to practicing, and thus to excellence! It would be too easy to pack up our instruments and music for nine straight days during finals, so I want avoid that at all costs!

I have broken our remaining time into six shorter intervals, and I expect everyone to practice at least twice during each one. Here are the guidelines for practicing:

• Practice must be done outside of class.
• Each session should be at least 20 minutes long.
• Each should include some warm-up, including long tones/rolls, and some technique, including scales/rudiments.
• The bulk of the session should be on the two concert pieces.

At the end of each interval, the section leaders will report to me how many students did the two practice sessions (the honor system prevails here). After the concert, the section out of all three bands that has the highest percentage of commitments kept will win some tasty treats. Of course, I expect that every section will have 100% every time, but this might add that extra incentive you need to stick to it!

Good luck! Let's make our commitment to excellence!