4-20 Observation

I observed Kelly Berhdal's Freshmen Concert Band during their adjudicated performance and sight-reading session for District Music Festival.

I thought that the kids did a really excellent job on both portions. Mr. Berhdal obviously had them very well prepared on their concert music and they have obviously worked on sight-reading skills.

In regards to the music they performed I noticed that one of their pieces definitely had several rhythm challenges (sounded like mixed meter and some interesting cross rhythms). The kids where prepared enough that the main comments from the adjudicators were about increased dynamic contrast and expanded listening skills to work on more accurate intonation as an ensemble

One of the most effective things I observed was before the sight reading session Mr. Berhdal talked through the whole piece giving different sections specific things to watch for and referencing certain points that they would be able to latch on again if they got lost.