Archive for September, 2015
Posted by glennled on September 27, 2015
My 20th trumpet student, a 6th-grader in 1st-year band, took private lessons from me for a few months starting on 8 November 2010. Apparently, she has a great voice, because she made the Northshore School District’s Honors Choir in 2011. And when she had to register for 7th grade classes at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell, she chose choir, not band.
Today, when I was compiling a list of all my trumpet students since 2009, I found I’d never written a blog post here about her…until now. She must have been “out of sight, out of mind.”
But now I remember. That next year, when I would occasionally see her in a school breezeway, I would tease her about leaving and try to re-recruit her. She would just smile broadly and walk on by. It reminded me of John Benson Sebastian’s song, “Did you ever have to make up your mind? You pick up on one and leave the other behind…” Here’s The Lovin’ Spoonful singing it (1966): http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=did+you+ever+have+to+make+up+your+mind&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=670FAA7BDA3F05CECD73670FAA7BDA3F05CECD73.
She had come to a fork in the road, and “now she’s gone, gone, gone, o-o-o-o-oh.” Just kidding. Best wishes for the Good Life, Young Lady! See you in the movies.
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Posted in New Students - Intro Posts, Skyview Junior High | Tagged: band, choir, John Benson Sebastian, lessons, Skyview Jr. High School, song, The Lovin' Spoonful, trumpet, voice | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on September 22, 2015
When school started this fall at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell, there was a new faculty member in the music department for the first time in 15 years. Welcome to Mr. Charlie Fix, Band and Orchestra Director. Mr. Fix has a Masters Degree in Music Education from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin. Like his predecessor at Skyview, Mr. Fix is a trumpeter!
Mr. Fix has previously taught at Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, Carlsbad Unified School District in California, and Mount Vernon Community Schools in Iowa. He has taught music at all levels, elementary, junior high, and high school, in addition to teaching as a graduate assistant at Florida State.
Here at SJHS, he has three para-professional assistants to help with the 1st and 2nd year elementary bands. One teaches flutes, one teaches clarinets and saxes, and the other teaches brass–that’s me!
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Posted in Skyview Junior High | Tagged: band, brass, Charlie Fix, orchestra, Skyview Jr. High School, trumpeter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on September 21, 2015
My 25th private trumpet student wanted help this summer to prepare for entry into the 7th-grade band at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell this fall. You see, last year he was a sixth-grader in the 1st-year band, whereas most of his classmates had started one year earlier and were then in 2nd-year band. This fall he is one of them. But they have had two-year’s experience, whereas he has had only one. Along with some other band students, he’s skipping 2nd-year band. Summer lessons were his way to catch up, as much as possible, with his peers.
His first trumpet lesson with me was on 8 July. That’s when I learned he is of Vietnamese ancestry. His grandmother, who lives with his family in Bothell, got out of South Vietnam in 1975. Welcome to America! I was there as a Navy man in 1965-66. That’s how I qualify for the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), and that’s how I became the bugler for VFW Post 1040 in Lynnwood. I have a special tie with this student.
He’s a good player with a bright future. He says he likes the sound of the trumpet, and it’s lightweight and easy to carry. He learns quickly and has a nice, solid tone. Best of all, he has a great attitude and practices often! He’ll do fine in 7th-grade band—indeed, I predict that he’ll become one of the leaders in the trumpet section.
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Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: band, bugler, lesson, Skyview Jr. High School, tone, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on September 20, 2015
“The Chicken Dance”
There is no friendlier audience!
Eight private trumpet students of mine performed for their parents, relatives and friends on 5 June at the Sixth Annual Trumpet Recital held in my home–four in the morning session and four in the afternoon. They ranged from beginning band members to a high school senior who recently played in Inglemoor High School’s Wind Ensemble in Carnegie Hall in New York! (See my post of 29 April 2015).
In the afternoon session, three of us (including me) played “Funeral March,” a bugle call in three-part harmony.
The final performance of the recital was billed on the program as “Theme from ‘Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major'” by Joseph Haydn. It was a spoof, however. The trumpeter, a high school junior, appeared from the basement dressed in a chicken suit and played “The Chicken Dance.” Refreshments followed.
Recitals are fun, and weekly lessons pay off in many ways for every student and family.
Photos are by Nancy MacDonald. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Morning Session
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Mom plays duet with son, “Minuet” by Johann Sebastian Bach
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Afternoon Session
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Posted in Recitals | Tagged: band, bugle, Carnegie Hall, Inglemoor High School, lessons, recital, The Chicken Dance, trumpet, Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major, trumpeter, wind ensemble | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on September 19, 2015
After 15 successful years as Director of Instrumental Music at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell, Mr. Shawn McGinn is leaving for California in the coming months.
He conducted his final elementary school bands concert on 27 May at the Northshore Performing Arts Center (NPAC) at Bothell High School. The two bands (1st year and 2nd year) are comprised of students from nearby Crystal Springs, Canyon Creek, and Fernwood elementary schools.
The 1st year band played Bang the Drum All Day (I Don’t Want to Work) by Todd Rundgren, arranged by Michael Story.
As guest conductor, I then led the 2nd year band in playing Andromeda Overture by Mark Williams.
Finally, both bands joined in playing William Tell Overture by Gioacchino Rossini, arranged by Andrew Balent.
The concert concluded with a jazz trio jam session featuring piano, tenor sax, and flugelhorn, played by Mr. McGinn.
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Posted in School Concerts, Skyview Junior High | Tagged: Andromeda Overture, band, concert, flugelhorn, jazz, music, Northshore Performing Arts Center, Shawn McGinn, Skyview Jr. High School, William Tell Overture | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on September 17, 2015
Glenn (Taps) and Robert (Echo)
It was the same this year but not the same. Same national holiday, same place, same participating organizations, same order of events, etc. But when it came to 
sounding “Echo Taps,” this was the first time that one of my trumpet students, Robert, was ending his senior year in high school and planning to attend college in the fall. Farewell to Inglemoor High School in Kenmore and hello to Washington State University in Pullman–a big leap for a young man!
This is the second time he sounded “Echo Taps” with me at this place–please see my post of 19 June 2014. For more about Memorial Day, please see my posts of 18 August 2015, 1 June 2013, 2 June 2012, and 3 June 2011 in the Archives (left).
All photos by Nancy MacDonald unless otherwise marked. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Martin Spani, USMC (Ret.), Master of Ceremonies
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“Welcome,” by Nicola Smith, Mayor, City of Lynnwood
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“God Bless America,” Northwest Jr. Pipe Band, Kevin Auld, Director
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Jim Smith, former Lynnwood City Councilman, sang “Ballad of the Green Berets” and “America the Beautiful”
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Myra Rintamak, escorted by Frank Martinez, lays the Gold Star Mothers’ Wreath
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Glenn Ledbetter, “Echo Taps,” 5-25-’15. Photo by Janelle Squires.
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Glenn Ledbetter sounds “Echo Taps” on Getzen Field Trumpet (bugle)
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Glenn, Robert, and his parents
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Three relatives…
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Comrades gather around the flag
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Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: Assembly, bugle, echo taps, Getzen Field Trumpet, Inglemoor High School, To the Color, trumpet, Washington State University | Leave a Comment »
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 