It was a concert with a twist. Band members became teachers and audience members became students. The sixth-grade bands at Park and Lincoln elementary schools each recently held an open house to showcase what they have been learning in band this year, said Don Regehr, band teacher.
The programs featured numbers by the full band as well as solos and duets by various band students. Additionally, the students picked a family member or friend from the audience to take part in a teaching experiment. The band students showed them how to hold their instruments correctly, how to make a sound on the instrument and how to play three notes on that instrument.
After a short lesson, the new “band students” gave their best shot at playing “Hot Cross Buns.”
“Everyone had a good time and found there is quite a bit involved in playing a musical instrument,” Regehr said.
“I think the teaching experiment is very educational for the students,” he said. “They have to know these concepts in order to teach them to a new student. It causes them to really think through the steps that they have learned in order to play their instrument.”