McDonald Middle School Band Mike Major Director Dear Parents and Students, I hope that this letter finds you having a great summer break!! We are making preparations for you here at McDonald Middle School. There are over 170 of you signed up for beginner band! That is the one of the biggest beginner band in Mesquite ISD. I am very excited!! The only thing that you need to do between now and when school starts is to make sure that you have your instrument ready at the beginning of school. On the envelope that this letter came in, beside your name is the instrument that you are playing. Check it and make sure it is correct. If you don t have an instrument listed under your name, or it says, Not Chosen, it means that you have not picked an instrument for next year. Please contact me as soon as possible. E-mail is the best, but I will check my phone messages also. I need to see you as soon as possible to get you on an instrument and make sure that your schedule is correct. If I don t hear back from you by August 15 th, we might have to drop you from band and put you in your next elective. My contact info is at the bottom of this page. If there is a mistake with your instrument, please contact me, Mr. Major. Do not call the school or the school counselor. She has to talk to me before we can change anything. So, contact me using the information at the bottom of this letter. The best way to contact me is e-mail. I don t go to school everyday, but I will check my e-mail at least twice a day. Next, you need to make sure to get a quality instrument for the school year. Please be careful with the instruments that you get. I am attaching a list of recommended instruments that you can choose from. When you go to get an instrument, take the Recommended Instrument List with you. Take it to the salesperson at the music store and hand it to them. Then, tell them what instrument that you are going to play. They should be able to help you from there. I am also attaching a couple of flyers from local music stores. You can rent online as well as in the store. You must have an instrument by September 1 st or you won t be allowed to stay in the band program. The flyers that I am enclosing will help with your choices. They are from 3 local music stores that work with us and have quality instrument for you. When you choose a music store, please be sure to choose a store that has the appropriate facilities. Wherever you get your instrument, it should have a repair shop with it. You should never get instruments at a store that doesn t have a repair facility. When you go, ask them! I am including handouts from good music stores in the area. Any of these would be great. If you are a percussionist, you should have received this information from Mr. Houston, the percussion instructor. There is a link listed on the Recommended Instrument Page that you can log in to look at. The BEST place to get percussion supplies in online at LoneStar Percussion. We will host the Williamson Music Store at the McDonald Band room on August 17 th from 5 8 PM if you don t get a chance to take care of it before then. They will be available for you to rent an instrument that night. You can come to the new band hall to find us. It is on the south side of the building. There will be signs to point you in the right direction. 2930 Town East Dr. Mesquite, TX 75150 Phone: (972) 882 5718 Fax (972) 882 5710 http://www.mcdonaldband.com jmajor@mesquiteisd.org
Page 2 of 2 If you have access to the Internet, we have a band webpage. It is http://www.mcdonaldband.com I will use this to post information that you are given during the year. I would like you to take a little time and look around the website. It has lots of stuff on it. We also have a Facebook page, Band Twitter, and Instagram. You can link to all of it from the band webpage. Also, if you would take a little time to update your information in our system, that would be great. We have a separate system from the school district. You are already in the system, but we don t have all of the information that we would like. Here are the directions on how to log in and update your info: 1. Go to http://bit.ly/mmsupdate 2. Click on Returning Students Click Here! 3. Enter your 8 digit MISD ID in the field presented (the number is probably starts with 95). It is on any official document from the district (like a report card). If you don t know it, email me and I can tell you 4. It will ask you to chose a new password. Please use something that you can remember. You will access this system A LOT! 5. Update all of the information that you can. If you give us your cell phone # and cell company, you will receive text message updates from the band. 6. Be sure to click Update There is a video tutorial on the band website that you can watch. www.mcdonaldband.com and then click on Beginner Band or click here ( http://www.mcdonaldband.com/beginner-band.html ) Please mark your calendars for August 30th at 6:30. We will have our one and only band parent meeting for the year at McDonald. I will give you more information when school starts up. We will be going over LOTS of information about what band is and what is expected of you. We will need the student and one parent/guardian to be there. PLEASE make plans to attend now. You won t want to miss this meeting. If you have any questions, please don t hesitate to contact me. I will do everything in my power to help you. You will discover that not only do I care about your student s music education, I care about their academic education. I will be monitoring your student s grades as the year goes by and will give some guidance through the year as how to make the best grades at McDonald. Have a great rest of your summer!! See you on August 22nd for the first day of school. You will NOT need your instruments on the first day of school. We will tell you when to bring them. Sincerely, Mike Major Director of Bands McDonald Middle School 2930 Town East Dr. Mesquite, TX 75150 Phone: (972) 882 5718 Fax (972) 882 5710 http://www.mcdonaldband.com jmajor@mesquiteisd.org
McDonald Band Recommended Instrument List Take this paper to the music store. They can help you with the instruments Flute Yamaha YFL 281 or Jupiter 511 Silk cleaning cloth Bo-Pep Thumb Guide Clarinet Buffet E-11 or Yamaha YCL 450 Vandoren 5RV Lyre Mouthpiece Rovner Ligature Silk Swab Reed Guard 1 Box Vandoren Size 3 Reeds Alto Saxophone Yamaha YAS 26 or Selmer AS 500 Selmer C-Star Mouthpiece Rovner Ligature Reed Guard 1 Box Vandoren Size 3 Reeds Trumpet Bach TR 300 or Yamaha YTR 2330 Bach 5C Mouthpiece French Horn Holton Farkas MDC mouthpiece with pouch Trombone Yamaha 448G or Getzen 547 Bach 6 1/2 AL mouthpiece Baritone Bach 6 1/2 AL mouthpiece with pouch Tuba Conn Helleberg 7B mouthpiece with pouch Percussion List available online at Lone Star Percussion http://bit.ly/mms7perc Instrument Rental Night August 17 th from 5-8 PM Williamson Music Co. at McDonald Band Hall for instrument rental Must have instrument by September 1 st or can t stay in band Mike Major jmajor@mesquiteisd.org<--best way to get in touch (972) 882 5718 www.mcdonaldband.com
McDonald Band Estimated 7th Grade Band Fees for the 2016-2017 School Year Rental of Instrument Depends on instrument Reeds Clarinet/Saxophone/Oboe/Bassoon Varies by instrument & need Binder Fee - $20 or less September - Covers binder, method book, accessories bag, name tag, and band pencils Band Hoodie (OPTIONAL) - $30 or under Band Polo Shirt - $20 or under November part of the band uniform Solo Piano Fee - $15 or under April payment for piano player for solo contest Band Trip (OPTIONAL)- $40 or under April or May - payment for end of year band trip. There may be the occasional extra fee charged. But it will be something like $6 or $7 for CiCi s Pizza or something similar to that. We try to keep band costs as low as possible for your student and to space them out over the year so as not to hit you with it all at one time. If you need extra time to pay fees, please contact Mr. Major before they are due and we are more than happy to work out a payment plan for you. If you would like to prepay at any time, just e-mail Mr. Major. Important Dates to Remember August 17 Instrument Rental night (Williamson Music Co.) August 22 First day of school (no instruments) August 25 - Instrument Rental night (McKay Music Co.) August 30 Beginner Band Parents Meeting @ 6:30 - less 1 Hour September 1 - Must have instrument to stay in band Social Media & Contact Information McDonald Band Contact information Mike Major jmajor@mesquiteisd.org (972) 882 5718 wwww.mcdonaldband.com E-mail is the best way to get in touch with Mr. Major McDonaldBand McDonald_Band McDonaldBand
Full Service Repair Shop Kim Rawlings, Certified Technician *Studied instrument repair at Western Iowa Tech; graduated with Honors *Member of N.A.P.B.I.R.T. (National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians) *Certified by the Straubinger Flute Company *Playing Condition to complete overhauls of brass, woodwind and double reeds *Graphite banding; Crack pinning; Tenon replacements; Tenon ring installation; Tonehole replacements; Valve repair; Fiberglass repair; Bassoon refinishing McKay Music Co. is a Music & Arts affiliate 435 W. I -30 Garland, TX 75043 (972) 240-0074 Northeast corner of Broadway and I-30 *SPECIAL: $5* FIRST MONTH Rentals as low as $19.99 per month!!!!!! 100% of rental payments apply toward purchase Return or Exchange at any time, no obligation to buy 30% discount for early payoff Instrument protection, repairs and maintenance
MCDONALD MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND INSTRUMENT RENTAL PURCHASE PLAN Low monthly rates*: Flute From $20.95 Trumpet From $21.95 Wood Clarinet From $27.95 F Att. Trombone From $36.95 Alto Sax From $34.95 *(Plus Maintenance and Sales Tax Credit check may be required) You may purchase the instrument outright at a generous discount. Monthly rental with no long-term obligation. No interest or finance charge. Total rental amount applies toward purchase. Instruments are school approved. Rental outfit includes case, and band director specified mouthpiece. Loss Damage Waiver available for an additional monthly fee. Reserved instruments are delivered to your school. Professional repair technicians to meet all your repair needs. Our representatives visit schools weekly. We stock all major brands of mouthpieces, cases, and supplies for your special needs. Payments don t begin until October 1, 2016! Visit our store location! 701 E Plano Parkway #100 Plano, Texas 75074 972-516-1331 Rent Made Easy Check our website: www.williamsonmusicco.com
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