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20 students, 2 guests, and 4 employees colored pictures of pumpkins to decorate the Conservatory Hallway. There were a total of 31 pumpkin pictures in all and everyone had a great time...so now we have Turkey and Cornucopia pictures available for coloring for Thanksgiving, so come on by! 
Presented by Mike Campbell Former teacher for Alan Swain, author of the Four Way Keyboard System Approach to Jazz harmony and private Jazz Piano Instructor at the West Music Conservatory. Who: Intermediate to advanced piano players.
What: An organized, structured approach to Jazz Piano for the non-professional; the Four Way Keyboard System for Jazz Harmony and an introduction to the Blues.
Where: West Music Cedar Falls, 6322 University Ave. 319-277-1000 or 800-248-7004
When: November 14th | 10–10:45 AM
How: Sign up with Lea Ann Huegel lhuegel@westmusic.com
 Julie, one of our newest Weekend Warriors, has been blogging her thoughts as she practices for her upcoming performances.
She's performing on bass with two bands, "The Headliners" and "Collect 4". You might also want to click here to watch the video practice session for The Headliners.
Julie's First Week The first Weekend Warriors Jazz Band started on Saturday. We learned one song; Cruella De Ville. I was surprised to see that we were able to play all of the way through it! Next week, I am looking forward to getting new songs.
How do you get your students to practice? It's a question that comes up again and again. Here are some suggestions! - One of the tips that Matt Rigdon has told me in the past is if a Student "memorizes" pieces very quickly by ear but doesn't take the time to read, he makes them ready the music by starting at the end. The kids then can't play it by ear!
- Louann Flaherty said she had a student who wasn't practicing at all, so for a week she had him call and leave a message on her cell every time he practiced. That way, he knew how much she cared about his practice.
Five young musicians, brought together as a Weekend Warriors ensemble, practice with Nate, their West Music coach.
 West Music Cedar Falls is proud to present three brand new Weekend Warrior Bands. Performing live:
Jameson's Public House in Waterloo.
Phone: 319-233-0701
310 East 4th Street Waterloo, IA
www.jamesonspublichouse.com/
Weekend Warriors is a program at West Music that brings musicians together to form bands under the direction of a coach. It's a great way for beginning musicians or those returning to music to get the chance to play in a band. We will start the evening with a special performance from "The Sleepy Bones Allison Trio," whose lead guitar player, Paul, is 6 years old and will be performing a selection of blues songs on guitar.  Coach Nathan Dalziel will start the show with his band The Headliners a jazz group of young musicians from ages of 8 to 14. Members of the band include Angelle Waltz on vocals, Robbie Young on keyboard, Alex Roelfsema on saxophone, Emily Bingham on trombone, Julie Doyle on bass guitar, and A'Daris Washington on drums. Expect a foot-tapping good time from this group!
Minimusic is an exciting new program coming to Cedar Falls West Music Conservatory. Designed for children ages 4-6, it prepares younger students for traditional private lessons in most instruments including piano, voice, violin, flute, guitar, drums, and others.
This post follows on Tone Poems For Strings, which honored Anthony Bacich. A student of his daughter, Barbara, sent us this story. --Ed.  When I was 14, I started a school year of private violin lessons with Barbara Bacich, who was teaching at West Junior High School in Waterloo and was my 9th grade orchestra conductor. I progressed rapidly under her tutelage, ultimately winning a "highest possible marks" rating in a violin recital that her father judged in early 1978. As was his style, in spite of my "highest possible" performance, he did say that I needed to improve my vibrato a bit!
Shortly thereafter, I showed up at Barbara's house in Waterloo for my Saturday afternoon lesson. Barbara had some personal details to attend to, and asked me if I could wait an hour before my lesson while she did so. I said that was fine as long as I could play her piano, upon which she had once played for me a gorgeous rendition of my favorite piano piece, Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata."
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West Music Staff Blogs
