Mount Hebron High School - Valhalla Yearbook (Ellicott City, MD)

Page 139 text:

TOP: The deep bass trombone sounds underline most of the band's music. Louis Nehmsmann, Greg Erikson, and Doug Walthers practice during the Band class. FAR LEFT: Rock Music students listen while Mr. Robert Johnston adjusts the keyboards. This class studies rock's evolution from its country and jazz TOOLS. LEFT: The Girl's Choral Ensemble practices for an upcoming concert. The new chorus room has excellent acous- tics, thus helping the students improve their performance. ACADEMICSf Hearing 135

Page 138 text:

Making beaufiful music fogefher Music would have no pur- pose if there were no ears to hear it. For this reason the sense of hearing is important to students involved in the 'Music Department. Choral En- semble, Band, Rock Music, Pi- ano and others are examples of this department's use of sound and hearing. The new music wing, in use for the first time this year, was an outstanding ad- dition to the music curricu- lum. Built-in stereos and tape recorders helped the students improve their tone and tech- nique, as did the extra work in the private practice rooms. The acoustics in the new wing were much improved over the old rooms, which helped the Band and the choruses as a whole . The courses offered were diversified. The Band and the Choruses practice for concerts and adjudications Cjudgingl and learn techniques of con- trol and tone . Piano and sec- tionals provide time for indi- vidual work on an instrument. Also, the Rock Music class learns about the history and artists of rock music. The ear is the key to all facets of music. From the time when the first note is written down to the time when the last chord of a concert fades away, hearing will be the main rea- son for the efforts of compos- ers, performers and finally, the listener.

Page 140 text:

Parlez-vous francais? Qprechen sie De ufsche7 Hablas espariol? Listen! This is a famil- iar cry throughout any school. It is also an important one, since listening and the ear are indispensable components of learning. Teachers realize this and use it to the student's advantage. Along with the in- evitable lecture, the faculty puts technology to work. The student body is exposed to an endless variety of records, tapes and headphones. These relatively new meth- ods along with the old and proven lecture, are used by the Foreign Language Department to familiarize American ears with the sometimes strange and un- usual sounds of different ton- 136 ACADEMICS!Heoring gues. Those enrolled in one of the department's courses were also introduced to the cultures of various foreign lands through many interesting activities: French III and V classes videotaped and filmed original skits: Spanish III stu- dents pretended to buy and sell goods during Travel Day: Jesse Pessoa, a Brazilian harp vir- tuoso entertained the school with Latin American music: and a group of students spent sev- eral days in Spain giving them a chance to put their classroom lessons to work. This year, Latin I and German III were added to help maintain a wide and varied offering. ,Nm ,FH 'X'