MAD Project Reflection

            I believe that the music students we tutored during practice club and the students in the Middle School Woodwind ensemble gained a lot from the time that we spent with them.  We guided the practice club students in their practicing and we could see their improvement week after week.  The students were very agreeable and listened to the instruction we gave them every time we came.  Many of them were willing to come afterschool on Fridays because they had trouble with their rhythmic beats.  A lot of trombones came to practice club.  I had experience with trombones because I used to play trombone myself.  Thus, I was able to give the trombonists some pointers on how to play.  The Middle schoolers were very tractable and did not cause my sister and me much trouble.  They cooperated fully with us and everyone enjoyed practice club. 

            In addition to tutoring Middle School Practice Club, My sister and I also assisted the Middle School Woodwind Ensemble in their weekly practice sessions.  The Woodwind Ensemble welcomed us with open arms and enjoyed our presence when they practiced.  We helped them put together their different parts so that the ensemble sounded like one big unit.  We helped certain students who had trouble with their parts and spent special attention on them.  We also corrected students’ postures so that their breathing would improve.  After a couple of weeks, the members of the Woodwind ensemble began to be in synch with one another.  Minor intonation problems still remained, but overall, the songs that the ensemble played as a whole sounded very nice. 

            This particular MAD project allowed me to serve the school with my God-given abilities in music.  Outside of my MAD project, I also volunteer my time to teach a girl at the Hong Kong Children and Youth Services, Hung Hom Integrated Family Service Center how to play flute.  Both of these opportunities allowed me to share my acquired skills in music with other people.  This experience has been very valuable to me.  Through this MAD project, I have further developed my skills in working with people and learned how to lead.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent working with the Middle Schoolers in Practice Club and in Woodwind Ensemble.  The Middle schoolers were fun to work with and are an extremely talented bunch of people.