As the stay-at-home directives continue until at least the end of April (and maybe longer!), IIM staff members are getting creative with how to keep our band members connected. This week, we began putting the bands together on Google Hangouts Meet in order to give them the opportunity to talk, commiserate, laugh, have fun, and even pursue some new musical opportunities.
Orbit met on Monday in the middle of the afternoon, with Habiba facilitating the session. Other staff members are getting together on other days with the other bands, as we concentrate on getting the Rockers bands reconnected and brainstorming what they would like to do with their time together.
The staff has already put together a variety of plans that include rhythm games, song and/or lyric interpretation, charting, song structure analysis, favorite song sharing, and picking new songs to learn individual parts while stuck at home. Individual instrument instructors are making themselves available online to help any student who wants help in learning or expanding their parts.
Throughout the week, we have been organizing for the second round of bands, which will include the Young Rockers, Advanced Young Rockers, and Drum Ensemble. They all hope to get underway any day now.
Meanwhile, individual Instrument Lessons in vocals, guitar, bass, and piano, along with Music Theory and Songwriting classes, have continued and flourished, using a variety of online tools like FaceTime and Skype.