Join together with the band

The band was a little bit out of sync at Davis Elementary School on Thursday, so Sarah Silver had the musicians stop and play their individual parts one at a time. As the trumpets, clarinets and percussion each practiced their own sections, Silver clapped her hands to the beat and declared, “Rest” for every silent measure.

The song they were playing was “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” one of the simplest tunes in all of music ? but then, when two dozen instruments are involved, no tune is ever that simple.

“When you’re playing it, sing the song in your head,” Silver told the class. “It sounds like you think it should sound.”

The Davis All Star Band had a packed week ahead, with performances at Knott’s Berry Farm and Costa Mesa High School, and the students congregated for their after-school practice on Thursday with a stack of material. By the end of the 80-minute rehearsal, they had covered Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” the jazz classic “When the Saints Go Marching In,” and even tackled the first few minutes of the “1812 Overture.”

Every Thursday, the Davis band ? led by teacher Scott Fitzpatrick, who was absent during last week’s rehearsal ? meets to play together in the school’s music room. In between, individual sections of the band come in to practice on their own, putting together the pieces that form a full-band arrangement.

So far, that practice has paid off. At last week’s school board meeting, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District invited the All Star Band to perform in recognition of Music Appreciation Month. The band, consisting of two dozen members, played three pieces and gave a short presentation on the school’s music program.

Among the instruments in the ensemble are trumpets, clarinets, flute, electric bass and no less than eight percussionists. Most of the members of the Davis band have played together for two or more years, and some said that Fitzpatrick encouraged them to listen in on one another.

“He tells us not to be in our own little bubbles,” said fifth-grader Kyle Whiteside, 10, who plays the bass.

Sixth-grader Brittany Martell, 12, joined the band with a group of her friends a while ago, then wound up being the only flute player when the others dropped out. As a result, she had to work to make herself heard over her bandmates.

“You have to aim your air into a smaller hole to make it louder,” she said.

Some students joined the band out of family tradition ? such as Kyle, whose older sister and brother are now in the marching band at Costa Mesa High School. For others, though, it was a new experiment. Sixth-grader Sasheena Kensak-Haines, 12, said she hadn’t played music until entering the band last year as a saxophonist.

“I think music is going to be in my future,” she said.dpt.04-classroom-2-kt-CPhotoInfo6H1PJJOT20060404ix65rnknKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Above, teacher Sarah Silver assists the trumpet section during a band class at Davis Elementary School on Thursday. Below, Krist Adams, 10, right, plays the clarinet as Brittany Martell, 12, follows along on the flute during a band class. dpt.04-classroom-1-kt-CPhotoInfo6H1PJJOR20060404ix65qmknKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Above, teacher Sarah Silver assists the trumpet section during a band class at Davis Elementary School on Thursday. Below, Krist Adams, 10, right, plays the clarinet as Brittany Martell, 12, follows along on the flute during a band class.