The drummer taps her ngers on her virtual drum set, and the
keyboardist tickles virtual ivories. Hamand’s belts allow the
students to stand when they perform, just like they would if they
were playing real instruments.
The band’s set includes two songs - and
- each about ve minutes long. Sevilla Antua,
10, is the singer; Melina Rodriguez, 10, plays keyboard; Matias
arcia, 11, plays bass; Kayla Downes, 11, plays guitar; and
Payton Casto, 10, plays drums. They play their instruments with
the help of an app called . Paired with Hamand’s
sound system and microphones, they sound like the real deal.
has had a few gigs. Last month, they took to the
stage at both the Manatee County Elementary Music Festival and
at ullett’s PTO meeting. The band is also scheduled to play at
the Manatee County School Board meeting on May .
There are some technical challenges unique to iPad bands,
however. On a recent Monday, for example, at the start of
practice, it took some time to make sure all the tablets were
hooked up correctly to the speakers. Some tablet’s volumes were
too high and drowning out the singing, and sometimes screens
would lock unexpectedly, necessitating quick scrambling to
get back to the instrument display. But, ultimately, the band
surmounted the technical difculties and sailed smoothly through
the rest of practice.
Hamand’s after-school iPad program has been around for
three years, and each year, he has hand-picked a group of ve
students that he knows are passionate about music. The kids
he chooses have all had artistic experience, even if it’s in a
seemingly unrelated activity, like dance or violin.
All ve of this year’s band members are hard-working, polite,
friendly, and helpful. They seem to be friends, although none
of them are in the same class at school, and some of them just
met last Fall. There’s no “drama” in the iPad band, they say, and
it’s a chance to socialize.
Weekly band practice is something they all say they look forward
to. It gives them an opportunity to learn about music and various
instruments. It also helps them improve in their
heir
other endeavors, such as acting, for example,ple,
in the case of singer, Sevilla. She says that the
he
band helps to “further our education in music,ic,
but it’s also a place to have fun.”
And, all the students love Mr. Hamand. “He’s
amazing,” said Matias, the band’s bassist.
Besides teaching music - and running the
e
iPad band as a labor of love - Hamand’s also
o
in charge of the guitar and drums after-school
ol
programs at ullett (the iPad band is free for
or
students, but they must pay to be in guitar
ar
and drums.) Before ullett, Hamand was the
he
Band Director at Palmetto High School for 12
12
years. There, he ran a rock band project called
led
.
“That was a lot of fun,” Hamand said. “The played the instruments and they let me sing.”
Knowing Hamand’s upbringing, it’s surprising he pursued a career in music. father had a country band and let Hamand
play the drums in it once he was 17. Also,
from the time he was 16, Hamand spent
his summers traveling the country by bus
as part of a competitive drum and bugle
corps called the .
The corps would travel half the night, catch
a couple of hours’ sleep in sleeping bags on
the oor of a school gymnasium, practice
the whole next day, compete at night, and
then start the process all over again.
“It was hard, but it was a blast,” Hamand
said, adding that the corps was how he
met his wife, Kathy, who was in the color
guard, spinning ags, and ries.
Hamand got the idea for ullett’s iPad band
six years ago, when he attended a musicteacher
annual convention at the Tampa
his
om
ck
e,
Convention Center. After presenting lesson, he heard loud music coming from
the concert area. It sounded like a rock
band and the song was the 70’s tune,
‘.’
“I was like, ‘give me a break, this supposed to be a very upscale event and
some teacher brought their students here
to play rock music’,” Hamand said.
kids
ing.”
not
His
and
so,
ent
us
le
h
n
e
t
d
e
or
nd
icmpa
ro
oc
ne
is
d
e
TEACH THE
CHILDREN WELL