"Mr. Núñez, what music will we be playing for the Winter Concert?" Lately, this is the number one question from Band students. Throughout the fall, on Monday through Thursday mornings, Advanced and Beginning Band Program students have been preparing for their portion of the Winter Concert, coming up on December 15. Even though the band members don't yet have their concert sheet music, these 4th through 6th grade musicians understand that they have been training up on their instrumental skills and knowledge of music notation to accurately perform any music that may be set in front of them. In the way that all students learn to read and write, young musicians do the same but with many different and unusual symbols that have specific meanings that are a communication from the composer to the performer. Sometimes these musical directions require the musician to quickly move their eyes from the middle of the page, back to the beginning, and then to skip over a small portion of the music, and then continue on to the end. Is it any wonder that professional musicians often refer to the music directions as "The road map?" Update: All band members will get their concert music this coming week, and the question will be answered!