February 2022 - Back to Band!

USING REPERTOIRE FOR A REASON: BACK TO BAND TOP PICKS TO GET THOSE ENGINES STARTED....LET’S FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS!

This list of titles is curated from the newest releases from the publishers. I have included a few bulleted thoughts for each piece as well as a link to the recording and/or score video.

Most of these titles are available to purchase in bound or digital format through Harknett Music. Please contact the store 905 477 1141 or mary@harknettmusic.com  for more info.

GRADE 0.5 – 1:

Rust Belt                0.5             William Owens              LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• 6 Notes within limited ranges
• Beginning rhythms not exceeding an eighth note which moves around quite a bit. Most people have the eighth note movement.
• Metre, counting, rests, which lead to entrances and releases. CLEAR definitive articulation  
• :45 pyramid effect with the BIG BEN/CLOCK TOWER quotation in there. MIGHT be recognizable to some students and if not, good opportunity to explain that reference.
• Talk about the Rust Belt emulation through the feelings and the sound of the piece using musical examples from either the students individual parts or what they hear across the band.

At The Water’s Edge    1            Rob Romeyn                 LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• 3/4
• syncopated melody
• First octave    
• Squarely arranged, moving re-distributed melody with static background parts
• dynamic markings and swells, teach breathing and phrasing, fermata, rubato.
• Mallet and unpitched percussion parts     

Motitus                                   0.5               Ryan Meeboer                          LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• Motitus is Finnish military slang which describes the tactic of totally encircling an enemy unit, in effect: entrapment.
• Distinct and active percussion parts which are not only accompanying the clean and clear band parts which are all based on a melody which MAKES SENSE.
• There is a clear difference between background parts and melody.
• The low group (low brass and low WW) do have a full melodic statement in the piece as well.
• Canadian Content, support Canadian composers..
• Conceptual counting of rests. Assigning values in simple time and knowing when to articulate and when to stop the air.

Fanfare and Festival   0.5       Robert Sheldon                   00-48106          LINK TO PUBLISHER SITE WITH RECORDING

• Publisher graded it as a Grade 1, let’s downgrade it to a 0.5. (for real)
• Midyear (holiday) concert or performance. This is a simple piece which resembles an elongated band book exercise.
• Attention is given to dynamics.
• Passing moving parts around through the band. This is reasonably short and easy blow for the young ones.
• More engaging if played faster than recording/marked tempo.
• Articulation and stylistic differences are taught here, accents and staccatos. The two note slur patterns in upper woodwinds in the 2^nd part of the melody.
• At least 3 percussion needed, but plenty of activity for 5 or more.

GRADE 1.5

Retrograde                   1.5                   Vince Gassi       LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• The piece has a recurring motive which does make it kinda catchy and tuneful and memorable. It has a great energy to it with forward momentum.
• It has that teachable Vince Gassi SOUND – the piece is like a miniature musical puzzle and when the pieces come together, it makes for a great learning experience.
• There is a definite rhythmic “groove” throughout this piece in the fast sections.
• Recap section has percussion section feature measures and a powerful low brass intro, strong ending -  Its to the point and FINAL, great concert or festival closer.

A Builder’s Dream     1.5                         Adrian Sims    LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• melodic interplay and countermelody
• call and response through independent lines
• active percussion
• low brass feature lines

Imperium        1.5 FLEX BAND Michael Sweeney        LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• This is a great discussion to have surrounding the many musical elements
•  accents, distinct articulation
• dynamic shifts
• percussion section mini-solos and more
• blocked – not much independent movement

Destiny Fanfare          Mekel Rogers.  1.5     LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• memorable melodies, bold harmonic progressions
•  active parts for every instrument
• appropriate ranges
• variety of timbres

GRADE 2

Never Gonna Give You Up      2-2.5 arr Conaway    LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• Recorded by Rick Astley in 1987, this familiar rock hit has remained popular due in part to its prank value!
• 80’s rock/pop unit. Listen to the original (and of course, WATCH THE VIDEO) and UNSQUARE the band parts to match the actual rhythms in the song
• Parent pleasing concert selection

Wellerman (Flex)                    2          arr.  Murtha.    LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• This well-known whaling song from New Zealand has been at the forefront of the rise in popularity of sea shanties.

• TikTok Sensation
• Use to teach Form and structure
• Repetitive even through modulation
• Kids all know it so this will assist in rhythm reading
• If you play the rhythm or especially articulation without exact precision, the melody becomes WRONG and they won’t let that happen
• Articulation (tongue-slur combos) easier to teach because of familiarity
• Easy fun piece to get back into things

Count to Ten    (Flex)      1-2           Alex Shapiro     LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• Alex Shapiro specializes In electroacoustic genres, check out “Paper Cut”
• So many things to do here. This is GRADELESS. Can be as easy or as diversely difficult as you choose
• Gives opportunity to work with that underlaying percussive groove.
• Teach chromatics earlier than you would have.
• Engage all levels of student with something that is far more unique
• You really need to use the backing track
• Mixed meter

Lake Of Sorrows                2              Randall Standridge          LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• Expressive and noticeable dynamics
• Tone production and proper note length
• Navigating Slight Tempo Changes
• Teaching Chromaticism at a basic level and with limited range.  Copyable Chromatic exercise sheets have been included with this work and are keyed for all instruments

GRADE 2.5 +

In Blue or Green     Flex.    2.5-3.5      Giovanni Santos    LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• "Based on rhythmic and melodic cells, this works pays tribute to Terry Riley’s In C. What if Terry Riley met Miles Davis while vacationing in Cuba? Well, it might sound like this. The work is composed for fully flex ensemble. Any number of musicians are welcome, including singers."
• This is a great chance for wind instrumentalists to have active involvement with percussion and create a rotation of small ensembles where each student gets to learn multiple parts.

• This piece can be a grade 2 if you want. It probably can also stretch up to Grade 4.
• Mixing around parts, subtracting, modifying, shortening or lengthening especially the LOUD/Final sections when all of the percussion and riffs are in.
• Improv?
• It sounds like a dance club.
• This piece would encourage composition

South Shore Soliloquy     2.5 – 3                Robert Sheldon          LINK TO PUBLISHER RECORDING

• This is a tribute piece.
• Rob Sheldon is probably one of the finest MELODY composers of ALL TIME across this entire genre. They are always identifiable and this means the process will go faster but will instill more ownership by all of the players.
• Modulations happen in the peaks/big moments and its really a great way to get kids engaged (working on the builds especially)
• Theres melodic interplay – what I mean by that is, in an 8 bar phrased melody, different sections of the band will each get portions of this (example 2 bars each and then pass it on)

SUGGESTED FUNDAMENTAL/WARM UP/CHORALE TECHNIQUE METHODS

Grade 0.5 – Grade 2.5:

SI Ensemble Development Young Band      www.alfred.com/SIED
Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Young Concert Band is a complete curriculum for beginning band students to help them grow as ensemble musicians. The series complements any band method and supplements any performance music. It contains 167 exercises, including more than 100 chorales by some of today's most renowned young band composers. Various exercises at the grade 1/2, 1, and 1 1/2 levels are grouped by key, including:

* Long Tones
* Passing the Tonic
* Pitch Matching
* Scale Builders
* Interval Builders
* Expanding Intervals
* Chord Builders
* Moving Chord Tones
* Diatonic Harmony
* Rhythmic Subdivision
* 5-Note Scales
* Scale Canons (5-, 6-, or 8-Note Scales)
* Scale Chorales (5-, 6-, and 8-Note Scales)
* Chorales.

The compositions were written by Roland Barrett, Chris Bernotas, Jodie Blackshaw, Matt Conaway, Ralph Ford, Tyler S. Grant, Rob Grice, John O'Reilly, Robert Sheldon, Todd Stalter, Randall Standridge, Michael Story, and Scott Watson. Whether your students are progressing through exercises to better their technical facility, or improving their musicianship with beautiful chorales, we are confident your performers will be excited, motivated, and inspired by using Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Young Concert Band. The Ensemble Development Series is also available for Intermediate and Advanced Band. 

Habits of a Successful Middle School Musician      www.habitsuniversal.com/habits-series                

-is a field-tested, vital, and—most importantly—musical collection of more than 300 sequenced exercises for building fundamentals.

Perfect for use by an entire band or solo player for years two, three, and beyond, this series contains carefully sequenced warm-ups,  chorales, sight-reading etudes, rhythm vocabulary exercises, and much more. In one place, this series presents everything an aspiring player needs to build fundamental musicianship skills and then be able to transfer those skills directly into the performance of great literature.

Habits of a Successful Middle School Musician:

• Provides material for use during fundamentals time that promotes a comprehensive approach to developing skills necessary to fill the musical toolbox.
• Presents effective exercises for clarinets going over the break, trombones in second and fifth position, flutes going from C to D, percussion sticking, trombone F- attachment tips, and L and R indicators for clarinet.
• Includes a sequential format that leads to the mastery of reading rhythms and ultimately, to musical sight-reading.
• Provides chorales for the development of tone quality, ensemble sonority, and musicianship.
• Combines pedagogy, technique building, fundamentals development, sight-reading and musicianship into one book under one cover.

Habits of a Successful Middle School Musician is the answer to the question: “What should I be learning during fundamentals time?”

THE OMEA 2021 ADAPTABLE BAND REPERTOIRE SESSION IS NOW ONLINE!  

If you'd like the handout for this session, please drop me a line: humberbayrealestate@gmail.com