At the Edge of the Sea by Kirk Vogel (Alfred, Gr. 2.5)

Open in SmartMusic

The motion of birds along the coastline is characterized via moving eighth notes, larger intervals, accents and some mixed meter. All instruments contribute to the melodic content and every instrument group combines with percussion at varying times throughout the piece to provide rhythmic drive. Commissioned for the Everitt Middle School and Wheat Ridge High School Bands (Wheat Ridge, CO).

South Shore Soliloquy by Robert Sheldon (Alfred, Gr. 2.5)

Open in SmartMusic

A heartfelt elegy written to honor the legacy of director Dr. Gary Corcoran (Plymouth State University, NH). From start to finish every satisfying phrase, tender sigh and euphonious climax in this beautiful, sonorous work is pure Robert Sheldon.

Beyond Reach by Adrian Sims (Alfred, Gr. 3)

Open in SmartMusic

Informed by the rhythms, scoring, and harmonies of today’s film music, this compelling piece – which portrays an action-filled journey towards an unseen opposition – include fresh, inventive harmonies, punctuated ostinatos rhythms in the low instruments, and percussion pitted against broad, lyric strokes of the melody in the middle voices. Premiered “virtually” by the 2021 Georgia Music Educators Association District V Honor Band.

Golden Celebration Overture by Chris Bernotas (Alfred, Gr. 3)

Open in SmartMusic

This overture, written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Parsippany Hills High School (NJ), takes the listener on a journey of contrasting styles, opening with a fanfare, then reflective/reverent wrapping up with energetic, sometimes playful material drives to an exhilarating close. The scoring – timbrally inventive and presenting many textures – offers interest for those who play and hear! 

Light Up the Sky by Scott Watson (Alfred, Gr. 3)

Open in SmartMusic

I wrote this bright piece for the South Hunterdon Regional High School Concert Band (Lambertville, NJ) to depict the dazzling excitement of the fireworks display their town produces on summer nights over the adjacent Delaware River. Contributing to the excitement are lively syncopated rhythms; driving mixed meter and energetic, colorful (and at times explosive!) percussion in this work inspired by Hande’s “Water Music” and “Royal Fireworks Music”!

Steel Valley Transformation by Michael Kamuf (Belwin, Gr. 3.5)

Open in SmartMusic

This piece celebrates the grit and resolve of Ohio’s Mahoning Valley community over the past century with three sections depicting different eras. It was commissioned for and dedicated to the OMEA District 5 High School Honor Band (Youngstown, OH). Kamuf’s writing – a synthesis of traditional concert art and pop/jazz influences – produces music that connects with players/audiences on many levels.

Vanishing Point by Randall Standridge (Randall Standridge Music, Gr. 4)

Open in SmartMusic

The beautiful vistas of the Great Lakes region – home to the Sturgeon Bay High School Band (Wisconsin), commissioner’s of the piece – served as the inspiration for this impressive and sweeping work. Minimalistic rhythms, lush harmonies and colorful orchestration abound to portray various impressions of the water. The piece includes a SFX track (free download from RSM site) with nature sounds meant to be played as the piece opens/closes.

Conclusion

Of course, these seven, medium difficulty pieces are just a sampling. There are so many talented composers producing aesthetically compelling and pedagogically helpful music at all levels for school bands! I promise that if you take a closer look at ALL the new band music created/released back in 2020 you are sure to find the perfect piece for YOUR ensemble…one which otherwise may have been “lost to the pandemic.”

The post Lost, Now Found! Rediscovering Concert Band Titles from the Pandemic appeared first on MakeMusic.

In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap, the job’s a game!

The following are a few games and challenges I’ve used with beginning-intermediate students to push them further while having fun:

1. Long Tone Contest

I strongly believe in beginning each lesson group or rehearsal with a brief warm-up. Establishing this routine will pay dividends for student and teacher along the way. As soon as I teach first year band students their very first note, a long tone on that note becomes their first warm-up. I challenge students to beat their own time from week to week, but what they like most is when we make it a contest to see who in the lesson group or band can hold a note the longest. That student is dubbed the long tone champion for the day.

To make it more of an event, I ask students to stand in place, breathe, and start the note together. As they run out of air, they take their seat and the last boy or girls standing wins! When I need to teach a new fingering for a concert selection, you can bet that will be the note we use for our next long tone contest.

2. Accuracy Race

In this game, each student in a lesson group or sectional plays a selected passage to see who can make it the farthest in the music before making a rhythmic or pitch error. I use this game to encourage students to keep chipping away at an especially difficult exercise or concert music excerpt.

In my band room I normally project our method book (Alfred’s Sound Innovations) or concert music using SmartMusic from my laptop onto a large IWB (interactive whiteboard).The first student plays. As soon as he/she makes a rhythmic or pitch (fingering) error I write his/her name or initials with a dry erase marker at that place in the music. The next student goes and I do the same.

This continues until everyone has had a chance. You’ll sense the excitement. Each successive student really, REALLY tries hard to make it past the previous student…and they’ll beg you to let them try another round!

3. Pencil Check

We all want students to come to rehearsals with a pencil for marking in counts, accidentals, and other helpful items. If I notice this habit waning, I turn to a pencil check challenge to help turn things around.

At the start of a rehearsal I’ll call out, “Show me your pencils,” and I write down the number that hold one up. (When a colleague of mine does this, she asks her students to place the eraser on their heads with the pencil point facing up – it’s quite a sight!) Challenge the students to do better the next rehearsal: “34 of you remembered your pencil today…thank you! But 11 of you forgot and I know we can do better. When we do our pencil check next time do you think 100% of you can come prepared?”

4. The Longest Phrase

A hallmark of a beginning or less mature band is choppy phrasing, where students breathe after every note or two. As bands mature, they play longer phrases. While the long tone contest should demonstrate to students that they are capable of playing several measures in one breath, most first and second year students – as a matter of habit – will still breath far more often they they should.

To help, I challenge students to play a scale or phrase of music breathing only when they need to. For instance, in a small group lesson or sectional I ask each student to play an ascending/descending B-flat major scale on half notes while I watch to see when they inhale. Under this scrutiny, many who normally breath every 4 or 8 beats will play the entire ascending scale, or even more, in one breathe! Each student tries to beat the others. In a band rehearsal I’ll have students count off – “1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2,” etc. – and have the 1’s watch the 2’s and visa versa to determine who can play the “longest phrase.”

5. Candy Incentive

This may be the most controversial tip here (note how I avoided using the word “bribe”!), but I don’t have a problem springing for some candy treats which I offer here and there throughout the year to students who are willing to spend a lot of effort in a short time to learn a passage of music I know to be pretty tough.

For instance, if I know my clarinet section will really have to apply themselves to attain a passage, but want to “jump start” the process, I’ll say, “If any of you can play measures 30 through 68 with no more than one rhythmic or pitch error by next lesson, you’ll earn a pack of M&Ms.” The next week there may be only one student who has met the challenge, earning the treat, but now I have a nucleus around which the rest of the section can aspire.

I regard my time with students as both limited and precious. The longer I’ve been at it, the more I am interested in my teaching being efficient and enjoyable. I’ve found using games and challenges like the ones described above to be one way to do both. If you have a game or challenge to which your students really respond, please share it in the comment section below!

The post Fun and Games with Young Instrumentalists appeared first on MakeMusic.