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Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs.

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The podcast where we make your music selection less complicated.

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On today's episode, we're going to be discussing Wings to the Mind by Brian Balmages.

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Cheers to starting the conversation!

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All right, this piece is great for a young band, even a beginning band.

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Band is in the key of concert B-flat, 4-4 throughout.

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It has a six-note range.

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It is a short minute and 15 seconds.

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It comes with a musical jump start that you can use to kind of help your students as you

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get going.

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Great, great teaching tool.

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We are currently playing this at my school in 2024.

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And it has been such a great piece with a younger band.

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I cannot say enough about how much I have enjoyed it and the students have as well.

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It is faster at 144.

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So you want to make sure you teach it a little bit slower at the beginning just to ensure

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that we don't have the rushing effect as you get faster in your preparation.

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There are no stylistic things in the piece other than accents.

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So that's great because the students can learn from the beginning that we're just going

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to use a normal articulation.

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And on this piece for percussion, if you don't have enough players, you could drop the bells

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as it does double the flute and trumpet part throughout the piece.

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It is important to have a timpani player because it does help beef up your low brass and your

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low sounds in your band.

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And of course, all the accessories are important to just add that texture.

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So starting off at the beginning, we have melodic sounds in the trumpet and then the

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horn and the clarinet and sax are all needing to play underneath the trumpet since they're

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not moving around on their instrument.

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So this is already a great moment to talk about balance and why we do it and who we're

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going to balance to.

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So you do have to have a good trumpet section that can play in a really great range on their

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instrument, but they can play stronger overall.

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The low brass have these hits and then they're going to rest and then more hits.

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We want to make sure that they don't play it too loud when they come in at measure four.

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Also, I'm sorry to interrupt, but also just keep in mind in those first few measures,

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you don't have any percussion to help with the pulse.

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So the students need to make sure that they're internalizing pulse and that they can stay

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together without the aid of that percussion section.

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We have a lot of entrances on beat two and measure three and then measure four.

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So it's important when you're going through your parts with your students to draw breath

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marks in on beat one.

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So that way they'll be sure to enter on beat two.

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Lauren and I both believe in writing considerations on students parts and then copying them before

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we hand them out.

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So that way it makes our teaching process easier because we already know what the students

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have had written on their parts.

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Trumpets have a lot of D's in this piece, so continue encouraging them to be sure to

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kick when they have anything that's longer than a half note or a half note.

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And then at measure five, make sure your triangle player is properly holding the triangle, not

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just keeping it clipped on the stand.

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They should be holding it up, making sure they're looking through it and they're using

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proper technique with their beater and not playing it too loud, but just adding nice texture

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to the band.

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At eight, we have another cool accessory with the suspended cymbal kind of leading us into

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measure nine, along with timpani, again, as I mentioned, being important and snare drum

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now.

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All right, again, Katie mentioned lots of these entrances on beat two.

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I think it's important for students to put a breath mark on beat one when they have an

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entrance on beat two like that to help them take a rhythmic breath and be really confident

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about that entrance.

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You have these half notes on beat two and the melodic line, so we want to make sure I would

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put like an energy line underneath those half notes so the students don't decay those half

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notes.

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We think about intensifying that air through there.

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Your low brass, low reeds have an opportunity, a little moving eighth note line that's going

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to be really, really important there and make sure that it goes in time with what's happening

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in the percussion section.

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Again, all of this continues with the same idea in mind.

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Now, at tempo, when you get to the performance tempo, your students should be able to play

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in four measure phrases pretty easily.

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When you're first learning it, you may have to mark some things to consider.

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If you need, like if your trumpets, for example, if they couldn't make it all the way to the

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quarter rest, you may let them sneak in a little breath and measure 11 between the A

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half note and G half note right there.

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Once we get up to tempo, they should definitely be able to make that in a four measure phrase.

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We want the trumpets to be balancing to the woodwinds here.

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This is something new, a new idea for them.

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We want the trumpets to be balancing to the woodwinds.

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We have our low brass sitting on some low B flats.

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Those notes can be kind of sharp if the students aren't opened up.

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Make sure that you're teaching those students to open up, keep those teeth nice and open,

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like they're hiding cookies from their parents in their mouth.

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Yes, nice.

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Love it.

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Then, as she was mentioning, this is a great opportunity to make sure you think also when

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you're marking parts for students about where they're going to breathe.

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For instance, maybe your flutes might need to take a breath in 14 after the half note,

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but then you need to mark in your clarinet and oboe parts that they're not going to take

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a breath there so that way we don't have a big gap in that line.

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It's just really important.

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Then, again, in this piece, we have a lot of rest on beat one.

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Make sure that students are always constantly moving and keeping their sound going till

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the rest.

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Like at 15, one, two, three, hit the rest.

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That's really important.

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Then we have some nice accents here.

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Again, that's the only different articulation.

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Just teaching them to make that beat different than everything else.

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We have a big timpani leading into measure 17.

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Right there at 16, you'll notice it's unison rhythm, but some of the instruments have notes

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that stay the same.

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Some have notes that change.

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We want to make sure that we're hearing the notes that change.

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If they play an instrument where their notes are descending, clarinet and trumpet, we want

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to make sure that that is the predominant sound that we're hearing.

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Yep.

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Then another D in trumpet.

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Again, make sure you're talking to them about kicking.

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Then at 17, we're all on the same note.

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We want to make sure that this sounds not only in tune, but also that it's balanced

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well to the low B flat and the tuba.

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Again, making sure everybody goes all the way to the rest.

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Percussion get to be the moment of glory here.

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They get to be the moment in the sunshine.

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Big percussion break with timpani.

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You may even want your timpani player to try different types of mallets to make sure that

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you can hear the articulation better.

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That's up to you, but that is something important just to note in your parts for your percussionists.

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At 21, we have a little bit of a different style section here.

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I tell my students this is more flowing here because we've added in some slurs.

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We want to make sure that flutes do not play piano here and probably oboes as well because

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that tends to make the flute players go flat.

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Just make sure that they're playing.

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There's nobody that they're fighting against.

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They need to just play with a good sound and with the right articulation.

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We're going to have slurs over bar lines here.

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Tongue, slur, tongue, tongue, slur, tongue, tongue, tongue.

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That's important that they get that articulation straight away.

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At the end of their phrase right there, they're going to play softer with good vibrato or pulsing

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leading to the bar line at 24.

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But they have to get out of the way for the trumpet to have something of importance here.

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Because all of this is written dynamically to be soft here, you've got to make sure that

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you stress with your students air speed.

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They have got to make sure that they're using fast intense air.

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I tell my students it's like a whisper yell.

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If their mom or dad has ever yelled at them in a whisper, like, Katie, you better stop

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that right now or I'm going to, okay.

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It's that type of thing.

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It's an intense whisper.

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Even though it is softer, it doesn't mean that the air speed isn't fast.

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That's going to help with some of that tuning stuff but also tone quality.

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Then at 23, you're going to see the opportunity for you to teach students about cues.

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I do tell the students if they're going to play or not.

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In their part, we wrote trombones do not play or yeah, I'm sorry, not trombones.

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Trombones are going to play tubas.

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Do not play at 23.

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You could have them play if you wanted to.

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In our band, we have a good bass clarinet player.

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He's going to take over the color choice right there.

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We're leaving the tuba part out so that when they enter at 25, it just changes the timbre

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of the band, which I think matches our band well but you do whatever works for your group.

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Then again, everybody's coming in at 25 and the saxes have what the flutes had before

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along with horn.

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Again, making sure you're writing in the tongues and slurs for them.

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T-S-T-T-S-T-T-S, softer.

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Making sure that every time they have that long note that they're playing underneath

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because now we have the trumpets coming in again at 27 and they're the focal point.

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We do have a heart like a quote unquote more difficult rhythm at 25 for the low brass.

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It's the hardest one in the piece.

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They have to tie over a bar line in low brass, low reeds and trumpet.

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Just making sure you write in the counts for them and even practice clapping and counting

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that so that that way they don't get off.

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Then when they come out of the tie at the end of 26, making sure that they articulate

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really firmly because those are repeated notes.

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Young bands, the tendency with this pattern that you see here is going to be for them

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to clip the second note of the sara t-y-a-ta, t-y-a-ta.

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We want to make sure they do not do that.

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They need to make sure that they're using air follow through on all of that so the second

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note of that slur does not get clipped short.

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When we get to measure 27, the trumpets are kind of on an island by themselves so their

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part is really important.

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There's going to be, I call it a little crunchiness in the chord in the whole notes because we've

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got a concert E flat, B flat and F happening at the same time.

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Just teach the students that that's okay.

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Lean into it.

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Yes, absolutely.

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Then trumpets are taking the lead with the melody here.

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Anyone who has moving notes out those when they come in, we want to make sure that the

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moving notes are being brought out in this part.

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Clear articulation when you start a note after a rest.

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Again some more crunchiness in the clarinets where we have those dotted half notes.

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Just kind of lean into that.

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It's part of a cool effect.

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Yes, the chords are really nice in this piece.

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Then more of watching that two note slur, making sure that we're not clipping the second

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note of the slur too short.

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Again, kind of this waterfall effect where it moves through the different lines until

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everyone is coming back in at 33.

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Make sure that again your percussion are not playing over the band when they enter because

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it is having, like Laura said, this waterfall effect and we're adding in more voices.

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You want to make sure that it's not startling that your percussion have started again at

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measure 31 and that they just kind of sneak in.

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Then nobody should be taking a breath between 32 and 33.

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I am literally preaching that in my band hall right now.

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Just mark it in their part to begin with.

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Put a little micro crescendo going into 33 and just remind them that they get to take

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a breath in the low brass right there at 33.

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There's no need to take a breath right there on the bar line.

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This is just like the beginning.

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Everything we've already talked about, you're going to get a chance to just review with the

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students, make sure that they're continuing to copy and paste all the same concepts.

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At 39 we do have a dynamic change.

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Everybody comes down.

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But again, don't let your flutes play piano.

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They're going to be flat.

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Just make sure that they play with a full sound because they are going to be the melody

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here.

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Then they get to crescendo a little bit coming into 41.

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Make sure again that low brass don't over crescendo on top of the woodwinds here.

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Let's have a cool little chord change at 40.

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Make sure that they tongue firmly on 23 going into 41.

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Percussion gets to help out a little bit there with texture as well.

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Then at 41 we all have accents again.

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We want to make sure that we're aligning this and not having low brass miscount.

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That is a common thing here.

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Just making sure that they have their counts written in and that they're really confident.

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Play it on a concert F first to make sure that you're aligning it throughout the band.

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Then you can go into the notes.

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Then a big timpani feature at 43.

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Make sure that they're playing that really, really strong.

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Again, you may even want to think about a different type of mallet.

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They're the ones that push us into the ending.

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The low people can add a little crescendo going into the last note as well.

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Make sure the last note is the word tone.

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So that it has not a clipped ending.

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Then you will want your timpani player to make sure that they dampen on the last note.

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All right.

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Well, we hope that you enjoyed getting to hear more about Wings to the Mind and that you

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might consider programming this in the future for your band.

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Thank you for joining us on this episode of Band BFFs.