1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,160 Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs. 2 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,680 The podcast where we make your music selection less complicated. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:18,760 On today's episode, we're going to be discussing Plaza de Toros by Michael's Story. 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,000 Cheers to starting the conversation! 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,760 Alright, let's go ahead and dig in. 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:25,580 The basics you need to know. 7 00:00:25,580 --> 00:00:28,800 This is in the key signature of Concert B Flat. 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,520 There are a fair number of accidentals in many of the parts. 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,960 There are no split parts, so one clarinet, saxophone and trumpet part. 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:39,880 Most instruments fit within an octave range. 11 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:45,480 Some are extended a little beyond that, but it's instruments like saxophone, tenor saxophone, 12 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:48,720 instruments that we would expect a little bit greater than an octave range. 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:50,840 So let's dive in. 14 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:57,560 This piece is great for teaching chromaticism as well as getting fifth positions better 15 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,440 in tune in your low brass. 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,680 It's a super fun piece just to start with kids. 17 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,360 It's a stately March tempo at the beginning. 18 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:13,360 You could honestly get away with performing the piece at like 108 to 120, which I like 19 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,200 because then you can really show off great style with your students. 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,480 It's nice having that flexibility. 21 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:20,880 Absolutely. 22 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:27,200 For percussion considerations, bells are not necessarily needed on this piece. 23 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:33,000 So if you had to nix a percussion part due to how many players you have, you should maybe 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,680 say goodbye to bells, but keep everything else. 25 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,600 It even has like castanets, which is really fun and the kids get a chance to play something 26 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:45,480 different and even all the band members love getting to hear something totally fun like 27 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,080 that. 28 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,520 So at the very beginning, we have only a little bit of style. 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,960 We have some staccato markings and you want to make sure that in measure two when your 30 00:01:54,960 --> 00:02:01,400 lows come in that they're keeping all of the note values connected and sustained throughout. 31 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,360 So if there's no staccato, they need to make sure that everything continues into the next 32 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,160 note and that entrance on beat two in the low voices. 33 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,520 I will have my students like we will write in a breath mark on beat one. 34 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,480 I know that may seem silly, but that that rhythmic breath on beat one can help them be 35 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,160 more confident and secure on an entrance on beat two. 36 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:24,160 Absolutely. 37 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,480 We're already right away in fifth positions for low brass. 38 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:32,080 So we spent a lot of time working on making sure kids really know exactly where to place 39 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:33,640 that intram bone. 40 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:38,440 And of course they have their friends to kind of help out with that as well. 41 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:45,880 Alta saxophone can be on the bis B flat side for most of the piece until later on in measure 42 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:46,980 34. 43 00:02:46,980 --> 00:02:52,800 So that's a great opportunity for you to teach your alto players about bis B flat. 44 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:58,360 And just to get them going early on with something different on their instrument and application 45 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,840 in music, not just in a scale. 46 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:01,840 Absolutely. 47 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:07,400 And we have our first accented style in measure five and the whole band has that together. 48 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:12,160 So what we've done in the past, Laura and I is we have taken this and put it into like 49 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,480 our daily exercises at the beginning of our band periods. 50 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:20,240 So we might do like measure five plus the first note of measure six, like on a concert 51 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:25,620 F F F F F F F F F F F then go down a half step. 52 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:31,160 E E E E then maybe go back up or whatever you want to do with your kids. 53 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:36,220 But just at incorporating that into your daily drill is a great idea so that you can make 54 00:03:36,220 --> 00:03:40,880 sure and solidify that everybody is playing the accented style the same way. 55 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,600 Now starting at measure seven, the trumpets take over the melody. 56 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,760 They're the only ones with the melody here. 57 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,360 And you really need a pretty strong and confident trumpet section to play this piece. 58 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,400 We want to make sure that they again are really confident. 59 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:59,000 They play out big and full lots of opportunities to to encourage them to use really good follow 60 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,440 through with their air on all of these dotted notes. 61 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,120 We've got dotted half notes several times through here. 62 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,280 So we want to make sure again that they're using really good air follow through the accompaniment 63 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:14,520 parts rhythmically are almost unison throughout. 64 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:20,120 So that helps for really aligning style and matching and all of that. 65 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:21,120 Go ahead. 66 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:26,200 There are very few students on the third of the chord throughout this piece too. 67 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,760 And so that really helps with just tuning. 68 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,760 And again with making sure the accompaniment sounds great and really amplifies the beautiful 69 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,960 trumpet sounds that you're making. 70 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:38,600 Accidentals lots of accidentals in here. 71 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,680 So good opportunities to teach the kids about the accidental role remind them about the 72 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,160 accidental role. 73 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,920 And one thing that Katie and I feel really strongly about like we are we always go through 74 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,920 our students parts before handing them out to them and pre mark things that we want the 75 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:55,460 kids to be aware of. 76 00:04:55,460 --> 00:04:58,160 So that would be something I would do in my own group. 77 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,480 I might mark like hey for example in measure nine that there's two F sharps in that measure 78 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:07,800 clarinets that type of thing so that we make sure the students are really really comfortable. 79 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:13,400 There's all of those D flats concert D flats that carry through in the low brass horn alto 80 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:14,840 all that kind of stuff. 81 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:20,480 So you can kind of pre mark that stuff with your students to help them be more successful. 82 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:26,200 When we get on to measure 13 measure 13 you'll see this little waterfall entrance part happen 83 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,840 several times in this piece. 84 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,320 This is something the kids need to be really confident and secure about on their entrances. 85 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,080 A great way to approach that with your band is to have them bop it. 86 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:41,800 All right so that we just play the note start and you don't have them sustained through. 87 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,920 So every student gets really comfortable with where their entrance is. 88 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:50,240 Once they have that down and everyone's confident with their entrance then you can really focus 89 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:51,240 on balance. 90 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,920 All right and one of the things that I do with my group and certainly this depends on 91 00:05:54,920 --> 00:06:00,920 the number of students you have on each instrument but we treat each of those instrument entrances 92 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:09,200 excuse me like their forte piano so they would come in da da da da every time and that helps 93 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:14,320 to make the clarity in that measure really really clear. 94 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:19,040 Important yeah and I think it's important to make sure that the students know that the 95 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:25,000 crescendo in 14 they really should just ignore that in the balance side of things and let 96 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,320 the low people kind of take the lead there. 97 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:28,320 And percussion. 98 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,440 Yeah and percussion absolutely otherwise it becomes really like trumpet heavy really 99 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:37,720 fast and again like you mentioned it's very important to make sure that each entrance 100 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,640 is heard and it comes back and back and back each time. 101 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:47,040 Now as we're coming into measure 15 we have some pickup notes again in the trumpet but 102 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:52,280 now we have the clarinets to kind of play along with us in harmony and so we want to 103 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:56,000 make sure we can hear the clarinets as the new voice on the melody. 104 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,480 Then we have a little conversation back and forth with Flutenovo there that's how we approach 105 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:05,480 it with our kids like this is the melody but they're having a little side convo and so 106 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,040 you can teach them that they're going to play out a little bit. 107 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,240 This is a great opportunity to work on tuning in Flutenovo. 108 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:18,480 They have C D flat C so making sure that those notes aren't coming out sharp on their instrument 109 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:20,960 because that's the natural tendency. 110 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:26,360 You can teach that on right you can use your right hand down on D flat for Flutenovo or 111 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:31,600 any combination of fingers much like the clarinet and that will help the kids just make sure 112 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,240 that they're better in tune with the oboe if you have an oboe. 113 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:41,680 And again pushing through the bar lines like Laura mentioned before is very important. 114 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,320 They can use pulsing or vibrato whatever you've been able to teach in your band just to kind 115 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,920 of help push through during that little conversation. 116 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaking of oboe I think one of the important things I'm going to go back for a second to 117 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,760 that me talking about Katie and I going through our kids individual parts looking at them 118 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:00,760 and marking them. 119 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:05,200 I think when you look at the students individual parts you learn so much more than just studying 120 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,080 your own score. 121 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:12,640 The oboe part in this particular piece has a lot of fingering considerations that you 122 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,000 need to be aware of. 123 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,960 I think that's one of the things that makes this a little more challenging the oboe part 124 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:24,320 specifically and we have some of those fingering considerations coming up. 125 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:32,040 So if you do look at measure 18 like for instance the oboe is going to have to think about having 126 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:41,040 right pinky for D flat twice in a row but then in 19 they have to use left E flat then 127 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:48,080 they are forced to use forked F at the end of 19 and then they go back to left E flat 128 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,280 and then they go to right A flat. 129 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:55,760 That's a lot of pinky stuff that your kids may not just be able to figure out on their 130 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:56,760 own. 131 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:01,440 So again the importance of you as the band director studying and going through and figuring 132 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:06,520 out what is the finger combination going to have to be that's just going to help yourself 133 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,880 in the long run. 134 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,840 Continuing on we're going to make sure that we think about octave tuning in the, well 135 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:22,280 not octave but unison tuning in the flute and in the trumpet at measure 20 and oboe 136 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,640 because we're getting a little bit higher up on those instruments we want to make sure 137 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,080 that we're matching. 138 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:32,680 So this would be a great opportunity to just hear only those three voices to ensure that 139 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:37,960 they're in tune on every pitch especially the C in trumpet and B flat and flutin' oboe 140 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:43,440 and then again we have the waterfall effect as Laura called it right there at 21 and 22 141 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:44,440 again. 142 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,560 This time though we're decrescendoing into 23 instead of leading into it and the last 143 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:52,200 little bit of movement is in the snare drum. 144 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:57,880 Alright so once we get to 23 we have our clarinets and altos kind of taking over the 145 00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:58,880 lead. 146 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,720 Now you'll notice here that we have a little three note slur. 147 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,840 This piece goes back and forth every once in a while where we will have two note slurs 148 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:10,160 in the melody or three note slurs in the melody and I think it's really important to make 149 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:15,400 sure that when the students are learning this that you're driving home that articulation. 150 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:20,440 Writing T's over the notes that are supposed to be articulated so that they get the difference 151 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,480 between what is a two note slur and what is a three note slur. 152 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,480 Again these three note slurs and half notes that air follow through on those half notes 153 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,880 is going to be really important and then in the accompaniment parts it's really exposed 154 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:38,760 that fifth position stuff in the low brass is really exposed here. 155 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:42,080 We don't have a lot of other instruments to hide behind so tuning is going to be really 156 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:47,880 important and then of course note length making sure that you have spent the time making sure 157 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:53,080 that their note length matches on that whole entire accompaniment part. 158 00:10:53,080 --> 00:11:00,160 When the horns come in in measure 27 they are doubling the alto part here but the intervals 159 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:08,080 that they have G, E flat, F, D that is an opportunity for them to miss some partials. 160 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,320 So you want to make sure that the students I would spend some time with my horns and 161 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:17,040 altos playing that together slowly until those horns build some security in what that is 162 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,440 supposed to sound like and get that in their ear. 163 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:25,560 That will help to build their confidence as they are learning this. 164 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:30,360 Again, and I've said a lot I know about air follow through on these long notes but I think 165 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,240 that's a huge thing in this piece. 166 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,360 We can see that again at 29. 167 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:39,280 Once the whole band we come back in at 29, lots of half notes and dotted half notes everybody 168 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:41,440 needs to make sure that we push through those. 169 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,200 Trying to make sure that white notes do not end softer than they begin. 170 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:52,040 Also back at 27 your tambourine player plays alone there so that's a good opportunity for 171 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:59,440 you to ensure that you have a good solid player to kind of help continue with the rhythm. 172 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:05,480 And also the trumpets have pickups coming into 27 alone so just be sure to teach that 173 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,680 and make sure that they feel confident and secure even though they are kind of alone 174 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,180 on that. 175 00:12:10,180 --> 00:12:15,600 At 30 we also have clarinets changing the note from G to F sharp. 176 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,920 You want to teach them to bring that out anytime they have that in music and to crescendo going 177 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:22,280 into 31. 178 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:28,200 Now we have literally a recap of what we've already had basically from the beginning. 179 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,360 We're going to be sure this time though that we're going to balance to flute nobo because 180 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,000 trumpets don't have the melody anymore right here. 181 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,520 So this is kind of like a moment for the woodwinds to shine. 182 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:45,520 And this is where the alto saxophones need to change to non-bisby flat at measure 34 183 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,440 because then they do have their first B natural coming up. 184 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,840 So going back to us writing in parts we would have written that in for our students so that 185 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:57,760 they have ample time to move down to the non-bisby flat. 186 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:02,240 And again like we talked about before you have to have an F like which F the oboes are 187 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:07,160 going to use plan if you have an obo player in your band. 188 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:12,000 Then big strong trumpet pickups coming into 35 and now they're joining the flute and obo 189 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,560 but they can kind of take over a little bit. 190 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:19,160 And again like I mentioned there's B natural and 36 at alto so that's important to kind 191 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:20,240 of notice. 192 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:25,520 We do have some staccatos again at 37 in the accompaniment and the melody. 193 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,400 So this is where the style kind of shifts and you want to make sure that you're not 194 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:31,320 letting the kids make those too short. 195 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,640 They should still have body of sound on all the staccatos. 196 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:41,120 And then of course this part whenever I've judged this piece before when the low brass 197 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,920 are going back and forth between G and A flat. 198 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:48,200 This is where you can really hear if they understand what a half step should sound like 199 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,040 or if they're just kind of guessing and not really aligning it. 200 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,160 So I would spend a lot of time making sure that the accompaniment is really in tune 201 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:57,600 here. 202 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,280 And then the suspended cymbal will create more texture and excitement as we're leading 203 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:08,720 up into 41 because they start a very soft roll and they roll all the way until the next 204 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:09,720 section. 205 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,200 And the whole band is crescendoing here. 206 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,680 This is a big like dramatic moment. 207 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:18,640 Snare drum ends it and everybody has an accent on beat three. 208 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,680 And then we come back in with just trumpet and clarinet. 209 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,760 So it's kind of like a big breaking moment and you want to make sure that the suspended 210 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:32,000 cymbal chokes so that there's no sound for just like a split second after the the accent 211 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,880 and then the pickups come on in. 212 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:36,280 And then right here at 41. 213 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,280 This is another place we're talking about. 214 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,000 It's a two note slur here. 215 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:46,160 So we need a really clear articulation, a firm clear articulation on the downbeat of 41 216 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:52,080 from everybody so that that lines up and makes perfect it makes perfect sense in the flute 217 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:53,360 and oboe parts right here. 218 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,280 We have that entrance on beat two. 219 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,720 They had something similar to this earlier. 220 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,440 As I mentioned before, I would write a breath mark on beat one to help them feel really 221 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,120 confident about that entrance. 222 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:10,360 So much of this is is a recap of what we had before so you can take a lot of that information 223 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:11,960 and apply it here. 224 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:17,320 Now we've got tambourine and I'm sorry castanets and snare drum playing together. 225 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,120 I know we've talked a little bit about that. 226 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:25,320 I think percussion wise it's important to put your strongest players on snare castanets 227 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:31,120 in that order and then tambourine and then of course go from there. 228 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,920 We have another waterfall here at 47 and 48. 229 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,880 And as we lead into 49 we have that descending line in our low voices. 230 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:46,000 That's a great opportunity for them to build in a crescendo as we land at 49. 231 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,000 More staccatos. 232 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,040 This is just like the beginning. 233 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:50,040 Just like the beginning. 234 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,160 So take all of that and apply it right here to the end. 235 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,280 Before we get to the end we get the big the big finish. 236 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,880 The eighth notes at the end are really important. 237 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:00,280 We want those eighth notes. 238 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:05,000 I would isolate those spend a lot of time on them making sure that the notes are right 239 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,080 that the kids move their fingers and time together. 240 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:13,160 And we want those eighth notes to crescendo down into the last beat. 241 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,720 And then again making sure those last two eighth notes get articulated. 242 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:24,560 It's real easy for the woodwinds and horns who have that to go ta ta ta ta ta. 243 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,400 So make sure that they don't cheat that ta ta ta. 244 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,440 We want to be really really clear about that. 245 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:35,360 And horn should be the focal point here since that's like the it's just the new voice that 246 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,240 finally gets like their moment of glory at the very end of the piece. 247 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:45,440 So we both love this piece and have played it many times with our non-varsity and sub-non-varsity 248 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:46,440 bands. 249 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,720 So we hope that you have learned a lot about it and will choose this for one of your next 250 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:51,720 programs. 251 00:16:51,720 --> 00:17:17,120 Thank you for joining us on this episode of Band BFFs.