Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs.
The podcast where we make your music selection less complicated.
Listeners, you are in for a special treat today.
A long time ago when Laura and I thought through this podcast and kind of the trajectory for
what we wanted to do in recording episodes, of course, you've probably noticed by now
we spend all of our time on the Texas PML UIL pieces.
In our state, that's our prescribed music list and we've looked at many surrounding
states as well and we kind of all have similar types of pieces on our music list for contests,
which is awesome.
So hopefully that's helped you so far.
But of course, we wanted to talk through music from other parts of the year as well.
For instance, marches, our fall concert programming, patriotic programs, holiday programs, different
things, spring concert pieces that you can consider for your band program.
Today's special episode will be focused on some fall concert music that might be appropriate
in your band program.
We're going to talk about three easier pieces that you can consider programming.
And because we're doing three pieces in one episode, if you've listened to our podcast
before, you know that we go into quite a bit of detail in each episode focusing on just
one piece.
We give you rehearsal strategies and things like that that you need to consider when you're
preparing a piece for contests for your band.
Since we're discussing three pieces today, it's going to be more of a surface level idea
of what each piece is about.
Of course, we would expect that you go listen to all of these pieces to determine if they
might be appropriate for your ensemble.
But we hope you enjoy the three pieces we're going to talk about today.
And those are Midnight Mission by Brian Balmages, Scary Had a Little Land by Carol Brittin Chambers,
and Snake Pit by Tyler Arcari.
Cheers to starting the conversation!
All right, so we're going to start right away with Midnight Mission, which in our opinion
is the easiest of the three easy pieces today.
It is in the key of concert B-flat or G-minor.
It's only about a minute and a half long, but it has a really fast pace.
It's got a really brisk tempo, which of course we know kids love fast music.
Really simple.
There's not a lot of range in any of the parts, so you don't need any really, really strong
sections.
I love some of the cool percussion instruments in this piece.
I think it's a really cool opportunity to introduce some new percussion to a younger ensemble.
So because it starts off with tempo blocks, which is new for probably some younger bands,
and then this piece is marked sneaky.
So it is marked staccato all the way throughout, but make sure whenever you're teaching this
to a younger band, you're not having them clip the notes too short.
This is a good opportunity to talk about the right way to do a staccato note, 50% of the
note length, that sort of thing, so they're not playing it too choppy at the beginning
of the year.
Another cool thing is that it's going to start off with just the trumpet and out to
playing the melody, and then you're going to have some other voices adding in as you're
going on into measure seven, and then more voices at 11.
This is a piece that is rarely 2D.
It's a lot of just kind of section spotlights, which I like because it doesn't require a
whole lot of endurance if your band is a little bit younger.
And it's great for younger bands because it's well written where you're not having to say,
hey, you don't have the melody you need to play softer.
It's literally just the ostinato quarter note behind the melody part most of the time.
Again, at 11, we have more of the upper parts coming in with the trumpet, or where the trumpet
has had the melody before, and then we have some just low brass, like little mini scales
going up from B flat to F, so nothing super tricky.
I would be real mindful of making sure that the students are aware of when the notes are
marked staccato and when they're not.
Absolutely.
So we want to make sure that we differentiate those things.
And then at 18, we're getting our first crescendo.
And again, this piece is cool because it sounds like you're on a midnight mission.
You're very quiet and sneaky at the beginning, and then we're going to all crescendo up to
20 together with a big crash cymbal hit and some cool percussion.
And then we get soft again right away at 21.
So it's like they were about to get caught, and now they're not with a cool vibroslap.
And then we all are getting back into the staccato voices.
And again, it's well written where you can kind of hear the melody when you're supposed
to, back to some tempo blocks in the percussion.
Great opportunity to teach matching between woodwinds and brass.
We have a lot of this, one and two, three and four, one and two, making sure that they
are matching the same style.
So that's a really easy technique for them to focus on matching across the ensemble.
Absolutely.
And then we're going to keep going into 32.
It's still short here, except for in the melody part.
And we get another crescendo going into 33.
And this is our first fuller moment for the band.
Can we change styles?
We're like two robbers have found each other.
So it's like the lows versus the highs, the low people voices, one and two, three and
four, trumpet and flute.
So it's like kind of like a little echo back and forth here.
Again now we're not staccato anymore.
So really teaching that style difference to the students.
Then we're going to crescendo even further into 37 with the trumpet melody along again
with the upper woodwinds.
But then we have this cool like counter melody and alto and horn, which is really fun for
those kids to have brought out.
And we see accents now.
So this might be something if you're playing this with a really young ensemble that you
know, you will want to spend some time on that seeing the three different styles like
we have no articulation marking on the notes, staccatos and accents.
Again, just a good teaching tool.
And it's like throughout every single part the same in all those areas.
So it's not like, oh, trumpets, you're doing this one thing and flutes, you're doing this
other thing, which is really nice.
Then we're back to the softer moment at 45.
It's piano again.
And so it's like the robbers got away and so now we're sneaking again.
More vibroslap, which is always fun.
Percussionists love all the cool accessories.
Absolutely.
And we're continuing the same thing as before, except now whenever we have the half notes,
they kind of lead in at like 48 going into 49 things like that.
And then we have a big percussion moment again at 53 and it's getting us excited because
then we're at the end of the piece with a nice full forte.
So this piece is great for just like a short, very playable, very playable, good style things
that you can teach.
We love that it has the musical jumpstart at the end of the piece that you can use during
your fundamental time with your band.
So all in all, lots of fun goes together very easily.
Yep, and it has style pages along with the musical jumpstart, which is really wonderful.
So the second piece is scary, had a little lamb and this piece is super cute.
It's adorable.
It's exactly what you think it would be.
So you know, Mary had a little lamb in minor mode.
It is in the key of E flat or C minor.
It's a little over two minutes long, so it is a little bit longer than midnight mission.
We do have split like the flute and optional second flute part in the oboe.
There's more percussion in this, a lot of percussion in this one and it all the percussion
instruments are really important in this one.
So we want to make sure the percussion get to have lots of fun with all those accessories.
Yes.
And this one's not very quick in tempo, so you can spend a little bit more time talking
about the style differences as opposed to midnight mission.
You can see right away that we start off staccato with accents, but making sure that that is
something that you really pay attention to because this theme comes back over and over
and over.
One, two, three and four, one, two, three and four.
So just really teaching them how in one measure they can change up the style.
At five, we have this really cool ratchet part and it comes back over and over and over
the same rhythm, but in different percussion instruments.
So that's really fun and the kids, which I think is a great rehearsal.
Like you could take all of those different instruments and have your percussionists.
You're on triangle, you're on tambourine, you're on ratchet.
Let's practice this part together.
Rest two, rest four, rest two, three.
So that's a good little rehearsal strategy for you.
And then at nine, the trumpets come in with the melody with flute and oboe and clarinet.
And this is Mary had a little lamb, but scary.
And so the kids just think it's really fun.
You have a little alto line and a little tenor bass line.
So it's not very difficult in the amount of parts that are in it.
It's real easy to put together.
And this is a great opportunity too to teach follow through just like when you're teaching
Mary had a little lamb to beginners and you have to teach them not to play.
Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.
You know, we can teach, you know, longer phrases and how to properly breathe and things like
that.
So that's a good rehearsal technique.
I like to get the kids really invested.
For example, in beginner flute class, when we're learning the thumb B flat and B natural,
will do Mary had a little lamb in major mode and minor mode and we make up stories about
what do we think happened to the lamb.
So that's a great thing for younger kids to have fun with us.
Like what do we think scary had a little lamb?
What's the story behind this?
Yeah, absolutely.
Get the kids invested.
Yep.
At 15, we have a little bit of a style change again with accents and this is kind of reminiscent
of what we had at the beginning.
And then we have accented half notes between uppers and lowers.
So just making that be different because that is a totally different part than what you
had before.
Then we're back to 17, kind of having some stylistic things like before.
Now we're adding in some slurs, which we haven't seen.
Yep.
And then we have some accidentals in 20, but the baseline is really important here.
And then we're going into a forte section at 23.
That sounds like the beginning.
And you'll notice like we've gotten rid of the staccatos in this section.
So making sure that the students understand the difference in the playing that stylistically
differently.
Yep.
At 25, now the hi-hat has that part that the ratchet had before.
And we're still just having long quarter notes with the rest, touching the rest.
Then we have this little two and three and four.
I love the little riddles in the weekend.
Yeah.
And so like telling them to add a little crescendo is cute.
Then at 29, this cool tom part is really fun and the tom player is just going to love
it.
So now we have the scary, had a little lamb part again, but it's in a round.
So the trumpets and the low brass started.
One, two, three, four, one, two, three.
But then the upper people come in one measure later and continue on.
So it's literally around as you're going through this part, making sure that students
understand not to breathe between the half note going into the next measure, like 31
to 32 in the uppers, 32 to 33 in the brass.
Which of course is going to be their tendency with the younger ensemble.
That way it kind of sounds very cyclical in nature throughout this whole portion.
Then we all kind of come together at 36 on two half notes leading into 37.
And now the tambourine gets that part that the percussion have had.
And we have more of like a low person part and then a high person part kind of back and
forth here with accents and staccatos again.
Making sure students count rests really carefully.
Some of those entrances on me too.
Oh, for sure.
And after long rest, they're great little rhythm and counting exercises.
Yep.
And then we have that tom part back and then we're back with the melody again in the trumpets.
And then we have the same round again in the flute and upper woodwinds.
We just don't have the same round effect in the low people part here.
Then we have more half notes leading in and crescendoing with a little bit of some flute
and oboe clarinet fun at 48.
Leading into 49 with the triangle on that special part.
Which this cracks me up.
I love the band gets to say ba.
Which I just love it.
I think it's hilarious.
Like I had a French horn player when we played this and man, she was the loudest ba or ever.
And it was so funny because everybody knew she was just going to be really loud.
So it's cute.
And I would encourage the kids to be funny and obnoxious with it.
You could even have like a kid dress up with like a little sheet pat and like stand up.
Oh my gosh, that'd be so funny.
Anyways, but it's cute and the kids think it's fun.
We're back to being kind of quiet here.
Then we start with the round again.
So 53 now the low people started and then trumpet and flute this time instead of rounding
back with the same part, they have the scary had a little lamb part.
So it's kind of like both parts morphing together here.
And then 56 we're leading into the ending.
The conclusion is really simple and we've got five notes coming down in a mini scale
again and the low people to the end and it's a vibrant little slaps solo at the end.
So this piece is really well written and not difficult in range, not difficult.
Like it doesn't go above the break for clarinet, the highest note in trumpet is a B flat.
So I mean that that makes it pretty simple to put together has a little bit more meat
than midnight mission, but still very playable.
And I love all of the percussion accessories in this one.
Yes, your percussionists will love that one.
And our final easy fall concert piece is Snake Pit by Tyler Arcari.
And this piece is really fun too.
So this one is definitely a little more challenging on the easy level.
We have split clarinet parts, we have split trumpet parts.
We are in the key of concert B flat or G minor.
It is a little over a minute and a half long.
The clarinet part does cross the break, the first clarinet part and this does cross the
break, but most of the time when that happens, the first clarinet part is literally an octave
above second clarinet.
So you can kind of, you can make the decision if you even want to pass out the first clarinet
part, right?
You know, that's dependent on your ensemble.
This piece, and as she mentioned, the range is easy.
Trumpets go up to C and trombone phony M go up to above the staff B flat.
So it's not horrible.
It also has really fun percussion.
The timpani part is really important in this piece.
Yes.
Extremely important as well as the snare drum part.
And then there are a lot of accessories that are fun for this piece as well.
So you do have to have a pretty stacked percussion section.
You can't, I mean, if you want to play it like to its true ability.
It starts off slow, more mysterious in nature, kind of like midnight mission, kind of nice
and sneaky with staccatos, a couple of accents here and there.
You do have a long note in flute and oboe.
So just making sure that we're tuning that fifth and that they're using vibrato if they
are ready for that.
And then at five, you know, we're adding in, we're doing the little one and again, and
we get a new part in the flute clarinet sax.
And then we're adding in a few more parts and then we're getting exciting at eight going
one and two and three and four and then there's a nacella rondo going into 10, which is a
rondo will be something you need to spend some time working on to make your fingers
right.
Yeah, to make it as even as possible.
And I love and this little eighth note thing comes back a couple of times in here and I
love it because it's a great, it's a great technique exercise and even finger exercise
for those woodwinds.
So it's it's great sectional work, anything like that.
It's going to be good technique for them.
Yep.
And then you're going a leg row at 10, like around 130 is good.
And then percussion is going to really help you get into your groove here.
So make sure that you've worked this part out a lot with them.
Kabab says super important here too.
Yes, that's that's in the conga part too.
And then we have the low people are playing again, not too short on these accents.
And then we have again, one and two and three and four and one.
I always taught the students whenever we've played this that that's the snakes littering
through the ground.
Every time that comes back, you're being the snake.
Anytime the little chromatics come in.
And then 14, same thing, except now we've got upper people on the background part.
And then we all slither into 18.
And now we have trumpet melody along with flute and lower clarinet.
And this is like a little bit more like it's like the king snake.
I think that's how I brought it up to the students last time we played it.
It was like the like the the cobra snake or something snares are off here.
So it's not going to take away from the from the trumpet part.
And trumpet one and two are on the same notes here.
So that's good.
That's not like a super independent part.
Lows have a very easy part.
Horns are on like counter melody harmony along with them.
So just make sure that they're on the right pitches as well.
And in the percussion, the only thing that's really challenging in this, obviously, we
have all of the eighth notes that are happening in the cabasa and in the snare.
So making sure that those move together and that your your snare drummer is keeping their
taps low and their accents high so that we get the groove feel of the one and two and
four, one, two, and three.
And then the bass drum and triangle are are in line with those on the accents.
That rhythm looks harder than it is.
If you make sure this is the students understand they're with the accents on the the moving
part that'll help them fit that together.
Right.
And then we're going into the lows, get a little snake part at 25 going into 26.
And now we have a timpani solo.
And they're extremely important here.
They should play this very, very confidently and loud, maybe even harder mallets.
That's up to you.
And then the lows have this really cool like jamming part that just sounds fun along with
the timpani.
Encourage the students not to breathe on the bar line between 27 and 28.
Same thing as you go from 29 to 30.
And then the upper people add in at 30.
So we're full ensemble with the same rhythm here.
The same rhythm, yep, and same style.
And then 32 and 33 just kind of have a cool sound to them, but a lot of like different
accidentals written in.
So working on making sure everybody's got the right pitches and the right accidentals
carrying through the measure and, you know, bring out some of those harmonies is a really
cool idea.
And then at 34, we're back to that trumpet King Cobra snake idea.
And then we have a new idea come in at measure 35 on beat three from like the mid voices,
like, yeah.
And that part is pretty important too.
And you know, I told the kids that's a new snake, you know, whatever.
I don't know any types of snakes.
I'm not even sure what I said at the time.
Like it's a grass snake at who knows.
But like you can make it fun like that, like different snakes, you know, coming in together
and fighting for who's the king snake, you know, and this is kind of the same thing,
just a new, a new melody part.
And then 41 is all accented and we're all descending and 42 is the snake fight.
That's what I called it.
And it's got a gong hit and everything.
It's kind of like, you know, karate kid or whatever, like fight time and the grass are
all on these longer value notes.
They're like giving that big kind of aggressive harmonic foundation wins are on the movie.
They're doodling like little snakes, like in the snake pit, like slithering around,
being careful not to be too loud.
They're just in the background.
They're not the king cobra snake here.
And percussion gets to play like cool parts going into the next section as well.
And you also want to make sure those woodwinds are not going one and two, three and four.
Right.
One and two, three and four.
Yeah, because they're slithering.
And then there we're going to continue this while the trumpets are still being the king
snake, and then we all do the slither again going into 50.
And we're back to the same part as before.
Now it snares on.
So your snare and it's way more active.
Like this, this is accurate, but not loud at this tempo, those 16 notes, we want to
make sure that that's really even one, two and three and four, you end to one to just
make sure your snare drummers really confident with that.
And it's the same thing as what we had before.
We're getting more voices doing the doodlies going into the ending again.
And you know, just nice finish with everybody accenting together.
This piece is super cute too.
And the kids love it because it's a little more challenging.
Yeah, a little bit more challenging, but fun to put together a little bit more like you
have to think about balance a little bit more in this piece.
It's not written out 100% where it's like sneaky like Midnight Mission or scary head
a little lamb like ever.
Everybody's kind of playing all the time on this piece and more independent parts for
students to be aware of.
But still all three relatively easy, very playable pieces for young band for a fall
concert programming.
We hope that you'll consider programming one of these pieces.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Band BFFs.