Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs, the podcast where we make your music selection less complicated.
In today's special episode, Katie and I will be discussing some newly published music that
we had the opportunity to perform at our Texas Bandmasters Association Clinic and Convention
this past summer.
This session is held by Phi Beta Mu, a reading band where we get to read a bunch of newly
published music.
So we had the opportunity to perform it as players and selected our favorite pieces from
that reading session.
Today we are bringing you our favorite grade 1 and 1.5 pieces.
We will be discussing Ants by Carol Britton Chambers, Courageous Spirit by Michael Kamuf,
Whispers in the Wind by Robert Sheldon, March of the Hobgoblins by Randall Standridge, and
Skedaddle by Timothy Loewist.
Cheers to starting the conversation!
Alright so our first piece we're going to dive into today is Ants by Carol Britton Chambers.
This one is in the key of E flat or C minor.
It's two minutes in length.
It is less than an octave range, one clarinet part, one trumpet part, lots of cool percussion.
I think this piece is adorable.
It's very cute.
And when we played it, like Laura mentioned, as performers in the reading band, our conductor
Amy Allison mentioned this would be a great piece for a beginner band later in the year
and we both agree.
Or possibly like a sub-non-varsity or a non-varsity band at the beginning of their 7th and 8th
grade year.
So it's super cute.
It does not go over the break in the clarinet part.
It's got some pretty easy like accented style and it's kind of tooty whenever it is like
a stylistic change.
So everybody's kind of do the same thing.
There's lots of little percussion breaks thrown in there as well.
The melody of this piece is based on Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, which I love that
she has taken, that Carol Britton Chambers has taken a piece that is in a compound meter
and she's put it in a simple meter so it's easy to digest for younger players.
We both really liked that, like at measure 6 for instance, there are no articulations
marked so everybody is playing everything full value.
We're kind of teaching how that's something very important in the beginner year.
Then we kind of add in a few little staccatos here and there.
It's like the little ants crawling around when the Johnny Comes Marching Home melody
is happening in the trumpets and that kind of goes through the whole thing.
But the melody is always long and connected and not something overly complicated developmentally
for younger players.
I love that she introduces these simple counter melodies as well so it's not just 2D rhythm
with harmonies to the melody.
There are cute little counter melodies going on in here which I think are great for teaching
younger players about priority lines.
Right, absolutely.
At 18 we get more of the band playing staccato.
In fact it's 2T everybody playing like little ants and so it just gets really cute and it's
like again like I mentioned a 2D style change.
You even get a measure of 2-4 where there's like a cool like timpani feature and a toms
feature and it's kind of like I don't know I thought about the ant hill like crashing
down or something each time I heard it.
That was just me.
Then it goes back to 4-4 and we have like accents now in everybody's part.
But again as an educational view and lens I like that everybody kind of does the same
thing at the same time.
So it's not like you know trombones you're doing staccatos and flutes you're doing accents
you know it's like kind of 2D in that way.
There's a little woodwind choir at 25 with some cute percussion underneath and then the
brass come in at 29 with some trumpet melody.
Very very simple rhythms not a single dotted quarter note anywhere to be seen.
Lows get the melody at 37.
Which I want to say one of the things that was so impressive to me about these grade
1 and 1.5 pieces that we read composers have been really intentional about making sure
that our low brass and low reed players are getting something exciting to play in their
music.
Every one of the pieces we're going to talk about today those low voices get a moment
to shine right?
Right yes absolutely.
And you know I think it really goes to show like Laura mentioned the octave range less
than an octave range it's like seven notes.
That makes it even easier on those low people so they're not having to go up too high if
you do play this with a beginner group.
It basically recaps again does another two four bar then the woodwinds come in again
at 46 but they're quiet this time it's like the ant is like sneaking up on you.
Then we have like a loud section and then everybody's playing together lots of accents
to finish it out with a low brass melody at the very end.
So very cute very easy rhythmically very like Laura mentioned easy to put together like
which line is a priority line.
A great educational piece.
Next is Courageous Spirit.
Alright so this one is in the key of concert B flat 4 4 throughout it's about a minute
and a half to a minute and 40 seconds in length.
This one is a little bit faster so even though there's not a ton of technique or rhythmic
challenge in this one articulation is a little bit more of a factor because of the speed.
More percussion in this one so you know if you have a bigger percussion section you have
some things to keep them a little bit more entertained.
The piece starts out with percussion in fact and then the band comes in and we think that
this piece is much more tooty in nature rhythmically than Ant's was.
So in that matter it's kind of easier in some sense.
That's right if you're working with an ensemble like with Ant's it might be easy to introduce
in a beginner class when you maybe have separate classes.
This being more 2D suits itself to an ensemble setting.
The melody line is connected and very flowy.
I told Laura I really like this piece because it's kind of lyrical in nature in the melody
but then the accompaniment line is shorter with staccatos but it just kind of makes it
feel more like a courageous spirit coming at you.
I agree completely you had a lot of those fun little energetic things that give it that
spirited feel in the accompaniment but the melody every time is very flowy.
The trumpets have the melody with altos when we come in at five and then they continue
on for quite a bit at 13.
The upper woodwinds take over again with that smoother melody.
Now we've gotten rid of some of the staccatos so we're back more just having nice normal
articulations.
This would be again a really great piece to play with like a sub-non or a non-varsity
band just to continue talking about.
Still just quarter notes, eighth notes and white notes so there's no dotted notes in
this, no dotted quarter notes in this.
At 21 we get an accented style shift then the mid voices like clarinet and alto and
tenor sax get the melody for a second and then the lows kind of have like a reply and
it goes back and forth between those two voices for a while and then at 29 the low brass get
the melody like Laura said we really like that all of them gave them a moment to shine.
The upper people are quieter in staccato underneath them then the whole band is getting stronger
to 37.
This is kind of what I've dubbed like the fight scene like percussion plays and the
rest and everybody has like little hit points.
But the lows get a cool part here and the kids would think this part is really cool.
Then there's another little percussion break and then at 47 we're back to the melody with
the trumpets but this time instead of it being flowy and lyrical now it's accented because
we're getting towards the end of the piece.
It does have an upper C in the horn part frequently here at the end because they have a cool counter
melody part so there is that consideration if range might be an issue with your group
and then at 53 we just kind of take it on home to the very end.
It's very very cute and not very long and has a lot of cool educational things to it.
Again, a great favorable key and everything for a full ensemble.
Absolutely.
Our next piece is Whispers in the Wind by Robert Sheldon.
This one is also in the key of concert B flat a little bit longer it's about two minutes
a little more than two minutes in length.
This piece is incredible for introducing a nice type of corral sustained type of style
to your band longer valued notes great for teaching phrasing or introducing phrasing
to a young band.
We both love this piece.
It's beautiful as with every Robert Sheldon piece right but it starts off with really
pretty percussion now there's not a lot of percussion but again it's very nice sounding
at the beginning lots of beautiful harmonies clarinet melody at five with a harmony part
in the horn it is just it's really really pretty and the whole piece is really good
at like making four lead to one and talking about your finishing beat four in the saxophone
part and the trumpets are taking over on beat one so connecting the two lines of music together.
You know this is a great piece for introducing that to an ensemble.
The rhythms are not difficult but you do have to work to make it be transparent.
Absolutely where you can hear the melody at all times because it is it's not thickly scored
but I mean pretty much everybody's playing most of the time.
Clarinets get a cool little like in the wind type sounding part at 13 with the trumpet
melody along with flute and oboe and bells.
We do have dotted quarter eighth notes in this.
This is the first piece that we've seen and there's only just a couple of little moments
where they happen but there are dotted quarter eighth notes.
A lot of these lines are a little bit more independent so even though rhythmically with
the exception of the dotted quarter eighth this is pretty simplified long valued notes.
Everybody's part is a little more independent so that making sure like Katie mentioned the
transparency making sure that we're subdividing through long notes appropriately.
All that kind of good stuff.
We get a little a cello rondo at 20 where the low people and the tenor line actually
gets the melody at 21 goes a little quicker and it's like the wind has picked up again
limited percussion.
They do have a lot of rest in this piece so maybe only program it if you're planning to
play like a bunch of other fun stuff where percussion aren't just like chilling in the
back of the room because we don't want to forget about our friends.
That's right.
Then it's got a little Roland Tondo and then at 29 we're back to the same main melody with
the trumpet line.
The trumpets do go up to an upper C but not often it does happen right here at 31.
I did mention when to Laura when we were reviewing each score here that at 34 Mr. Sheldon writes
really well the flutes go up to an upper B flat.
They're on the same melody with the trumpets but the trumpet part goes down to a lower
C so that's just smart because inherently takes away that cross tune.
Right and you don't have to worry about tuning.
That's exactly right.
And then it just ends beautifully.
You can work on really watching the conductor and every last little beat lining up exactly
opportunities for Roboto.
So not just the phrasing but hey now we're taking the metronome away and you need to
get in the habit of watching your conductor.
Absolutely.
Lots of opportunities for growth with that.
This is I cannot.
Yes I cannot more so recommend it.
I'm going to play it with my group this year.
Oh we forgot to mention that that we've never played any of these pieces with our groups
because they're brand new.
So this was just us literally playing them as humans that we you know had some sort of
moment.
All right.
Our next piece is March of the Hobgoblins by Randall Standridge.
Okay.
So with this one now we're getting into the first three pieces that we had were a little
bit a little bit easier pretty pretty solid grade ones.
This one we would consider a grade one and a half.
He considers it that.
Yes it's the publisher grade as well.
This one is in the key of concert E flat and it's about two minutes long.
Now the big kicker with this one is that it's in 6 8.
So obviously that time signature may be a little more limiting in terms of which groups
that you can consider programming this piece for but it's written and scored really really
well that it's a great introductory piece to 6 8.
So if you know if you're needing something to introduce that I think it's fantastic.
And of course like all standard stuff it's written really well and has tons of percussion.
Yes.
And if you have listened to our fall series where we went over pieces that we thought
would be great for fall concerts.
Laura and I both immediately said well this one would be great for a fall concert because
it's called March of the Hobgoblins.
I'm going to play it with my band.
Right.
So it's a great introduction to playing and the rhythms are very 2D the whole time.
So while it is quicker and you do have to have good articulation it starts out with
just all eighth notes ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta.
So you really have to have enough strong articulation in your band to play it.
So it might be more like a varsity.
And that's unison by the way.
Yeah.
Right.
It might be more like a varsity level piece.
Then it just has like good accents and style at the beginning lots of cool percussion at
nine the flute oboe clarinet one this one does have split parts clarinet one clarinet
two trumpet one trumpet two and the trumpets have the melody together and it's one and
two and one and two or one Lee to Lee one Lee to Lee one Lee to Lee one.
So it's not like ridiculous rhythms and it would be something really easy to teach kids
like different iterations of rhythm that you can see in six eight time if you're planning
to play six eight later down the road.
I love on this that the clarinet to part like it is split trumpet and clarinet split but
the second clarinet part actually doubles the horn.
Yeah.
So I mean you wouldn't if you don't have horns it's a great way that you can make sure that
part is covered if you do and you wanted all your clarinets played to play the first part
you certainly could.
Once we get to measure 17 we're continuing on a little bit more the melody kind of changes
a little bit it's in the upper woodwinds and the trumpets more of this articulation like
Katie mentioned the one two three four five six one two three four five six one Lolly
to Lolly lots of that type of articulation but these rhythms are just repetitive.
They're repetitive there's some accidentals in here things like that that you want to
be aware of but the rhythms are just very repetitive and to D. Yep at 25 the whole band
has kind of the same rhythms and it's like God it's band and then Tiffany band and then
Tiffany so a little bit of a back and forth here then it goes back to the same one Lolly
to Lolly then there's a big percussion break at 43 51 we start with clarinet melody and
it is more like in the style of a march this is the trio section yeah more so we're more
flowy more lyrical but nothing ridiculous in the way of rhythms then the accompaniment
gets a little bit more staccato in nature going into 67 then the upper woodwinds have
the melody together trumpets get a little counter melody or a little like little fanfare
and the trumpet one part does go up to a D and then we're continuing on and building
back up to 79 again with the little timpani or percussion features in the middle just
like before 87 we're full group again with a cute little chromatic descending line in
the flute and oboe part above the melody that's happening in the trumpet and clarinet one
still it finishes out much the same way with just you know everybody playing similar rhythms
throughout the parts and this again would be a great teaching piece for just this is
how you count these rhythms in 6-8 so that when they encounter 6-8 in the future they
go oh I remember we did this this rhythm on March of the Hobgoblins I also like I also
like the idea that this can be used to introduce March style to younger players in your ensemble
right if this is the first type of march that you've played you're getting to do 6-8 and
introduce some some march style which is very cool our last piece is called skedaddle by
Timothy Loest it's about two minutes long it's in the key of E flat again concert E
flat this one was really really cool to play now y'all know I'm a percussionist so I loved
the percussion stuff and that's why I thought it was a lot of fun to play it is very fast
and this one definitely has one forty four to one sixty eight yes this would be a great
closer for a concert it has a lot more independence in each of the parts more complex rhythms
lots of style considerations all of that still considered a grade one point five by the publisher
I feel like I remember this correctly if I don't so sorry but I think like when we played
this as adults we some of the people actually missed the first rhythm just sight reading
it because it is a little bit more complex so it starts out with percussion and then
at measure three the clarinets come in with one two and and three and and two and three
and that rhythm goes on and on forever throughout different parts that's the most complex rhythm
three and but and three and four sorry my pen was in the way but that is something that
is going to come back again and again in different parts but that's enough of an like and entrances
we haven't seen a lot of that yet in any of this grade one literature that we've talked
about yes it is kind of jazzy in nature in my mind too so when I played it I liked it
because of just the tonality of it it's kind of like it's not tootie at the beginning it's
like little hits here and there but there's like this like what the clarinets are doing
is like a little ostinato it's a little rhythmic ostinato and it passes its way through right
then the lows take over with the same ostinato at 11 then it's like kind of creepy when the
flute part and then it just does like three and four and one so it's kind of like mysterious
like you're on a chase you know skedaddling all around but it's not rhythms aren't very
difficult it's just that one ostinato rhythm that's a little bit more complex lots of cool
style in this piece it does change often lows get the melody again at 23 lots of cool percussion
like Laura already mentioned big percussion break at 27 as well I wrote down that I feel
like it sounds jaunty like at 29 this is the like kind of jazzy part sax and clarinet get
the melody all alone with hi-hat behind them so it's really cool and that does have a little
bit more of a complex rhythm with a tie in there one two and and three and two and oh
sorry one two and and four and two and three and four but it does the rhythm over and over
and then like other people add in the trumpets get to use straight mutes on this piece which
is always fun kids love that yeah especially if they don't usually get the chance on grade
one music really cool timpani part as well at 37 we layer in more parts so everybody's
kind of playing similar things as what they had before but we're just layering in more
of them I like the orchestration here where flute and oboe are playing the same thing
as horn yeah so that's kind of an interesting combination and tenor sax I like that little
combination yep and the flutes do go up a little bit higher in this piece up to a D
above the staff so again the range is a little bit more challenging than the other pieces
we've talked about so far we do have a lot of accidentals coming into the piece just
from when like harmonics harmonically the the piece changes 45 there's lots of accidentals
written so it's a good idea to mark your parts and talk to students about that we have a
really cool fun like cowbell part at 53 I thought that was really cool when we played
it with that same rhythmic ostinato above it so it's kind of like just like a jamming
out moment it sounded like a rock moment yeah like all right yeah more cowbell yes fever
that's right and then at 61 we got another little melody and the flute clarinet one and
oboe along with the bells we're layering in more parts and again it kind of sounds jazzy
and jaunty light fun and then we kind of bring it all down and play quiet and crescendo up
to 75 this is like what we had earlier in the piece as well so it's like a recap here
at 75 of what we had earlier yep there's a cool little horn moment here as well up on
upper seas over and over for the french horn and then clarinet one is definitely going
over the break often in this piece so that is another consideration to give and you'd
have to mark a lot of like clarinet like pinky considerations as well because it's not exactly
as straightforward as some of the other pieces we've talked about the low brass get the melody
all the way to the end just a final moment along with the timpani so it's just meant
to sound kind of like a chase chasing like jaunty jazzy type song like lara said it's
i think it'd be great for a closer on a concert i think a perfect concert closer lots of energy
good opportunities for teaching style and again balance as well and and cool cool percussion
all right well that wraps up our new music to our newly published music that is grade
one or 1.5 and we hope that you have found this helpful and that you have found a piece
of music that you might be able to program at your next concert thanks for joining us
on this episode of band bffs