1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,640 Welcome to our podcast and BFFs. The podcast where we make your music selection less complicated. 2 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:19,400 On today's episode we are going to be discussing Cascadia Celebration by Steve Hodges. Cheers 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:25,000 to starting the conversation. So Laura and I were just talking about why haven't we done 4 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,600 this piece yet right before we were recording because we both love it so much and it's probably 5 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:39,520 because it's kind of one of those older quote unquote grade ones to the Texas PML. Like I played 6 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,920 this piece when I was a super baby band director. I also played it as a baby band director a long 7 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:51,520 time ago and that's when it was like new and up and coming but it's such a great piece for like 8 00:00:51,520 --> 00:01:00,160 teaching you as a musician how to teach in multiple key signatures multiple time signatures. You do 9 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:07,120 have to have a solid group but it's it's so cute lighthearted and fun. It sounds like a celebration. 10 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:14,160 It does. The title is is appropriate completely and I love it's just such a it's such a happy 11 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:21,040 sounding piece. I had a lot of fun teaching it and we've done it of course even with you know with 12 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:26,880 our non-varsity bands not only have we conducted it when you know years ago but we've done it at our 13 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,880 own schools with our non-varsity bands. I think this is an oldie but a goodie. Yes. Such a great 14 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:38,760 piece. So Cascadia is in the key of concert E flat and three four at the beginning. It does 15 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:45,320 change keys. It modulates to the key of F which is not for the faint of heart right and five four 16 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:51,840 but don't be intimidated like the five four I think lays really easily. It's about two minutes 17 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:58,800 two minutes and twenty seconds in length. You do have some split clarinet alto trumpet parts 18 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:04,760 quite a bit of percussion so you're gonna you're gonna need five to six percussionists on this 19 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:12,680 but there's lots of cool accessory percussion in this. It's just it is I I love this piece. 20 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:20,320 It's very very cute so I'm excited to talk about it so it starts off at 110 on the metronome it 21 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:26,280 stays that way the whole time. It's just jubilant in nature it has some accented parts but a lot 22 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:33,200 of the piece is not accented it's just full value tongues with some slurs thrown in but it's not 23 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:38,840 like anything super crazy but at the very beginning you do have to have a really good trumpet section 24 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:45,920 that's a given. Your clarinet one part should probably be pretty mature too. It does go up above 25 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:51,680 the staff a little bit and stays at the top of the staff often so you want to make sure at least 26 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:57,440 your clarinet one is comfortable going over the break and sounding good sounding pretty up high 27 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:04,360 right that sort of thing so it starts off with like a little like a fan fan yes one and two three 28 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:10,840 with accents and then the little woodwinds go one and two and three and one in response and then 29 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:17,680 they do it again and the lows just get one two and three and one not ridiculously difficult and 30 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:23,800 they're not even changing notes either. Go ahead. Style I think especially in all throughout this 31 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,800 but in this introduction style is really important making sure that the way that we're articulating 32 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:33,400 the eighth notes is agreeing from the flutes all the way down to the tubas in this section and 33 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,720 then a little bit of lift and then definitely and then also I think across the board in this piece 34 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:47,000 when you have long notes the tendency is to die away on them and we want the exact opposite now 35 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,960 like what the trumpets and alto start off one and two three we had ours treat that and you've heard 36 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,320 me say this if you've listened to our podcast at all several times we had our students treat it like 37 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:02,320 a forte piano right um crescendo so there is a crescendo written but treat it like a forte 38 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,480 piano crescendo so that they get out of the way of the moving notes that are coming in this happens 39 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:15,000 this same idea on these long notes happens all throughout this piece. Once we get to five it's 40 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:20,480 still kind of part of the introduction the clarinet two and altos get this cool little like one 41 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:28,400 two three one and two three harmonic line it's really pretty and then at seven we have our first 42 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:34,080 statement of the melody in the trumpets and they're all together and this is the melody that comes 43 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:41,640 back over and over and over the lows all have the same rhythm and that makes it really easy to teach 44 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:47,720 this because they're playing the same thing and they're out of the way very quiet with lifted style 45 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:54,800 eighth notes or quarter notes or half notes during the trumpet melody at the end on each long note 46 00:04:54,800 --> 00:05:01,880 after the trumpets have their statement so they go one and two three one and two three one and two 47 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:10,520 and three and one on that long note one the woodwinds clarinet oboe flute they have one and two and 48 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:15,320 three and one so it's like a little call and response and the kids like that and then they're 49 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:20,440 out of the way again at 11 and the trumpets come back so what Katie was just talking about about 50 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:27,440 the low voices having this blocked rhythm half eighth eighth half quarter half this is exactly 51 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:33,120 what I'm talking about with letting the the white notes fade right the tendency what you're gonna 52 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:39,760 hear a lot of groups do is go da da da da and you want to make sure that they are not doing that 53 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,880 that we are supporting all the way through those long notes yep the trombone part does go up to 54 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:52,480 a D here and I know every time I've played this that note has been like a tuning issue so just 55 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:58,600 making sure it's like the French horns have an upper C the trombones have an upper D the 56 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:04,040 tubas even are going up to a D so you want to make sure that your students can do that with 57 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,520 success ambient tune and I have my trombones in this I have my trombones play this in fourth 58 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:13,960 position instead of first position because it's a flat partial in first position and in fourth 59 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:19,040 position you can adjust the tuning so that is something even when I'm pre-marking parts that 60 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:24,360 I pre-mark in that hey we're gonna play this one in fourth position right so the same melody goes 61 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:31,480 on and the trumpets and then at the end though this time it goes one and two and three a one so 62 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:37,160 it has a real cute little dotted eight sixteenth ending that's not difficult but you want to make 63 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:44,000 sure there's a little space after the dotted eighth note one and two and three a one so that the 16th 64 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:49,520 really pops you know and there's lots of clarity in that articulation yep the euphonium part does 65 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:54,440 not double the trombone part throughout this so that is the trombones like we mentioned you need 66 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,800 strong trumpets in your first clarinet I'd even say that your trombone section needs to be pretty 67 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,600 because of the range that's exactly exactly and they're just really independent they're really 68 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:10,760 their parts are are really independent I love this whole section right we finish this the woodwinds 69 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:15,880 the upper woodwinds just like we've continued get to make a little response they get so fanfare this 70 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:22,640 time one and two three one yes yep and then the lows get to have more of like a little accident 71 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:31,240 part but trombone again they're on C's above the staff over and over and over so the tuning yes 72 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:37,200 might be a little bit of an issue and make sure they don't really go in as they sit up there in 73 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,160 that rain yeah I mean that you know that range is not super easy for younger players yeah but 74 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:48,960 the horn part is more in the normal range like from D to B flat most of the time so it's really 75 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:54,480 just the trombone euphonium and tuba are doubling each other so they're more on a normal range 76 00:07:54,480 --> 00:08:00,160 when we get to this next phrase this measure 18 now the upper woodwinds the flute nobo and first 77 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:05,520 clarinet are taking over the same melodic statement that the trumpet had before but now we have this 78 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:11,720 little rhythmic ostinato that's taking place in the low and mid voices the altos horns and low brass 79 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:18,480 one and and three one and and three one and they get to do in this part is really cool I love the 80 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:25,040 way this it even doubles this name I love that word yes it is it's very jaunty you want to make 81 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:31,640 sure that beat three leads to be one for sure that we don't clip that note short went in and three 82 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,760 went in that is not at all what we want so make sure the melody won't sound like that either one 83 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:45,640 and two three one and two three not one and two three yeah yes so it's more full value quarter notes 84 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:50,720 just lifted definitely definitely and then the trumpets kind of answer so we have the reverse 85 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,560 and fair that's right we have the reverse of what we had before when the trumpets were the statement 86 00:08:54,560 --> 00:09:00,240 and the woodwinds answered at the end of the phrase now the trumpets get a little fanfare answer at 87 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:05,480 the end of the phrase yep and also the low brass when the trumpets do that little fanfare they get 88 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:10,160 a moment of glory that's what I call it whenever we've played it so they finish they do that 89 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:16,040 ostinato for three measures then they get one and two and three and one so it's like really cute 90 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:21,360 because they get to do like more of a moving part it's not horrible but they get a moment where 91 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,200 they get to come out of the spotlight which is good then it continues on with the upper woodwinds 92 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,800 having the melody and they get another they get the same thing trumpets did before one and two 93 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:40,360 and three a one and then we all in the mid voices get this cool little rhythm one two and three one 94 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:46,800 and and three and one and that syncopation there is so important yeah and it's just cute and the 95 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:54,120 kids get it you know lays pretty well and then we don't change key but we change to 5 4 here so now 96 00:09:54,120 --> 00:10:03,280 the snares are off so it's kind of like a different feel mm-hmm and the tambourine comes in and we are 97 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:11,120 now in 5 4 and when you conduct it you can do it 3 1 2 3 plus 2 that's the way it lays in the music 98 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:18,920 so it's always 1 2 3 1 2 you can do that you can conduct it in 5 yeah you can certainly do I've 99 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:24,880 done it the the easier way for my younger group I did it and that's great okay so this is great to 100 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,880 bring up I did it in 5 and the reason we did is because I told my kids I want you to feel really 101 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:36,760 comfortable anchoring in on beat 1 and I wanted beat 1 to look the same every time right so when 102 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:44,200 you do a 3 plus 2 there's absolutely nothing wrong with that but I was telling my kids to anchor in 103 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:50,720 on beat 1 so I only wanted there to be one visual got it one right yep but there is a lot of 104 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:56,720 syncopation in this section tied notes and so they have to be really comfortable counting do not 105 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:03,200 start playing this until they can count it correctly right it's 5 4 it feels weird they haven't been 106 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:10,040 exposed to this right so snares have the rhythm first while everybody's playing a long note that 107 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:17,120 stayed crescendoing and then at 28 alto and horn come in with the with this cool new melody so it's 108 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:46,680 one two and and three five sorry I was singing one and three and two I was conducting one two and and four and five one two and and four and five one two and and four five then the flute and the clarinet take over one two and and three and five and five and five yeah but it's it lays really cute and like we said it's not fast so the kids get it the lows 109 00:11:46,680 --> 00:12:16,520 are playing one and four one and four rest yeah and so that's actually a little bit it is tricky then it seems when they first started because they they're not used to feeling that then they keep that we keep going but now the flute clarinet alto they get the melody and lows join in and play longer valued one and four 110 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:46,240 five one and four five and most of the time they're staying on either the same note or just going up by one step so it's like in the tube apart F F G G A flat A flat B flat B flat so we're not going up a ton or jumping around it's just like scalar in motion now as you're working on this five four section so I think sometimes directors like fall in a 111 00:12:46,240 --> 00:13:10,280 habit of saying hey we have to start at measure one or at the beginning like in the five four I would start right here at measure 32 the only instrument that isn't playing right here at measure 32 is the trumpets and this part a lines way better with the melody in the upper woodwinds and the accompaniment in the mid voices and low voices 112 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:32,560 whereas back at measure 28 when we first initially were in half the band isn't playing half the band isn't playing the the part that the low brass has we already discussed a little bit more complicated so start where it's a little bit easier where they can you can help them feel successful feeling what five four feels like and then back up 113 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:59,560 there's some accidentals in the horn part here a little accident on the flute part and the alto part to just one accidental and then it goes back to the key but again that'd be a good thing to mark in their part and remind them to go back to key signature trumpets come in on four and five and to pick up taking over the melody and actually they get like a new part here so we kind of totally new idea 114 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:29,520 syncopated thing and at 36 we have a new melodic idea now leading into 36 I will tell you measure 35 your upper woodwinds have a dotted half note tied to a half note and man every time I've played this we have had to battle sustaining that long note for five full beats sound to silence they have rested measure 36 so making sure that they are supporting that long note and your flutes and oboes obviously with really good vibrato all the way to 115 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:56,520 the end that way the trumpets aren't left hanging on their pickup note right and five and one right they everyone should still be playing while the trumpets have those pickups into 36 and these trumpet pickups land on a D so and this is in both trumpet parts so this is written up a little higher so just throwing that out there then there's a counter melody in the alto and horn part in the horn part is a high E flat 116 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:26,480 D B flat C D D C B flat A G it's up there and they don't have to have to but you want to make sure that your French horns can sound pretty up high it's exposed here there's no woodwinds playing other than alto it's kind of like a brass feature with alto backing up the horns and now I will tell you this little eight measure chunk right here I think this is the most challenging part of the entire piece to make sense 117 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:56,440 to make it and to make it stay together and hold together because there's no pulse this the percussion drops out and it's just like a little brass corral I guess is kind of how I think of it and like I said it's up a little higher less rhythmic right the lows of like a dotted half note and then a half note and up again at the top of the staff for the trombone part but it's really pretty it's just kind of a mature ish section for a developing band 118 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:26,400 and then like the the flutes and I think it's clear and oboes I'm kind of take over the melody so we have this four measure chunk where the trumpets have the melody and you have the counter happening in alto and horn and then the flutes and obo take it over now one of the woodwind exactly so one of the things that I think makes this section a little trickier to is the way the phrase lays you'll have a dotted half note moment and then you'll have a half note moment and kids sometimes have trouble trouble 119 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:56,360 counting that so three four and five and one two three four five and one two three four one four five and one so it is like just that little four measure chunk right there you're gonna spend a long time making sure that the kids are comfortable with their rhythm and that they move in time and like I said the flutes and oboes have that exact same thing the next four measures one of the times that I played this I just remembered because like Lara was going through 120 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:19,360 it when at 36 I wrote on our trumpet part here a triangle over the dotted because I conducted it in three and then in two or it wasn't me it was my coworker at the time it was our second band but I drew a triangle over the dotted half note and then on the four five and I drew a down arrow on the four and an 121 00:17:19,360 --> 00:17:48,360 up arrow or an up arrow even though it was because my hands were doing that okay so it's like triangle two three down up triangle two three down up so that helped the trumpets to feel that because this is a weird spot yeah it doesn't lay like a hundred like the syncopated parts part lays pretty easy yeah this part you really have to count yeah so anyways then the woodwinds come in and do the exact same thing so flute and clarinet have the melody 122 00:17:48,360 --> 00:18:15,360 there's no brass happening right now then the snares go back on and we change back into three four time and we have the same thing that we had at the beginning one and two and three so it's a little bit different here right now the eighth notes now the way that is different in the beginning sorry the woodwinds are moving around pretty active right here all of the brass are sitting on longer value they're like our 123 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:33,360 arpeggiated yes yes and then I think maybe my favorite section of the I don't I don't know I just love everything about this piece but yeah it transitions into this cool part right here at measure 48 I will tell you when we get here we have trumpets are on an island with the melody by themselves so they need to sound 124 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:55,360 really good yeah sorry about that yes you're right but then everybody else including percussion are on these big eighth note hits one and one three and one now it can get really heavy sounding yep if you don't make sure to you know talk to the students about that like we don't want it to we don't want it to be like over the 125 00:18:55,360 --> 00:19:12,360 exactly exactly and then the lows get their moment of glory and they have the melody one and two three one and two three and what winds are just kind of playing above them then we have a little one measure transition one and two and three and now we've changed key 126 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:35,360 signature so you're only in the key of F for about not even 20 measures 16 measures but it's it can be tricky with a young band because of the key change being so drastic so marking parts like we always talk about is a great idea because then you can pre mark in like 127 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:56,360 hey trombones now you're doing a natural and a natural because that's that's kind of tricky it is a lot of third to a lot of second you know and the key the key center of E flat is a nice dark rich sounding key for bands especially young bands we go to the key of F and it can be really bright 128 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:14,360 and it goes up a step and so now trumpets are going even higher they're up on D more often in the melody but then it's the same melody the same melody so you don't have to reteach rhythms right you don't have to reteach style now it's just hey make sure that your notes in the total center are there 129 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:31,360 and you just have that melody in the upper voices for eight measure phrase and then 63 is just like it just was back at 44 but in the new key where woodwinds are doing our peggiated stuff again one and two and three and and we have a long note in the brass one 130 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:46,360 not dying away three and one yeah and so it's the same concept just different key you even have the low brass featured again one and two beat don't be out of tune on a natural that is the worst note F C 131 00:20:46,360 --> 00:21:04,360 worst note of the whole piece I swear how many times yes a bunch like it was like we would do one and two stop yeah and like make sure you're in tune on that a natural the number of people who accidentally a flat right there on that note like I can't tell you how many times I've heard 132 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:17,360 that I've heard that you did yeah and it's just out of tune with the trombone yeah and it's exposed nobody else is playing there is no progress it's trombone euphonic and tuba you don't even have the low reeds to help well it probably is a low read it doesn't say oh you're right you're 133 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:33,360 right but but it's your low voices nobody else is playing it is so exposed so I would like you know drill and kill those two measures yeah and there's no percussion yeah and then percussion comes back in woodwinds come back in and our peggiate a little bit more 134 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:52,360 trumpets and with like a fanfare part one and two three one and two three hi one or hi hi hi concert F yeah whenever we played this nobody played the high G with my this was our second band at the time we did not this was our third piece on a 135 00:21:52,360 --> 00:22:06,360 you I'll program I did not trust any of our sweet little developing trumpet players to play a high G at the end so we left that note out because it's covered in other stuff you can have it you can put it in a first clarinet part if you like 136 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:21,360 right we talked about your first clarinet the clarinet part here is above the staff the whole time yes it is on a high B on a yes so you can take that and that's what we did is we took instead of making that a high B in the clarinet we made those that could do it and sound good on a 137 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:37,360 G instead so it covered the trumpet part yeah that's a great way to rewrite it to where you still have the note in the cord but it's not going to scream in your face right yeah and then everybody ends on beat one and it is just a delightful cute little piece 138 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:56,360 I love this piece so much it's so good it's very well written a fun piece to teach a fun piece to play absolutely great way to expose your kids to five four so we love Cascadia celebration we hope you will consider programming this in the future and thank you for joining us on this episode of 139 00:22:56,360 --> 00:23:08,360 Bay and BFF