WEBVTT 00:00:06.780 --> 00:00:10.720 Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs. The podcast 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:12.939 where we make your music selection less complicated. 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:15.960 On today's episode, we will be discussing Serengeti 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:18.960 Dreams by Robert W. Smith. Cheers to starting 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:23.359 the conversation. All right. Now, this piece 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:25.800 is old. It is probably older than many of you 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:30.329 band directors out there. written in 2000. So 00:00:30.329 --> 00:00:32.869 definitely older than many of you young band 00:00:32.869 --> 00:00:36.329 directors out there. 25th anniversary of Serengeti 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:39.369 Dreams. But I was just telling Katie very jokingly, 00:00:39.689 --> 00:00:43.289 but sort of not. Serengeti Dreams, like if you 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:46.909 are a young band director or you have a young 00:00:46.909 --> 00:00:50.530 or more inexperienced band, I feel like Serengeti 00:00:50.530 --> 00:00:54.850 Dreams is a standard to that genre the way that 00:00:54.850 --> 00:00:58.280 Lincoln Sherposi is. for high school directors. 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.119 It's like everybody's played this at some point 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:04.439 or another. Doesn't mean that it's easy. It's 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:07.980 got a lot of tricky stuff, but it's a fun piece 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:09.620 and the kids love it. And the kids will love 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:13.040 it. So it is in the key of concert B flat. It's 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.680 in 4 -4. It does not have split clarinet. It's 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:20.939 one clarinet, one alto, one trumpet part, a combined 00:01:20.939 --> 00:01:24.819 trombone, euphonium, bassoon part. There are 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:27.319 lots of percussion. The percussion are really, 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:30.420 and the percussion are important because it's 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:32.099 what, the percussion instruments are what give 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:35.299 it the African feel with all of the equipment 00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:37.219 that's required, the gear that's required. So 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:41.000 you need, I mean, five to six at least, percussionists, 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:43.180 you can have more. If you have a bigger percussion 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:47.540 section, you can add more kids on more parts, 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:49.939 more instruments to kind of beef up some of the 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:53.680 stuff. Which is kind of cool, yeah. So this piece 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.010 is super fun. and like I just said the kids love 00:01:57.010 --> 00:02:02.349 it it starts off it as majestic style at 104 00:02:02.349 --> 00:02:05.109 is what it's written at in accents with the full 00:02:05.109 --> 00:02:08.960 2d band this is like Definitely old school band 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.360 writing because it's very beautiful like color 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.759 chords You do have like a lot of different like 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:19.120 jumps and leaps and like the trombone part The 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.620 trumpet part so it's not super steppy. So you 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:23.939 just have to make sure kids know what that feels 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:27.400 like what that sounds like But it has accent 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:29.740 half notes in the measure one and then it goes 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:34.080 one two Four one and then the whole band has 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.539 a crescendo going into measure four That's something 00:02:37.539 --> 00:02:40.340 everybody needs to do with a beautiful sound 00:02:40.340 --> 00:02:43.080 and not crescendo past your best tone quality. 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:45.379 Which is really hard, and the way the chord is 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:48.039 written doesn't always make that easy either. 00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:50.500 So it's something that we write, like every time 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:52.599 I've played it, we've written in a forte piano 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:56.800 crescendo, and then practiced it, making sure 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:58.620 that they understand, and even going through 00:02:58.620 --> 00:03:01.460 and saying, okay, no, I need less of this instrument. 00:03:01.460 --> 00:03:03.340 You don't get to crescendo at all. Third of the 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:05.120 chord, I don't really need as much of you or 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.159 whatever it is, yeah. At measure four we're leading 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.419 into four and four is a trill and flute oboe 00:03:11.419 --> 00:03:14.740 clarinet and sax and then there's like a little 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.159 intercession with the percussion where they're 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:20.400 like doing like the Yeah, like it's like a ritualistic 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.860 like groove for a second and this where they're 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:26.240 the trill is in the upper woodwinds They cannot 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:28.199 take a breath between the trill and the note 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:30.699 that comes after it right cannot take a breath 00:03:30.699 --> 00:03:33.280 there so I would even have and I know this is 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:37.490 like a sin and music sin to have them breathe 00:03:37.490 --> 00:03:40.330 at the end of a crescendo, but for the woodwinds 00:03:40.330 --> 00:03:43.310 that trail, I would have them sneak in a quick 00:03:43.310 --> 00:03:46.169 breath between measure three and measure four, 00:03:46.409 --> 00:03:50.569 ensuring everybody else gets their sound to the 00:03:50.569 --> 00:03:54.110 downbeat so that it sounds seamless, but they 00:03:54.110 --> 00:03:56.750 get to take in that quick breath before the trail. 00:03:57.289 --> 00:03:59.930 Yep. And then we come in again. So then that's 00:03:59.930 --> 00:04:02.110 the same thing. Full band comes in with half 00:04:02.110 --> 00:04:06.259 notes and then one, two, four, one. And then 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:08.360 trail with the percussion doing a different little 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.979 groove and then full band again now We're like 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:15.099 playing like everybody's a little bit lower range 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:18.319 on their instrument, which is nice At 9 we all 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:20.800 have the same rhythm again, then we've got another 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.800 color chord a flat in the trombone part And then 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.879 we do the same rhythm again at 11 and then we 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:31.100 have the same Rhythm at 12 again with color chord 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:34.220 on the long note percussion every time we have 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:37.529 a long note they're doing the the the word is 00:04:37.529 --> 00:04:39.649 not intercession I don't know but I mean what 00:04:39.649 --> 00:04:42.110 you said like interruption yeah like a statement 00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:45.459 yeah a statement percussion yeah yeah And then 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:48.759 at 13 the full band has the same rhythm again. 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:53.120 Then we have a rallentando at 14 and this is 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:56.160 tricky for kids, but it's written well because 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.220 it's just everybody has a whole note and you're 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:00.199 looking up and there's no percussion and you're 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:02.959 gonna memorize measure 15 and you're gonna change 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.579 all together and then percussion comes in and 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:09.920 then it's just immediately faster at 16 at 152. 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:12.500 Okay now on this rallentando the way I would 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:15.360 treat this the rallentando is written at measure 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:19.319 14, like Katie said, right? And normally you 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.740 might start a Rolentondo early or start a Ritardondo 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:24.879 a little early, but I think because he has written 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.620 it here at 14, I actually don't even start the 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:33.459 Rolentondo until measure 15 here. It's like an 00:05:33.459 --> 00:05:36.439 80 BPM or 82 or whatever, so whole note, two, 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:41.000 three, four, now we slow down, two, three, and 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:45.639 four, one. to practice that ad nauseum until 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:47.759 the kids can do it and nobody should be breathing 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.160 anywhere between 14 15 or 16 so they need they 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:54.000 need to figure out their breathing plan or you 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.680 need to plan to make sure that like if they have 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:58.660 to they can sneak a breath or you just don't 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:00.720 have to slow down too much if it's like a low 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.180 like a sub non or non varsity band and that's 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:04.899 exactly part of the reason why I wouldn't start 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:07.819 the ralentano until measure 15 right and then 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:10.540 at 16 like I mentioned it's like basically double 00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:12.670 time and there's a conga solo in this This is 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:15.490 really important and this groove goes on forever. 00:06:15.689 --> 00:06:21.230 Now this cabasa part comes at an 18 and I had, 00:06:21.769 --> 00:06:25.509 oh gosh, I have some memories of this cabasa 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:28.689 part. You can hate your life if you program this 00:06:28.689 --> 00:06:30.129 piece and you don't have a kid that can play 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:32.189 this cabasa part. That is exactly right because 00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:35.350 they can start in time and then it can slow down 00:06:35.350 --> 00:06:37.589 and then it's like the flutes are gonna come 00:06:37.589 --> 00:06:41.000 in in a minute and it's like. Gosh, I hate my 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.199 life because they're so slow already so I You 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:46.860 have to have a good kid on the kibos part and 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:49.839 they have to be able to play in time Quickly, 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:52.639 yes, and they cannot slow down and they have 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:55.509 to be able to play it kind of like soft. They 00:06:55.509 --> 00:06:58.589 do. It's just a beat. It's literally the metronome. 00:06:58.629 --> 00:07:00.490 It's the pulse. It's the pulse throughout. If 00:07:00.490 --> 00:07:03.389 they struggle on the kabasa, you can always sub 00:07:03.389 --> 00:07:06.149 in a shaker. Egg shakers. Yeah, like an egg shaker 00:07:06.149 --> 00:07:08.870 can sub in on that and some of the kids can control 00:07:08.870 --> 00:07:10.569 the sound and the volume a little bit better 00:07:10.569 --> 00:07:12.910 on an egg shaker. That works as well. You can 00:07:12.910 --> 00:07:15.209 also split the part between a couple of players 00:07:15.209 --> 00:07:18.149 that can kind of help with time. If you have 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:21.189 enough kids and they're strong enough and good 00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:23.029 enough to do this where, you know, it's four 00:07:23.029 --> 00:07:25.199 measures for one player. pass it to the next 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:26.560 player for four measures to the next without 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:29.079 it like stumbling exactly with it being seamless 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:31.899 so it's layering in like i mentioned the congas 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:34.319 start out at 16 and this is a long percussion 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:35.980 break so that's why we're taking some time talk 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:41.579 about it so they come in first and then the capacity 00:07:41.579 --> 00:07:49.490 just the pulse and then marimba And this is just 00:07:49.490 --> 00:07:54.310 a groove that we're setting down. It starts strong 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:57.470 at 20 with the marimba, and then we're fading 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:00.790 out going into 24. And it says optional xylo 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:03.509 too, so again, if you have a big percussion section, 00:08:04.050 --> 00:08:07.850 put one on marimba, one on xylophone. And then 00:08:07.850 --> 00:08:11.089 at 24 we have the first moment of melody. It's 00:08:11.089 --> 00:08:16.430 in... flute and then the second time around it's 00:08:16.430 --> 00:08:19.670 in sax and horn added in but the first time it 00:08:19.670 --> 00:08:22.550 is just your flute section it is flute only and 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:25.750 they need to have they have to be loud and confident 00:08:25.750 --> 00:08:28.709 and vibrato and beautiful like you want beautiful 00:08:28.709 --> 00:08:32.629 rich low sound and as much vibrato as you can 00:08:32.629 --> 00:08:36.470 perfectly for for a young flute section it starts 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:39.590 on a regular old b -flat and it's like it's low 00:08:39.590 --> 00:08:42.950 on the flute there are lot of long notes, but 00:08:42.950 --> 00:08:46.409 you can easily write in their part where half 00:08:46.409 --> 00:08:49.809 the section breathes in measure 26, half the 00:08:49.809 --> 00:08:53.289 section breathes in 27, so that the long note 00:08:53.289 --> 00:08:56.850 doesn't die away. That's right. Each time that 00:08:56.850 --> 00:08:59.350 they have the melody, it's then passed along 00:08:59.350 --> 00:09:02.110 with another statement from the clarinet. So 00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:05.049 it goes, you can sing the clarinet part. OK. 00:09:05.549 --> 00:09:15.019 1, 4, and 1, 3, 4, 1. Da da da. Notice that I 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:18.799 got softer on my long G because she came in with 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.220 the cool part. And the cool clarinet part is 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:24.600 also written in a great part of the clarinet. 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:27.440 It's low and it's fun and it's like chromatic 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.659 -y. And it doesn't, again, doesn't come in until 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:31.600 the second time. So like the first time you play 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.539 all of this, this is all just flute, right? It 00:09:34.539 --> 00:09:37.120 is just flute. So your flutes have to shine. 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:40.120 Yes. They have to, I mean. It's just percussion 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:43.440 and flute. That's it. no lows, no nothing. Oh 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.019 my gosh, I forgot about that. It's very exposed, 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:47.940 so you need to make sure that your flute section 00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:50.399 sounds really, really good. And again, breathing 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:52.340 is a big thing because I've heard this piece 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:55.000 played several times where everybody breathes 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.159 in the same spot and it just sounds really immature. 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:00.220 So whatever you do for the flute section though, 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.600 copy paste and do the same breathing plan for 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:04.340 your altos and horns when they come in. That's 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:07.820 exactly right. They have this little melody all 00:10:07.820 --> 00:10:14.950 the way from 24 to 32, and then at 32, the clarinets 00:10:14.950 --> 00:10:19.509 join the flutes and play, or no, they don't join, 00:10:19.629 --> 00:10:22.710 they play their little... They play a different 00:10:22.710 --> 00:10:26.990 counter melody. So they come in and they play 00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:29.129 a little bit with the flutes, the percussion 00:10:29.129 --> 00:10:33.129 is still grooving, and then the oboe and the 00:10:33.129 --> 00:10:35.309 trumpet come in for the last two measures of 00:10:35.309 --> 00:10:36.929 this moment. Okay, and I want to say something 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:38.809 about this clarinet part for a second. In measure 00:10:38.809 --> 00:10:42.789 32, the part that they enter where it says play 00:10:42.789 --> 00:10:45.990 both times, they come in on beat two. Right. 00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:48.610 And it's written, there is a quarter note written 00:10:48.610 --> 00:10:51.269 on beat one because they will have played at 00:10:51.269 --> 00:10:54.970 the second time. It is a weird entrance and it 00:10:54.970 --> 00:11:00.049 confuses kids until they grasp it and really 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:05.269 understand. And their little part goes two, four, 00:11:05.549 --> 00:11:11.059 one, two, rest two. and they have to push that 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:13.980 dotted half note all the way to the rest, crescendo 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:16.899 through. It's kind of like a flute and clarinet 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:19.679 duet. That's exactly how I think of it. I think 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.240 of it like a duet and the flute line needs to 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.879 be shaped musically and the clarinet line needs 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.179 to be shaped musically. And their eighth notes 00:11:26.179 --> 00:11:29.169 are like... not at the same time, clarinets have 00:11:29.169 --> 00:11:30.950 them on beat two, flutes have them on beat three, 00:11:30.950 --> 00:11:33.090 so they're just like interworking with each other. 00:11:33.470 --> 00:11:36.490 And then the trumpet and the oboe finally come 00:11:36.490 --> 00:11:40.110 in at measure 38 and the percussion kind of stops 00:11:40.110 --> 00:11:43.509 this like trance -like part and now they're doing 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:45.629 something a little bit different at 39 because 00:11:45.629 --> 00:11:49.429 now we're gonna go back, all the way back to 00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:52.509 24. And now we've added in, like I mentioned, 00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:56.230 saxophone and horn on the melody with the flutes. 00:11:56.649 --> 00:11:59.610 The clarinets also, everybody comes in the second 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:03.470 time, low, low, lows, like tuba, low reeds, not 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:05.570 trombone euphonium yet, and not trumpet right 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:08.289 now, but everybody else is playing, and not oboe, 00:12:08.289 --> 00:12:11.710 sorry. The clarinets, again, have that cool part 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:13.909 that Laura and I sang earlier. They're not gonna 00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:16.009 be loud on the long note, but they're gonna be 00:12:16.009 --> 00:12:17.590 loud on their little counter melody. That's right, 00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:19.509 and this now, the clarinet part is what needs 00:12:19.509 --> 00:12:21.850 to be featured. Right. So even though you have 00:12:21.850 --> 00:12:24.250 beefed it up, you've got altos joining, you've 00:12:24.250 --> 00:12:28.169 got horns joining. it is the clarinet line that 00:12:28.169 --> 00:12:30.549 needs to be featured. Tuba and Barry Sachs bass 00:12:30.549 --> 00:12:33.409 clarinet are playing a motor part. They're playing 00:12:33.409 --> 00:12:35.590 what the marimba is doing. It's more similar 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:38.309 to what the marimba was doing. So it's nice to 00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:41.210 have that motor part, but the clarinet part is 00:12:41.210 --> 00:12:43.870 what needs to shine. Yeah, for sure. On the repeat. 00:12:44.129 --> 00:12:47.029 It's new. Yep. And then they keep going and then 00:12:47.029 --> 00:12:49.370 they even keep going to the part that Laura and 00:12:49.370 --> 00:12:51.029 I talked about where they come in on the sneaky 00:12:51.029 --> 00:12:54.590 beat too. They're just continuing on now. We're 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:57.470 keeping the same dynamic levels happening and 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:01.389 then we have the same little moment at 38 where 00:13:01.389 --> 00:13:03.830 the trumpets and the oboes come in and they play 00:13:03.830 --> 00:13:06.250 again. And then, oh they only play the second 00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:07.950 time only. And this is the second time, that's 00:13:07.950 --> 00:13:10.289 right. So this is leading into measure 40. Yeah. 00:13:10.830 --> 00:13:14.509 And then at 40 it's like a new thing. we have 00:13:14.509 --> 00:13:16.710 everybody is like it's like a joyful section 00:13:16.710 --> 00:13:18.909 the first part I always think about like it's 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:20.730 like an African ritual where they're literally 00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:24.250 being put into a trance like it's like swaying 00:13:24.250 --> 00:13:26.590 a little bit it's mysterious the percussions 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:29.809 like I love all the little stories you come up 00:13:29.809 --> 00:13:34.490 with yeah it's like an African like tribal like 00:13:34.490 --> 00:13:37.590 yes ritual and then it's like at 40 you're out 00:13:37.590 --> 00:13:41.799 of the trance And it's like it's like big and 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:45.600 strong and then the percussion keeps going So 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.340 everybody comes out of it with two quarter notes 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:50.740 for real the whole band and then we keep going 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:53.539 with the groove and the cabasa and We have these 00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:57.820 this really neat part with sax and horn But it 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:00.740 is really hard, but it's a part that needs to 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:04.720 shine and it cannot have cracks And it cannot 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:06.720 be out of tune. It cannot be out of tune, friends. 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:09.659 It cannot be out of tune. It is C sharp for the 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:13.080 alto. And it is up to a high B, not a high B, 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:18.259 but a B, third line B and horn. It's not hard. 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.700 It's really pretty. But you just have to make 00:14:20.700 --> 00:14:22.820 sure that those sections have the ability to 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:25.539 shine and not detract from the band. There's 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:28.200 accidentals in this section right here. And it's 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:35.509 major. The before is minor. Now it's... And then 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:39.590 everybody goes again, and then it goes back to 00:14:39.590 --> 00:14:47.070 the horn and the sax part Now D a high D and 00:14:47.070 --> 00:14:53.129 horn a So easy yeah, so it's like You can find 00:14:53.129 --> 00:14:55.450 a kid or two if you can find a kid or two on 00:14:55.450 --> 00:14:58.620 horn to play that well great if you can't Like, 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.399 maybe you just let that one measure be a saxophone 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:03.799 thing. And I'm gonna tell you, this is a trick 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:05.860 that I have used before. You have to have the 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:07.960 right kind of player to do this, but if you, 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:11.580 like, if you are struggling, even in that one 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:15.679 part with your horns, I have had a trombone player 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:20.100 fake a horn part. by just playing with their 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:22.179 bell, like we wrote out the part, transposed 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:24.580 it correctly, and in the correct octave, and 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:26.879 then had the trombone player play with their 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.460 bell a little closer to the stand, so it wasn't, 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:35.200 and it worked really, really well. It was not 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:38.039 like muted trombone, it wasn't anything like 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:42.139 that, but it masked and... played the part of 00:15:42.139 --> 00:15:46.120 a horn really, really well. So, I mean, if you 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:48.019 needed it for that measure, because the horns 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:50.539 can't play a high D or whatever, right? Well, 00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:52.000 it's not even that they can't play it, it's that 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.519 they can't play it beautifully. Yes, right, exactly. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.919 I mean, that's just an A for a trombone, which 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.179 is nothing for them, right? That's just a part 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:02.100 to look at for sure and figure out what works 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:04.659 best for your kids. Lots of accidentals in this 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:07.940 whole section and all the parts. Then we repeat 00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:11.419 again, back to 40 again. So then we've got the 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.539 bum, bum. It's the out of the trance, the fun 00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:16.759 part, pretty, pretty. We keep going. It's literally 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:20.100 the same thing. The second time, it's different. 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.600 Kabasa stops. So now we're out of the trance. 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:25.299 We're out of the trance and everybody comes in 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:27.139 with a whole note in the upper woodwinds and 00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:30.039 they get soft and then they trill and they get 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.360 louder and it's almost like the ritual stopped 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:34.279 for a second and now it's coming back and then 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:37.440 at 50 we have everybody's back in. We're back 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:42.360 to the trance. So the percussion, a djembe comes 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:46.460 in or a tom -tom and the percussion is getting 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:51.759 a lot more in depth in the Sorry, we're looking. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.779 And the conga part. So now the conga part is 00:16:55.779 --> 00:16:59.899 more like, just a lot more rhythms. One, two, 00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:02.720 and four, and one, and two, and four, and they 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:07.160 can't slow down. And it's interactive. So it's... 00:17:07.230 --> 00:17:11.529 It's not easy. It's not. The percussion parts, 00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:13.490 like I feel like your flutes, your percussions, 00:17:13.849 --> 00:17:16.269 and your horn, your percussions, your percussion 00:17:16.269 --> 00:17:18.789 and your horns are the sections that need to 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:22.390 be pretty solid for this piece, right? But the 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:24.690 djembe, this is another opportunity where, like, 00:17:24.710 --> 00:17:26.190 I think it's really cool. If you get to play 00:17:26.190 --> 00:17:29.339 a piece that uses African percussion... Do your 00:17:29.339 --> 00:17:32.019 best to, yes, try to actually get the African 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:34.079 percussion. I think that's so cool. You can add 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.160 more djembe players if you want. Like it doesn't 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:37.819 just have to be one. Add more djembe players. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.440 Give more kids the opportunity to experiment 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:43.339 with that music. I love this section at measure 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:46.359 50. This is one of my favorite parts of the piece. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.720 This is where we start to kind of, it thickens 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.880 up a little bit. We start to add everything together 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:53.420 now. So now that melody that we had at the beginning 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:56.599 is back. It's in the flute and oboe. It's in 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:58.900 the alto, it's in the horn, but in the flute 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:01.839 part, it's up an octave now. So depending on 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.420 how many flutes you have, like you may even want 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:06.839 to keep some of them down. And that would put 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:09.480 them in the same octave as oboe, which I would 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:14.039 absolutely do for a lot of kids if needed. Everything 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:17.559 else here is pretty much going on the same. The 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.599 trumpets come in now with the cool clarinet counterpart. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:23.460 The clarinet has it again. But this trumpet part 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:28.630 does jump, so it goes... E, F, E, C, B, B flat 00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:31.710 A. So that's like, that's kind of, that's kind 00:18:31.710 --> 00:18:36.710 of a big leap. Yeah. And making that sound not. 00:18:36.849 --> 00:18:40.549 Relaxed. Yes, not crazy town is something that's 00:18:40.549 --> 00:18:43.990 not a skill for everyone. So it's really fun. 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:46.490 It keeps going. It's the same interaction between 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:49.690 those same parts. And it keeps going for a long 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:52.029 time because we're in our trance. And then at 00:18:52.029 --> 00:18:56.210 64. Percussion drops out and our trance is gone. 00:18:56.650 --> 00:18:59.150 Now, just the upper woodwinds are playing again 00:18:59.150 --> 00:19:02.390 with trumpet, upper brass on beat one. They're 00:19:02.390 --> 00:19:04.890 decrescendoing again like they did before. This 00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:07.069 section right here, this four measures reminds 00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:10.950 me of dance celebration. Oh yeah. The way dynamically 00:19:10.950 --> 00:19:14.049 and harmonically. Yeah. Anyway, I'm sorry, go 00:19:14.049 --> 00:19:17.789 ahead. And then at 65, or sorry, beat three of 00:19:17.789 --> 00:19:20.930 64, the lows come in. So they're decrescendoing, 00:19:21.069 --> 00:19:23.279 lows come in with half notes. that are leading 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:26.359 down and crescendoing that's the focal point 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:29.940 bring that out it does say to crescendo in flute 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:32.539 oboe clarinet and trumpet back up to the downbeat 00:19:32.539 --> 00:19:36.319 of 66 but I would probably just make sure that 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.099 the the crescendo comes mostly from trumpet and 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:40.920 a little bit less from the upper woodwinds a 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:42.579 hundred percent agree with that and then they 00:19:42.579 --> 00:19:46.220 release and we've got the same effect like it's 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:49.480 almost like an echo now the lows are doing the 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:53.279 crescendo or the decrescendo whole And then we're 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:54.980 crescendoing up again like the beginning with 00:19:54.980 --> 00:19:58.400 a trill in the upper woodwinds 68 is a different 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.640 section Okay, so before we get to 68 a couple 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:02.740 of things on this section and like we have an 00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:04.460 episode on dance celebration, too And I know 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:07.539 we talked about this then but here's the thing 00:20:07.539 --> 00:20:11.900 the the dynamics here the tone quality and the 00:20:11.900 --> 00:20:15.359 tuning is More important than the dynamics your 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.359 trumpets are hanging out on an a as they crescendo 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:23.079 Like it's already a super sharp As they crescendo, 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.880 it's going to be, it's going to get obnoxious, 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:32.960 right? Your low brass, like they're on, if you've 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:34.859 listened to the podcast before, I hate fourth 00:20:34.859 --> 00:20:37.660 position. I hate fourth position on trombone. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:40.579 I hate it, I hate it. And they're sitting there 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:42.759 having to make tuning adjustments on a fourth 00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:45.940 position note, which already is nasty. So don't, 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.420 I think sometimes you can look at a piece on 00:20:48.420 --> 00:20:50.779 paper and go, oh! I've gotta overdo the dynamics. 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:53.680 Because the judges at contests are going to care 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:55.819 so much about it. Well, not if everybody is out 00:20:55.819 --> 00:20:57.279 of tune. No, you've got to sound good. Or out 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:00.519 of tone. Yeah. And I think this is deceptive. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:02.680 You see whole notes. Oh, this is easy. I totally 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:04.319 agree with you. Now it's really not. These four 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:06.559 measures are a little bit interesting, yeah. 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:09.019 Tough. OK. And the timpani is on a D going, dum, 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:11.640 dum, dum, dum, dum. So if your trombones aren't 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:14.859 in tune and then your timpani is, it's just like, 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:19.440 it's so not good. So 68. We're back to a new 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.759 trance now. Kabasa's back in on the on the pulse 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:25.819 and marimba and the djembe and the toms are still 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:29.000 interspersing But now we have a new part in sax 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.960 and horn again But this time it's like this cool 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:34.160 little it gets built up built up built up, but 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:38.039 it's got accents one two three four one and two 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:40.960 and three and four and one two three okay, obviously 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:46.460 we like it so It's fun, and it's not written 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:48.619 too high. This is just going up to B flats. It's 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:52.470 between A and B flat on horn and it's B to C 00:21:52.470 --> 00:21:56.309 on sax. Also this is a great opportunity to teach 00:21:56.309 --> 00:21:58.970 Psyche C on saxophone so they're not flipping. 00:22:00.569 --> 00:22:02.750 And then like flute, oboe, clarinet have these 00:22:02.750 --> 00:22:05.609 little interspersed moments where they go three 00:22:05.609 --> 00:22:07.849 and four and one and it's like a little chromatic 00:22:07.849 --> 00:22:10.529 and they do it over and over. Each time the horn 00:22:10.529 --> 00:22:12.529 comes back in they are supposed to get softer. 00:22:12.930 --> 00:22:16.170 So you build it up one, two, three, four, one 00:22:16.170 --> 00:22:19.009 and two and three and four and one, two, three. 00:22:18.990 --> 00:22:22.269 One and two and three and four and one. And then 00:22:22.269 --> 00:22:24.910 they come down again and it's a new spot. Yeah, 00:22:25.049 --> 00:22:28.140 so now it's in half notes. Yep, and then the 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:34.119 lows start to go. And the whole band at 75 is 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:36.579 doing eighth notes and we're leading up. I really 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:38.059 wish you could have seen Katie's dance moves 00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:41.500 she just did. There was a dance move that accompanied 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:45.039 that. I'm really sorry that you missed that. 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:47.599 That was joyful. Thanks. You're welcome. I had 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:52.640 a lot of fun doing it. OK, at 76, there's a Sforzando 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.779 piano. So it's supposed to kind of sound like. 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.400 drops out of it. It's a bit like, if I'm remembering 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:02.039 correctly, it's kind of a weird chord. Am I remembering 00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:03.920 correctly? It's a unison. It's a unison concert 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.720 D. Yeah, it's a unison concert D, which... Not 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:10.250 weird. Definitely a normal note. Yeah, but I 00:23:10.250 --> 00:23:12.049 mean you got to make sure that everybody's in 00:23:12.049 --> 00:23:15.430 tune on it. We've got this this Sforzando piano 00:23:15.430 --> 00:23:18.170 with a trill and the upper people again leading 00:23:18.170 --> 00:23:22.569 into 77 and then the horns and saxes go back 00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:24.670 to their little halftime groove and this time 00:23:24.670 --> 00:23:27.970 the flutes get to be featured with their little 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:32.039 three and four and one three and four and hold 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:35.660 out from the full band one two three and and 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:39.759 that's how the piece ends and it's so cute and 00:23:40.029 --> 00:23:44.049 There's some accidentals in here from 77 to the 00:23:44.049 --> 00:23:47.390 end that, you know, changes the harmonic structure 00:23:47.390 --> 00:23:49.569 a little bit. You got to make sure that everybody's 00:23:49.569 --> 00:23:52.710 really comfortable with that. Place those accidentals 00:23:52.710 --> 00:23:56.269 correctly. Yeah, and then this part right here, 00:23:56.369 --> 00:23:59.190 because you have some people going half, half, 00:23:59.390 --> 00:24:02.309 you have some people going dotted half, quarter 00:24:02.309 --> 00:24:05.089 dotted half, and then of course you have the 00:24:05.089 --> 00:24:07.349 flutes with their fun thing, making sure that 00:24:07.349 --> 00:24:10.049 you hear every single one of those notes in Yeah, 00:24:10.049 --> 00:24:12.690 right and then everybody ends on the same rhythm 00:24:12.690 --> 00:24:16.630 one two three and with accents including kabasa 00:24:16.630 --> 00:24:19.849 and everything And it's really important here 00:24:19.849 --> 00:24:21.849 that nobody's breathing on bar lines That's like 00:24:21.849 --> 00:24:24.589 the biggest thing that I remember having to teach 00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:27.349 My kids when playing this piece was like I know 00:24:27.349 --> 00:24:29.029 you all want to breathe right there like they 00:24:29.029 --> 00:24:32.250 all want to breathe between 78 and 79 no no no 00:24:32.250 --> 00:24:35.230 no So just marking in their parts ahead of time 00:24:35.230 --> 00:24:37.450 who's gonna breathe where is really important? 00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:40.890 but This piece is so fun if you have a good flute 00:24:40.890 --> 00:24:45.369 section and a good horn section and a big percussion 00:24:45.369 --> 00:24:48.269 section that needs challenge. This is a great 00:24:48.269 --> 00:24:51.410 piece for you. Well we hope that you guys will 00:24:51.410 --> 00:24:53.990 consider programming Serengeti Dreams in the 00:24:53.990 --> 00:24:56.309 future and thank you for joining us on this episode 00:24:56.309 --> 00:24:58.730 of Band BFFs!