Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs. The podcast
where we make your music selection less complicated.
On today's episode, we're going to be talking
about Mighty Mite March by Ted Mesang arranged
by Sean O 'Loughlin. Cheers to starting the conversation.
Okay, this is a great traditional style march.
It's in the key of concert B flat or G minor.
Of course, we add a flat at the trio. It is,
Katie and I were just discussing, I don't think
a march for the faint of heart. Pretty traditional
scoring instrumentation, double clarinet parts,
double trumpet parts, traditional percussion,
so snare bass crash, triangle at the trio, timpani
mallets, but you could get away with doing this
with three or four percussionists easy if you
needed to. We were also noting that it was written
in 1951 so obviously it's been arranged I guess
since then but it's just been around a long time
so yes it's very traditional and by that we mean
really high trumpet one really high trombone
really high flute parts yeah so unless you necessarily
have the right group that is able to play really
high first clarinet if they're not able to play
with their best sounds up high this may not be
the march for you but it could absolutely showcase
a really great low brass section and a trumpet
section. You got to have pretty... Decent first
trumpet for this piece. Yeah, I agree and and
upper woodwinds with some technicality the technique
in the woodwinds I don't feel like it's quite
as demanding and some of the range stuff in the
brass, but still that still yeah Yeah, so as
Laura mentioned also, it's written in cut time
So you would want to approach teaching this piece
though by teaching it in 4 -4 and then just gradually
Bumping the tempo up until you got to the final
tempo, which is marked at 120 and cut time So,
you know, I've played this before, Laura has
too, or one of our bands, and that's how we approached
it. We started very slow to work on the technique,
to make sure we've got pitches, we've got the
style in there before we would just like click
it up a little bit each week. Yeah. And I am
in favor, when you're doing something like that,
like I think it's okay to teach the kids, we...
count before we play anything in my band hall.
And I think it's okay to count in 4 -4, but once
you make that shift to cut time, it's important
to make sure that they understand how to count
it in cut time as well. That skill is really
important. It's not the same as counting it in
a fast 4. Right. And I will usually, if we're
gonna do cut time, still put the metronome where
the kids are tapping in cut time. So it might
be click click, click, click, and this will be
down, up, down, up, but it's still clicking like
one, two, three, four, but they're still tapping
and cut time so that way when it goes faster
and faster, yes. And then again, they're learning
how to put an accent on beat two, big beat two
and that sort of thing, yeah. So the very beginning
starts off with everybody having a similar rhythm,
one, two. or sorry, one, two, one, two, one,
two, one. That's what all the brass have. Trumpet
and flute and high clarinet have one, two, a
one, two, a oney and a two and one. And they
have to tongue on one, which I think that one,
two, a ta, two, a ta. Yeah, so that's really
important for clarity. Yeah, when you're up in
the tempo wise, that is very tricky. And then
the trumpets are mimicking what the high woodwinds
are doing, too, and landing on a high E. So again,
we mentioned you got to have a pretty decent
trumpet section. Then the lows take over the
melody going into measure five, and they are
going to play everything very tongue firm. Very
firm. Yes. In measure eight, they have... a figure
that they have over and over which is one and
two a one in cut time and so I was taught by
my mentors at the time, to put a slash between
the dotted quarter and the eighth note, so that
way it sounds like a dotted eight sixteenth with
a little lift to it. And it's hung the eighth
note really firm. Really firm, yeah, definitely.
And then I think one of the things in this whole
section when you're trying to balance, there
are a ton of instruments on the counter melody
here, not nearly as many on the melody, so that
balance can be really tricky, making sure that
you do balance to the low voice. This is at least
the first time through on this first strain.
And then the whole notes that they land on are
not always in the friendliest of positions. So
the tuning is really critical here. Not just
even the tuning, but also just the follow through.
It's long notes. And they want to go. and they
want to like die away on all the long notes instead
of pushing through so that makes it difficult
yeah so the first two long notes in the trombone
are G and A natural so yes I agree with that
it goes to a C in measure 15 which are all just
the fun positions so again I probably would not
pick this piece for my group unless I knew I
had a really stellar trombone euphonium section
because this comes back over and over and over
as laura mentioned the counter melody part is
very highly scored in this piece and what I would
probably do is the first time around have it
be maybe one on a part in that section and then
the second time around let everybody play and
just tell the lows to kind of beef up their volume
a little bit more. The tuba is not on the melody
either they're on like a little pseudo bass line.
Sometimes they come in and kind of help out but
a lot of the time they're not matching so it's
really truly just trombone, euphonium and tenor
sax. on the melody the whole time. the counter
melody part at measure five the flute oboe clarinet
sax trumpet horn well so many people they're
all playing and a two and a one and two and you
have to make sure that half note goes all the
way the rest and a two and a one off and you
want to make sure you teach that like super duper
duper from the very beginning do not let the
long notes die away use vibrato make sure they
push through and that's exactly what I was about
to say vibrato instruments can really help by
making sure that they're using vibrato and intensifying
that, and that'll kind of even give the energy
it needs. Between 10 and 11, there is no place
for the kids to take a breath, so they need to
put an arrow, a no breath, and push through all
the way to 12 where they can take a breath again.
The trumpet part, as we mentioned, is up high.
It's landing on upper Ds and upper Es often,
upper Fs. So the tuning between these sections
can be very tricky if you don't think about it
early enough on yeah yeah definitely and when
you're going slow it's just it's harder for them
to like keep their little faces set and everything
for that long of a period of time but as it goes
faster it kind of clicks in. Yeah there is just
a lot of the cross tuning where the flute and
oboe and first clarinet are sitting and aligning
that in a horrible range for first trumpet so
that you know like like we said not not for the
faint of not for the faint of heart. For sure
so this same idea keeps going forever and ever
percussion is very traditional the bells part
is mimicking what the low brass are playing so
you know take it or leave it and then on this
it's a traditional go back to the first Part
and then have a second ending as I mentioned
I would probably have less people the first time
and everybody come in the second time and and
I mean That's one of the fun things about marches
I think is there's a million different ways that
you can color them find something that is gonna
showcase Your band and make it sound really special
I'm always a fan of you know highlighting the
melody the first time and then bringing out the
counter melody But you know what it took me a
long time in my career to like be comfortable
with that You know, I was always like in my young
years. I was like I have to play with it it says
on the page and then it was like no I don't because
they don't know you know and that was kind of
born out of my band just like didn't have what
it needed for me to play that march or whatever
now I pick my literature according to my band
which is what I should have done when I was younger.
But yeah, don't be afraid to change it. I feel
like there's more freedom. There's more freedom
in a march to experiment like that. Yes, absolutely.
Okay, so after we get to the second ending at
21, now we're at 22, the timpani has to shift
pitches, so that's just a little side note because
that's something different for timpani. At 22,
we've got the same people on the low brass, but
now the trumpets are playing this new part. I
guess that would be the melody, the trumpet and
sax. Yes, I would consider that. Trumpet, sax,
clarinet too, and oboe are now on the melody
and the low brass are on a little bit of a counter
melody. So this is the second string now, right?
Right. And the trumpets again are going way up
there. They're sitting at the top of the staff
the whole time, the first trumpet and then the
clarinet too is kind of doing a little bit of
a harmony part along with like trumpet too. So
your first trumpets kind of have to lead the
way here and they're double with it there They
are let me see make sure I'm reading. Yeah, they
are just doubled by oboe oboe. That's it So that's
Something to think about yeah, um the there's
like a little obligato -esque type thing from
the flute in the first clarinet They're trilling
up above the staff and then and a two e and a
one and two and one two And they kind of come
in with a little bit of the melody After their
little obligato and they do match with the first
trumpets have Every two measures so they're just
trilling and then they match with the melody
The lows again are playing kind of the background
here, but they're up so high so the trombone
part is up on C's and D's over and over and over
so it's just important again to make sure that
that's like really in tune they're not landing
on a chordal point and being flat gosh that's
so important bassoon is up on D's a lot too so
the good thing is the horn part is pretty fairly
Easy most of the time. Yeah, if you have kind
of a pretty okay horn section like a little articulation
That's not super. Yeah. No, I know. Yeah, but
for the most part this this part is definitely
just challenging for upper trumpet and a little
bit of the technique like Laura mentioned on
like flute and clarinet and then just balancing
just making sure that you know what part you
know you want to be most important making sure
that those the few woodwinds that you have the
flutes and the first clarinets that are on the
little technique like what Katie was calling
the obligato part, making sure that that's really,
really clean. It's really not hard in their fingers.
No, it's just like a little scale. It's just
little scales, but just making sure that that's
really clean. And I think that actually as thick
as some of the other stuff is, that can get lost.
There's a little part at the end too that comes
back with just flute that's kind of the same
thing. So just pay attention to balance. Make
sure it sounds like what you're hearing all the
part. Teach it tongued at first. So that way
the kids won't rush it. Teach everything tongued.
Then you can add in the articulation later. There's
also, I forgot about this snare roll. It just
kinda came back to me. That can tend to be a
little bit overwhelming at like 30 and 31. They
have like a roll underneath the trumpet melody.
Maybe it was just my snare drummer that was loud.
But you wanna keep it contained and not like
a loud buzz roll. And it's doubled in the trill.
Like I feel like it's meant to play off of that.
And just like you don't want the trill covering
everything up. You don't want the snare covering
everything up either. Absolutely. Then at the
end on measure 37 at the first ending we have
ta ta ta ta and then we go back and the second
time around at 38 we're leading into the trio
the euphonium and sax and bassoon part has one
and two and one and they kind of take over Yeah,
and and first clarinet and oboe. So that's the
melody It is a high E flat in the euphonium.
Euphoniums do have the melody So same with bassoon
bassoon is scored on their high E flat so it's
way yeah it's way up there in the range so again
I would not program this this piece unless you
have some like rock solid euphoniums who are
not going to crack I know I've adjudicated this
piece before Pieces like it where the euphonium
part is really important Yes, and then they're
getting up higher and higher and they're just
cracking and cracking or they're really out of
tune And it just kind of takes away. Yeah, so
from the whole thing I think this is tough right
here for a myriad of reasons not not only for
the range that it's in that it's marked soft
and then they are doubling the euphonium melody
is doubling the clarinet and we have the clarinet
and octaves yeah, and then where the euphonium
is is doubling one of the octaves of Claire so
it's like a whoa yeah at least the notes are
relatively stable for clarinet right but man
yeah that's a and and then the harmony part is
coming in the trombone and oboe and alto all
in the horn yes yep but yeah it's it's just kind
of like a little bit less traditional in the
sense of how it's scored. So you just want to
make sure you're featuring the right people.
If you've got some really amazing euphonium and
bassoon kids, then this is the trio for you.
Also, you could choose to say I don't have any
good euphoniums so I'm gonna let my bassoon be
the featured instrument or my euphoniums are
amazing I'm gonna make sure that they're all
playing this and less of the woodwinds are playing
or whatever it is so yeah like Laura mentioned
earlier like don't be afraid to play around with
scoring and you could literally just have one
on a part And that sometimes sounds really awesome
on a trio if it's the right one on the part.
So this part keeps going. Also, the follow through
is so important. We've talked about that a little
bit. But just making sure anytime they have long
notes that they're all doing the same thing.
So for instance, the melody here goes one, one,
one, two, one, and two, and one. And so you would
want to cross out the tied note in 42. so that
everybody could lift and take a breath there.
So, marking out in your parts ahead of time is
super important, that way we're all playing it
the same way. Earlier, Laura and I, when we were
talking about this though, sometimes the melody
tends to get a little bit snippy here, so they'll
go, and two, and one, two, one, two, yup, dumb.
It's marked as a staccato note, but you don't
want it to be choked. Or accented. You want it
to be a literal, Staccato note. Ta. Exactly.
and we made the little hand gesture so yeah but
it's I mean it's for real you have to make sure
that because the whole band has that staccato
note marked you want to make sure it lines up
and then you come back in on an accent on beat
two lift two and really the accent should just
take care of itself because it's coming off of
the lift I would write on that OTR my kids know
OTR means open throat release so that's just
a reminder to keep things ah in the back of your
throat ah when release that note so that it doesn't
sound punchy and or accented which I think both
of those are the tendency. I also wanted to throw
out there something with percussion in this section.
Lots of people do this but if you are especially
if you thin out the scoring and you've got one
on a part or anything like that here having the
snare drummer play piano close to the edge on
the head of the drum if they're if they've got
great control and dexterity that works really
well you can also have them play on the rim.
until you add some other people back in and the
dynamic starts to increase a little bit. I also
love a little woodblock action sometimes. I do
too. You can do whatever you want. That's the
cool thing about a march. We don't talk about
that a lot, but this is, like we said, a very
traditional march. do that for sure, you know,
and it would take away or would help thin it
out even more. She's got a little triangle in
the background, so that would be such a good
idea. Okay, so the trio's continuing on. We're
making sure that we're not dying away on long
notes. Trumpets are resting through all of this,
by the way, which is actually really nice, right?
Because they've had a bit of a chop buster, at
least the first trumpets have. They're literally
the only people resting other than flute and
timpani. So then we're continuing through. We
have the same, yeah, oh and tuba. Oh, and I did
say that before whenever the last time I played
this piece I actually let my tubas Play what
the Berry Saks had I just liked it better. It
sounded more full and less Small with the phonium
as the lead part. It just helped but I mean do
whatever is best for your group Okay, so we're
continuing on and then we end at measure 71 We're
at the dogfight now and everybody's in we're
back on crash cymbals instead of triangle we
would be back on the snare drum if we've done
rim or woodblock and We come out with a bang
the trumpets and the horns have to play one two
three and a one and two and one and it's like
you're either gonna have to teach them how to
single -tongue really fast or double -tongue.
So it's definitely not again for the faint of
heart. And the trumpets right off the ghost.
This is it. That's all that's happening. So there's
no hiding behind muddy articulation. And the
trumpet part is C sharp A and then A C sharp
E A D and I remember whenever we played this
my first trumpets played E fourth instead of
open yeah because then they could just stay in
the same position the whole time yeah so just
kind of think about that that might be a good
idea the second trumpet is not as high it does
go up to a c sharp though um it's just jumping
around a lot the horns go up to a d and then
within two notes they're down to the octave d
lower so and the thing that i think makes i mean
obviously i think the articulation is way important
on this, and it's hard enough letting your trumpet
players sound great when they're double tonguing,
and then you add a conical brass instrument with
the bell facing away from you that is also playing
with them, and that clarity of articulation is
not easy. So if you only have one horn player
that can do it really well, then only have one
horn player do it, because this cannot be muddy
articulation here. Cannot be. And it's gotta
be like a daily rep thing, like every day they
have to play these too much. for you. Like no
matter what. Also I remember whenever we played
this one little trick that helped the kids tongue
quicker on two and a one was to just really not
think about separating the notes at all. Making
sure that the airstream was just the same the
whole time. And so even a small little crescendo
helped with just their their sound coming out.
As you know that just helps all articulation
more. Constant air. Then the band comes back
in with a high C and trombone. one and a two
and one and two and so it's cute but it starts
up real high as the response so your kids have
to be really good at just like coming in off
the cuff on a really high note tubas are on an
upper C as well so the articulation here is really
important ta ta ta ta ta ta and the the last
three notes are accented for the band then we
do it again ta ta ta ta ta ta ta Which is like
exactly the way Katie's thing is what's gonna
happen. Oh, did I slur that? Yeah, yeah, and
maybe I missed it but that is okay. Yeah. No,
I believe you I probably did do it wrong So make
sure yes again that all that articulation lines
up then we do it again With Trumpet and Horn
having the same thing one two two and a one and
two and one da da da da da da da Yeah, yeah,
so it's whoo, and then it's back and forth obviously
like a normal dogfight and two and one a two
and the low people 79 and 80 again with that
little like hairline of space between the dotted
quarter and the eighth note and the low voices
have this kind of repeatedly this dotted quarter
eight yeah so just make that consistent space
every time yes consistently consistently playing
it the same way over and over and between all
the instrument parts is what makes bands sound
clean. Consistency is the name of the game. Yep
that's true. Then they go up and they kind of
keep going at 84 and then the whole band comes
in then the trumpets are in on a high F So this
is the last little strain of the melody. The
trumpets have the lead. And yeah, like I said,
on a high F. And I just, I remember vividly my
trumpets were so tired by this point. And so
like - Trombones are on a high E flat. Uh huh,
like tuning was just a little bit cray cray.
So you wanna make sure that, you know, the students
are able to play all the way to the end with.
good energy and good sounds. And this is the
area I was talking about where it's only the
flutes now. With the obbligato. Yeah. And so
that's it. The rest of the ensemble is marked
fortissimo and I mean you've got the tuba berry
bassoon bass clarinet playing your motor part.
Otherwise everyone is on this. It's like a harmony.
Yeah and the flutes are the only ones doing something
different and it's not written in a high range
for flutes. It's in the staff. Right. It's gonna
be hard to hear them. Yeah, but like the clarinet
part is up high clarinet one The horn parts now
up to like D's over and over like she mentioned
you've trombone is up at high e flat so the tuning
of the chords is something to spend a lot of
time on at the end when they're tired and When
they might not sound their best so make sure
you talk a lot about tuning tendencies You can
play and stop on a chord. We would do that a
lot You know one and two and hold and make sure
that the chords sounded really good together.
One of the things that we would do, I've done
this on a march several times when it has been
like what we're discussing when the tuning and
tonality has been not great, find a chunk of
the march, take an eight measure or 16 bar chunk
of the march and treat it like a chorale and
we would play it as a chorale every day and of
course the harmony sounded horrible when you
first start but when you slow it down and you
force there ears to work and them to listen they
start to understand the harmonic structure and
how everything is supposed to work and then when
you put it back in at performance speed and add
the style they still have that tonality in their
ears so I think You can use that even though
stylistically that's not what you would want
for a march. Harmonically it can really help.
And don't be afraid to rewrite chords. So if
you don't have enough people on the route, then
just change it up. If you have so many people
on the third that it just sounds awful, just
change it. It's okay. They're not gonna know.
They'll just go, wow, this sounds so nice. That
sounds really good. Yeah, so I mean most judges
can't tell if you've changed a trumpet two pitch.
So we keep doing this. and the flutes the clarinet
comes in every once in a while and kind of helps
out the flute but not often the trumpets literally
lead the way to the end with clarinet one we're
up so high on those F's and it's just a traditional
ending we're going higher and higher the trombones
are staying above the staff the whole time same
things as before just making sure we're tonguing
and keeping it the exact same all the way at
the end the last note we always think the word
tone to keep it a long stinger so yeah it's this
is just under about three minutes in length yeah
so I mean like 245 or something like it is it
can be an endurance challenge for your brass
especially so just yeah make sure you got the
right band yeah but it's a great piece so much
fun as we both mentioned we've played it before
it's just a great challenge for any band who's
ready to feature trumpet low brass yep it's it's
a good one so we hope will program Mighty Might
March in the future and thank you for joining
us on this episode of Banned BFFs!