WEBVTT 00:00:06.740 --> 00:00:10.640 Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs. The podcast 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:13.019 where we make your music selection less complicated. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.800 On today's episode, we're going to be discussing 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:19.519 Excitation March by Rob Grice. Cheers to starting 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:24.760 the conversation. This is an adorable little 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.559 grade one march that would be great for a sub 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:30.500 -non -varsity band, a beginner band to introduce 00:00:30.500 --> 00:00:33.640 march style, anything like that. It's in the 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:36.439 key of concert B -flat. It only uses the first 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:38.960 six notes of the concert B -flat scale. It's 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:43.079 in 2 -4, 90 seconds long, very limited percussion, 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.380 no split parts whatsoever. We have snare, bass, 00:00:47.859 --> 00:00:51.280 tambourine, timpani, and bells, but the bells 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.500 doubles the flute part the whole time, so if 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:55.659 you don't have enough players, you can eliminate 00:00:55.659 --> 00:00:58.640 that. And even the timpani part, it does have 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:01.520 some important features, but you could have your 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.640 tambourine player double it on a low tom if you 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.780 have limited percussion. There's lots of options. 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:09.819 Yeah, you could mount the tambourine and they 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:12.120 could play that with a mallet while they also 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.189 play the timpani with another hand. Lots of options, 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:19.810 yes. Excitation is defined as an elevation in 00:01:19.810 --> 00:01:23.849 energy level above an arbitrary baseline energy 00:01:23.849 --> 00:01:26.989 state. In physics, there is a specific technical 00:01:26.989 --> 00:01:30.489 definition for energy level, which is often associated 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:35.430 with an atom being excited to an excited state. 00:01:35.829 --> 00:01:39.010 So it's like a verb. Excitation means you're 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:42.250 getting excited, a new state. So it's just got 00:01:42.250 --> 00:01:44.750 a cute little name. You know, you could teach 00:01:44.750 --> 00:01:47.930 that to your students and put a little science 00:01:47.930 --> 00:01:49.590 into their band day, too. There you go. You know, 00:01:49.750 --> 00:01:52.890 so. As Laura mentioned, it's nice march style, 00:01:53.170 --> 00:01:56.579 just. good old 120 on the metronome starts out 00:01:56.579 --> 00:01:59.079 with everybody that's the upper voices doing 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:04.859 staccato staccato accent ta ta ta ta ta ta ta 00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:07.739 ta ta and then you wouldn't want to breathe between 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:10.639 four and five everyone in the ensemble has a 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:12.300 half note at the end of measure four except for 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:14.879 the percussion so that's a real obvious place 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.159 for younger students to breathe and don't let 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:20.680 them do it. Yep the low voices have just accented 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.240 half notes changing the chords underneath that 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.939 and then as she mentioned the snare drum is a 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:29.759 little bit more active throughout the piece but 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.120 only with just eighth notes and quarters not 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:35.819 even a sixteenth note. So once we get to five 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:40.539 the whole band has a Starts softer and crescendos 00:02:40.539 --> 00:02:44.139 up for four measures to nine And everybody has 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:47.219 the same rhythm So this would be super easy to 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:50.460 just play on a concert F first To get the style 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:53.340 aligned like Laura mentioned March style is some 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:56.639 this a great introduction Everybody has the same 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.979 thing and then at the end we end with a half 00:02:59.979 --> 00:03:03.599 note Before the melody goes on at nine now. I 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.659 just personally I would be cautious with a younger 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:10.360 on about overdoing the stylistic things, like 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:12.259 accents, of course, you want to work on getting 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:14.259 emphasis to the front of the note, but I would 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:16.539 not stress space after the note with a young 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:19.659 ensemble. Just a little more, like I tell my 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:21.560 kids, start the note with a capital letter, right? 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:23.280 We just want it to have a little more emphasis 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.080 at the front. And even on the staccatos, if you 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.800 were concerned about having the students really 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:31.939 make them crispy and put space in them, you can 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:33.560 actually just tell them, hey, why don't we treat 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:36.560 the staccatos as softer than the accents. notes 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.939 around them. Just do what you feel like is going 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:40.900 to be best for the group of students that you 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:42.879 have in front of you, but I would be cautious 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:46.020 about introducing too much space in their sound 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:49.259 if it's a really young band. Agreed. So at nine 00:03:49.259 --> 00:03:54.379 the melody is in flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:58.500 and everybody is marked mezzo forte. Of course 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:00.539 you want to make sure you go in ahead of time 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:03.340 into their parts and rewrite their dynamic marking 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:05.969 so that way the other people are or not on the 00:04:05.969 --> 00:04:08.349 melody will come down even more. This is great 00:04:08.349 --> 00:04:13.150 introduction to melody, harmony, bassline, so 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.270 that all the kids can understand the function 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:18.370 of their part and when it shifts, they understand, 00:04:18.689 --> 00:04:21.129 oh, that's what I'm gonna do. And so that way 00:04:21.129 --> 00:04:23.569 they know what a traditional march is written 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:28.110 like. Again, there's little percussion, but you 00:04:28.110 --> 00:04:30.370 do want to make sure they don't overbalance the 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:33.129 band in any way. If you were to program this 00:04:33.129 --> 00:04:36.290 and you had more percussion than only the four 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:38.790 parts that are written, then it might be, or 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:41.490 five parts, it might be a good idea not to double 00:04:41.490 --> 00:04:45.769 or to double like snares off on a snare. But 00:04:45.769 --> 00:04:48.339 you wouldn't want them to... you know, overpower 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:51.339 the band. For sure. I love that this is written 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:53.240 like a real traditional march, so it gives you 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.420 an opportunity to teach about march form, like 00:04:55.420 --> 00:04:58.519 a first strain. So measure nine, which is repeated, 00:04:58.579 --> 00:05:01.000 this would be the first strain. You can even, 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:03.160 if your group is mature enough to handle it, 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:05.259 you know, work on some, okay, the first time 00:05:05.259 --> 00:05:07.439 at measure nine, we're gonna feature this group 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:09.680 of instruments. We want the woodwinds to be more 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.100 present. The second time at nine, we want the 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:14.779 trumpets to come out and take the lead. So just 00:05:14.779 --> 00:05:17.259 giving them a different listening. assignments 00:05:17.259 --> 00:05:20.560 I think is a great way to train them young before 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:22.660 you get to music that's more overly complicated. 00:05:22.980 --> 00:05:26.579 Totally. Also it would be worth noting that you 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:28.879 want to try to train them to do eight measure 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.220 phrases since it's in two -four time. If for 00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:34.379 some reason they could not handle that then just 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:36.899 give them a breathing assignment so that that 00:05:36.899 --> 00:05:39.360 way they know where they would be allowed to 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:41.339 take a breath and that way they don't get into 00:05:41.339 --> 00:05:43.019 the four measures take a breath four measures 00:05:43.019 --> 00:05:46.730 take a breath deal that most young love to do. 00:05:46.750 --> 00:05:49.670 Yes. The articulation at nine on the first strain 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:52.910 is not marked as accent or staccato, so now we're 00:05:52.910 --> 00:05:56.709 just playing normal articulation. There's a couple 00:05:56.709 --> 00:05:59.569 slurs in there which is nice. Right before the 00:05:59.569 --> 00:06:02.209 end of the phrase there are staccato notes, so 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:13.310 it's long and connected like a scale. So the 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:18.529 end, sorry I sang the note but ta ta ta it does 00:06:18.529 --> 00:06:20.829 change style just a tad at the end of the phrase 00:06:20.829 --> 00:06:23.949 so make sure that that would be coming out of 00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:27.769 the mix for a performance and that way they're 00:06:27.769 --> 00:06:30.350 getting used to that differentiation in the style. 00:06:30.769 --> 00:06:34.129 At 17 dynamically it changes it comes up a notch 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:38.550 we do start to see a little bit more of the staccato 00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:41.670 now we have the eighth notes coming in in the 00:06:41.670 --> 00:06:46.040 melody still very very very very simple at the 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:48.959 end of this phrase we have similarly to the end 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.639 of the phrase before and we have the staccato 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:54.199 notes but we have some accented quarter notes 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:58.689 leading into it ta ta ta ta ta ta at the very 00:06:58.689 --> 00:07:01.670 end. So I love because this rhythm is there's 00:07:01.670 --> 00:07:04.050 basically two rhythms going on in the ensemble. 00:07:04.449 --> 00:07:06.850 I like that that like Katie mentioned before 00:07:06.850 --> 00:07:08.889 that it's a great opportunity for you to take 00:07:08.889 --> 00:07:11.129 the notes away and just focus on style and make 00:07:11.129 --> 00:07:13.829 sure that that's consistent throughout the young 00:07:13.829 --> 00:07:16.189 ensemble. And then at 25 we start our second 00:07:16.189 --> 00:07:18.750 string. Yep. And again, like Laura mentioned, 00:07:18.750 --> 00:07:21.310 the good thing is you can mess around with whatever 00:07:21.310 --> 00:07:24.509 you want to do on each string for this next one. 00:07:24.509 --> 00:07:27.089 Same thing. So now the whole band has gone up 00:07:27.089 --> 00:07:30.769 to fortissimo and everybody has a very block 00:07:30.769 --> 00:07:35.370 rhythm and style it's accent two staccatos accent 00:07:35.370 --> 00:07:39.889 accent accent so one two and one two one then 00:07:39.889 --> 00:07:45.069 it's percussion one two and one two one so just 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:47.689 making sure that everybody in the whole ensemble 00:07:47.689 --> 00:07:53.470 is agreeing on accents is so critical because 00:07:53.470 --> 00:07:57.129 like I know in our young band we like to make 00:07:57.129 --> 00:07:59.589 accents too short yeah and we talk about that 00:07:59.589 --> 00:08:02.529 a ton like hey guys we've got to all match just 00:08:02.529 --> 00:08:05.370 this past week we were talking about accents 00:08:05.370 --> 00:08:07.750 in our music and our bassoon player was really 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:10.850 good at doing them so we had everybody else all 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:13.949 the low brass hold off and listen to him play 00:08:13.949 --> 00:08:17.110 yeah and then we got a chance to hear good style 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:19.209 and then it was like he was the model and we 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:21.449 were all trying to match him so you could do 00:08:21.449 --> 00:08:24.089 that to pick your best kid that's doing the best 00:08:24.089 --> 00:08:27.379 accent and make everybody march that. I like 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:29.980 this in the snare part too. While the snare part 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:31.740 is a little bit different than what's happening 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:35.639 in the winds here, the accents line up with the 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.360 accents in the wind part, so making sure that 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.039 your snare player actually does that, and more 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:44.740 importantly, makes the unaccented notes softer 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:47.519 and low. And that they don't rush, because the 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:52.639 rhythm is easier. At 33, we continue the same 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.860 thing with the percussion. It's just back and 00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:59.700 forth. And then at 37, we have a four measure 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:01.879 phrase now. It's kind of the same thing, but 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:05.759 at the end. One, two, and one, two, one, two, 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:08.500 one, don't breathe. Then the full band at 41 00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:13.769 has one, two percussion. One, two, percussion. 00:09:13.889 --> 00:09:16.230 This is where timpani is a little more important. 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:18.309 This is the section we were referencing early 00:09:18.309 --> 00:09:21.809 on. Yep. And then just one percussion, one percussion, 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:25.909 one, two, one, two. Then 49, we're back. So this 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:28.169 is kind of like, I don't know, would this be 00:09:28.169 --> 00:09:29.909 the dog fight section? Yeah, I think so too. 00:09:29.909 --> 00:09:31.450 That's exactly how I would think about it. And 00:09:31.450 --> 00:09:34.190 in a typical dog fight, it's more like woodwinds 00:09:34.190 --> 00:09:37.029 versus grass. So this time it's band versus percussion. 00:09:37.049 --> 00:09:40.870 Yes. But I mean, still same deal. Same concept. 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:44.129 and they're playing the same note. It's a concert 00:09:44.129 --> 00:09:47.090 B -flat, which is awesome because then the band 00:09:47.090 --> 00:09:51.350 can make sure I'm hitting the right note. It's 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:54.570 in unison, and that's a good teaching tool too. 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:58.269 Can I hit, as a brass player, the same note with 00:09:58.269 --> 00:10:00.850 the same consistent tonguing over and over? Yes, 00:10:01.129 --> 00:10:05.080 absolutely. completed the dog fight and at 49 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:06.980 we're back to the melody and the upper people 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:10.159 again. The lower people are being softer as they 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.159 have the bass line. This is just like what we 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:15.700 had earlier. Now there are a couple of places 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:18.500 in this. I just want to point out where the horns 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:23.440 go pretty low. They go to an A below the staff. 00:10:24.970 --> 00:10:28.389 They do have the horns get up to an A in the 00:10:28.389 --> 00:10:31.429 staff as well, so I would just treat that like 00:10:31.429 --> 00:10:33.769 play that by ear. If your horn players can sound 00:10:33.769 --> 00:10:36.649 really good in that low register or in the upper 00:10:36.649 --> 00:10:39.809 register, you may need to modify that octave 00:10:39.809 --> 00:10:43.210 for your horn players depending on what ability 00:10:43.210 --> 00:10:45.169 level of band you're playing. I do like though 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:47.009 that it doesn't have the French horn going up 00:10:47.009 --> 00:10:53.169 real high. I do too. Then we get to 57 and it's 00:10:53.169 --> 00:10:57.169 now the low have chords again and the uppers 00:10:57.169 --> 00:11:00.490 trumpet flute oboe clarinet they have the melody 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:04.549 and it's back to non accented so strong just 00:11:04.549 --> 00:11:09.570 regular tonguing ta ta ta short short ta ta don't 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:15.570 breathe ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta. So it's 00:11:15.570 --> 00:11:17.590 again, like Laura said, it's the same rhythms, 00:11:17.730 --> 00:11:20.330 just kind of in different ways. And then everybody 00:11:20.330 --> 00:11:22.889 at the end has the same last four measures, kind 00:11:22.889 --> 00:11:25.509 of like the very beginning, like the intro. That's 00:11:25.509 --> 00:11:28.090 the conclusion, accent, scato scato, accent, 00:11:28.370 --> 00:11:31.090 accent, accent, accent, accent. Those are the 00:11:31.090 --> 00:11:32.909 only eighth notes that are accented, I believe, 00:11:33.090 --> 00:11:35.480 in the whole piece. Yep we didn't even have that 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:37.320 at the beginning. So the second to last measure 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:40.720 has accented eighth notes for the band. But very 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.639 simple. It is very simple. This ending is probably 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:45.679 the most challenging thing for the brass because 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.559 for some of the brass it has a pretty big skip. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:53.019 Yeah it's got a skip of a fifth. So just making 00:11:53.019 --> 00:11:56.419 sure that your brass can feel that and that that's 00:11:56.419 --> 00:11:59.159 really secure. But this is a it's so simple. 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.879 Yeah. It's really easy but it's a great teaching 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:04.110 tool. A great teaching piece for sure. your kids 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:06.289 sound really good. Yeah and then they go, oh 00:12:06.289 --> 00:12:09.029 my first March was successful, I get it. Like 00:12:09.029 --> 00:12:10.529 then when you give them a different March they 00:12:10.529 --> 00:12:12.750 go, oh I remember it's just like what it was 00:12:12.750 --> 00:12:14.950 in the other piece. That's right. Yep. Alright 00:12:14.950 --> 00:12:18.169 well we hope you will consider programming Excitation 00:12:18.169 --> 00:12:20.549 March in the future and thank you for joining 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:24.029 us on this episode of Band BFFs.