WEBVTT 00:00:06.779 --> 00:00:10.800 Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs. The podcast 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.140 where we make your music selection less complicated. 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:15.980 On today's episode, we're going to be discussing 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:19.780 6-Note Santa arranged by Joseph Compello. 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:24.859 Cheers to starting the conversation. This adorable 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.420 little piece would be wonderful for a beginner 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:32.340 band winter concert or a sub non -varsity It 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:35.119 is just over a minute long about a minute and 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:36.880 a half in length. It's in the key of concert 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:42.179 e -flat for four time It has no split parts anywhere 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:46.899 lots of block unison. Yeah rhythm and Melody 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:50.619 lots of good percussion too, but not Not too 00:00:50.619 --> 00:00:53.500 much. There's mallet and timpani, snare bass, 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.560 crash cymbal. You can double what you need to 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.740 double leave. The timpani part is really minimal. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.700 But plenty of percussion to keep your percussion 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:07.900 section entertained. Laura and I were just talking 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:10.219 about how, you know, it's getting to that time 00:01:10.219 --> 00:01:12.359 of year for us where we're thinking ahead about 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.200 what we're going to play for our winter concerts. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.620 And of course that would include beginner band 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:21.640 for at least our two programs. So this is a wonderful 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:24.480 piece that I personally played with my beginner 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.019 band last year for the first time and my kids 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:29.239 enjoyed it a lot and we were very successful 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.540 quickly because again, it just uses those first 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:35.900 six notes of the B flat scale. So the kids all 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:38.680 felt really excited to do that and it wasn't 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.239 something super hard to put together. And of 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:43.799 course it's got jolly old St. Nicholas in there 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:45.840 and so all the parents love it too because that 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.200 just makes it more fun. I think the range of 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.140 this for all instruments like I said Katie said 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.579 six notes is very very reasonable with the possible 00:01:53.579 --> 00:01:56.299 exception of horn. Horn does go up to third space 00:01:56.299 --> 00:02:00.659 C so you just need to you know consider you may 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:03.040 need to modify that if your horns are not ready 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.950 for that. and speaking from experience all of 00:02:06.950 --> 00:02:09.490 my horns were ready to play the C except one 00:02:09.490 --> 00:02:12.550 so what I did for their part is we just didn't 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:15.270 play that one note so for instance at the very 00:02:15.270 --> 00:02:17.710 beginning and this happens again at the end the 00:02:17.710 --> 00:02:23.330 horns go ta ta ta ta ta ta ta then they go up 00:02:23.330 --> 00:02:26.449 to the C so I just had that one student not play 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:31.189 the C so they just did nothing A F, and so they 00:02:31.189 --> 00:02:33.610 just left the one note out. I'd rather them do 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:35.729 that than try to force it out before they're 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:38.530 prepared to do that. So do whatever you need 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:40.689 to do to make sure the kids feel successful on 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:43.729 their first winter concert. Definitely. So it 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:46.310 starts out with a jolly tempo, that's literally 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:50.129 what it says, 112 to like 132. So you could take 00:02:50.129 --> 00:02:52.550 it slower, you could go a little quicker to make 00:02:52.550 --> 00:02:54.729 it more exciting if your kids get it up to that 00:02:54.729 --> 00:02:58.069 speed. The whole band starts out with those quarter 00:02:58.069 --> 00:03:01.080 notes. just a little cute little introduction 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:05.599 that I just sang for you. Then we have one, three, 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:10.099 one, and teach that all along. Absolutely. It 00:03:10.099 --> 00:03:13.819 needs to touch the rest. I drew tenutos on all 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:17.069 of those notes. in the kids' parts before passing 00:03:17.069 --> 00:03:19.610 them out to make sure that they played them full 00:03:19.610 --> 00:03:21.750 value and didn't try to make them staccato or 00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:24.949 too short. In fact, I don't believe there are 00:03:24.949 --> 00:03:27.150 any staccatos written in the whole piece. So 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:29.830 it's just all long and connected. That's what 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:31.889 we should be teaching kids at the beginning of 00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:33.750 the year. That's exactly right. So at measure 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:37.370 five, the lows get a little intro. One, rest, 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:40.830 rest. Four, one, then they get softer. Four, 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:43.030 seven is where the melody comes in with the jolly 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:46.210 old St. Nicholas. and all the lows should come 00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:49.050 down in volume. Now I really like that even though 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:52.050 this is really simple rhythmically, it's really 00:03:52.050 --> 00:03:54.830 simple note wise. There are still some things 00:03:54.830 --> 00:03:58.270 that are going to be a challenge maybe for some 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:00.650 of your students. That counting, the playing 00:04:00.650 --> 00:04:02.750 on one and four, resting on two and three is 00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:05.229 not gonna be easy for everybody. It also gives 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:07.530 you an opportunity to talk about note length, 00:04:07.729 --> 00:04:09.750 like Katie referenced earlier on that arpeggio, 00:04:09.770 --> 00:04:11.569 making sure that all of those notes touch the 00:04:11.569 --> 00:04:14.300 rest. Here, their tendency is. going to be to 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:18.319 go short, rest, rest, long, short, rest, rest, 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.540 long, short. So teaching them that we need to 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:25.500 have the same length exactly. I also like that 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:28.259 the percussion is the opposite of the low brass. 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:31.720 So you have the low brass, one, cha, cha, cha, 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:34.980 four, one, cha, cha, cha. That I think is kind 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:37.279 of cool, but can also be a little bit of a challenge. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:39.279 Throw them off if they're not able to count it. 00:04:39.660 --> 00:04:42.829 Yeah, for sure. So at seven the trumpet, flute, 00:04:43.050 --> 00:04:46.610 oboe, clarinet, and saxophone come in with the 00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:51.449 melody. And then they have a dotted half note 00:04:51.449 --> 00:04:54.730 at the end. This is a perfect opportunity to 00:04:54.730 --> 00:04:57.790 teach what a phrase is because they're going 00:04:57.790 --> 00:04:59.829 to play a four measure phrase. They're not going 00:04:59.829 --> 00:05:04.139 to breathe. in the middle. Jolly old St. Nicholas 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:06.800 won't you come bring your ear this way bring 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:09.920 your ear this way I don't know the words sorry 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.569 but Talk about that a lot with my beginners and 00:05:13.569 --> 00:05:16.430 I'm sure a lot of you guys do too Teaching them 00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:20.050 what a phrase is early on is so critical. So 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:22.290 that way they they understand You know why we 00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:25.829 don't play Mary had a little lamb because that's 00:05:25.829 --> 00:05:28.209 not how you sing it either So that's not how 00:05:28.209 --> 00:05:30.370 you would play it on your instrument. So just 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:31.990 works better when there's lyrics for the song 00:05:31.990 --> 00:05:35.290 like this one So they have a dotted half note 00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:39.050 at the end where the lows have one, two, three, 00:05:39.529 --> 00:05:42.550 and so we want to make sure all the sound cuts 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:47.290 off on before at exactly the same time. So that's 00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:49.490 another reason why what Laura just said is so 00:05:49.490 --> 00:05:51.949 important. The last quarter note for the low 00:05:51.949 --> 00:05:54.529 people has to go to the rest, and the dotted 00:05:54.529 --> 00:05:56.910 half note has to be off right on the fourth foot 00:05:56.910 --> 00:05:59.029 tap. And that's where they're going to take their 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:01.720 breath. And then percussion keeps going underneath 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:03.319 though. I do like that it's written that way. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:07.500 I mean, this is very likely your beginner band's 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:11.420 first time to play a full band piece. So we have 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:13.620 to start introducing some of those ensemble skills, 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:17.699 right? 100%. I love that he wrote that as a dotted 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:20.300 half note instead of a whole note. Right. Where 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:22.779 you know you would take a breath there anyway, 00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:26.439 but I like the visual of this. It's a clear place 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:28.910 for them to take a breath. Yep, I agree. And 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:31.269 of course the next phrase is literally the same 00:06:31.269 --> 00:06:33.569 thing with a little bit of a cooler harmony coming 00:06:33.569 --> 00:06:38.810 out of the French horn section. And then at 15, 00:06:39.790 --> 00:06:43.050 we're still doing the exact same thing. They're 00:06:43.050 --> 00:06:44.990 literally playing the same form as your phrase. 00:06:45.149 --> 00:06:47.970 And then same thing again going into 23. Same 00:06:47.970 --> 00:06:50.850 things matter. Making sure we're off on beat 00:06:50.850 --> 00:06:54.730 four. At 23 there's a little drum break. Super 00:06:54.730 --> 00:06:57.930 cute our percussion beginner class is usually 00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:01.730 pretty large You know 10 to 12 students usually 00:07:01.730 --> 00:07:05.689 so we typically will put a few kids on the mallet 00:07:05.689 --> 00:07:08.930 part So that way they're all getting Exposed 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:11.269 to reading music and learning how to do that 00:07:11.269 --> 00:07:13.709 and not just the rhythms that you know tend to 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:16.350 take up a lot of time in the beginner first semester 00:07:16.350 --> 00:07:19.610 But there's also a crash cymbal part and it might 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:22.310 be fun to make that be like double the jingle 00:07:22.310 --> 00:07:25.459 bells part you know just to put a little Christmas 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:27.980 wear on there so that's that's a fun choice that 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:31.019 you could choose to do too. So 23 like I said 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:34.000 is a percussion break for three measures and 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.600 then we switch parts. So when we come into 27, 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:42.939 there is like a pickup measure rest. 2, 3, 4, 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:46.240 1. I think that's really cute. But I can imagine 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.480 that that's challenging making sure everybody 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:50.959 comes in right on time. Now we flipped it at 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:54.839 27. The low brass and low reeds get the melody 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.959 which, okay, let's be honest. In a beginner band, 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:01.040 winter piece, that doesn't happen very often. 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:04.180 That's really cool that those kids get an opportunity. 00:08:04.329 --> 00:08:07.350 play the melody yeah so the upper voices and 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:09.889 middle voices are doing that accompaniment the 00:08:09.889 --> 00:08:13.730 lows were doing before one rest rest four one 00:08:13.730 --> 00:08:16.529 rest rest and now the low voices get a chance 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:19.170 to show off I love this yeah that's really cool 00:08:19.170 --> 00:08:21.870 and it's a good opportunity to teach the kids 00:08:21.870 --> 00:08:25.269 about balance because like Laura just said this 00:08:25.269 --> 00:08:27.990 is their first opportunity to play as a full 00:08:27.990 --> 00:08:32.289 performing group And so in their parts, I mark 00:08:32.289 --> 00:08:36.070 all the upper people down to like mezzo piano, 00:08:36.769 --> 00:08:39.690 because it's, when you think about a typical 00:08:39.690 --> 00:08:41.490 beginner band, you're gonna have an arm, you're 00:08:41.490 --> 00:08:44.129 gonna have clarinet and trumpet. Four rows of 00:08:44.129 --> 00:08:47.269 the quote unquote high people and maybe one row 00:08:47.269 --> 00:08:49.409 or one and a half rows of the quote unquote low 00:08:49.409 --> 00:08:53.250 people. So. we have to make sure that all those 00:08:53.250 --> 00:08:57.230 other parts balance to the melody. It's not hard 00:08:57.230 --> 00:08:59.169 when the upper people have the melody, but now 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:01.730 the lows have the melody. And isn't that just 00:09:01.730 --> 00:09:03.690 like in a band setting when you're in seventh 00:09:03.690 --> 00:09:05.210 and eighth grade? Of course it is. That's right. 00:09:05.309 --> 00:09:07.789 So we're teaching them those skills early on 00:09:07.789 --> 00:09:10.309 so that, and then stop them too. Like when you're 00:09:10.309 --> 00:09:12.509 playing it, be like, okay, we just played that 00:09:12.509 --> 00:09:14.629 one time through. Flutes, could you hear the 00:09:14.629 --> 00:09:17.970 two buzz? No. okay well then let's try it again 00:09:17.970 --> 00:09:20.830 you know and give them those those like applicable 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:24.029 skills so that they can listen for the melody 00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:25.809 section that's what they're going to have to 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:29.570 do so much in the future this continues on uh 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:32.269 until measure 35 so the lows have the melody 00:09:32.269 --> 00:09:35.409 that whole time and the uppers still cutting 00:09:35.409 --> 00:09:37.610 off on beat four all together like we talked 00:09:37.610 --> 00:09:42.899 about before Then 35 all the way until 43 is 00:09:42.899 --> 00:09:45.000 still the lows having the melody But now the 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.519 uppers have a little their part is a little yeah 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.039 It's a little a little more harmony mixed in 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:52.879 right? Yep, and then at 43 we literally have 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.539 the conclusion. It's just like the introduction 00:09:55.539 --> 00:10:00.019 Literally exactly the same thing so it ends just 00:10:00.019 --> 00:10:04.000 super cute. It's just a crowd pleaser because 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.980 everybody gets to be special and important. Everybody 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:10.860 gets something fun. The rhythms are ridiculously 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:15.340 easy. It's just quarter notes in the winds or 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:17.279 dotted half notes. And no style markings to give 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:20.580 future young players like just... It's a perfect 00:10:20.580 --> 00:10:24.200 teaching piece for a winter concert where the 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:27.179 kids can just shine and feel really successful 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:30.019 and happy and that's what you want on your beginner 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:32.399 concert. That's exactly right. Well we hope you 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.940 guys will consider programming Six Notes Santa 00:10:34.940 --> 00:10:37.779 in the future for maybe a beginner winter concert 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:40.799 or sub -non -varsity groups and thank you for 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.399 joining us on this episode of Band BFFs!