WEBVTT 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:10.640 Welcome to our podcast. Band BFFs. The podcast 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.800 where we make your music selection less complicated. 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:15.220 On today's episode, we are going to be doing 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:18.769 a cool little deviation from what we normally 00:00:18.769 --> 00:00:21.769 do and we are now going to be reviewing a couple 00:00:21.769 --> 00:00:25.469 of what we consider to be great beginner band 00:00:25.469 --> 00:00:29.230 spring concert pieces or possibly like a sub 00:00:29.230 --> 00:00:32.049 -non -varsity or non -varsity things that you 00:00:32.049 --> 00:00:34.170 can do in the spring. I've had a couple of band 00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:36.990 directors reach out recently and ask for some 00:00:36.990 --> 00:00:40.369 ideas and so we're going to give you a couple 00:00:40.369 --> 00:00:42.469 of ideas on this episode today that you could 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:45.890 use either for spring concert music or even fall 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:48.679 concert music. for next year that are just really 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:52.060 good kid pieces that they really enjoy. So today 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:55.380 we're going to be discussing Tambora by William 00:00:55.380 --> 00:01:01.679 Owens and Alpha Squadron by Greg Hillis. Cheers 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:06.689 to starting the conversation. Okay, Tambora. 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:10.489 This is a favorite of mine to do with beginners 00:01:10.489 --> 00:01:14.010 at the spring concert. It's in the key of concert 00:01:14.010 --> 00:01:16.530 B flat. It's about a minute and a half long, 00:01:16.549 --> 00:01:19.209 so that's perfect. It does not have split clarinet 00:01:19.209 --> 00:01:22.450 or trumpet parts. It has a ton of percussion. 00:01:22.930 --> 00:01:25.269 A ton of percussion. And all the percussion is 00:01:25.269 --> 00:01:28.409 really important to add to the musical effect. 00:01:29.450 --> 00:01:34.340 So toms, snare bass, bells. tambourine, wind 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:35.859 chimes, vibra slap, crash cymbals, sway bells, 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:39.340 I mean it's got a ton of stuff. So you need several 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:41.379 percussionists which is why I think it's appropriate 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:43.480 for a beginning band where you usually have a 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:48.879 little more. It starts in a slower tempo, it's 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:53.159 marked ponderous, and then it has a tempo change 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:55.719 and then it will stay at the fast tempo once 00:01:55.719 --> 00:02:00.659 we kind of get going. So this piece starts off, 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.219 like Laura said, slow and ponderous, but it does 00:02:03.219 --> 00:02:06.359 have accents marked at the very beginning, like 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:10.319 a strong entrance, forceful entrance. One, two, 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:15.800 and three, low, slow, one. Then it's not accented. 00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:19.020 So then you teach students the difference between 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:21.560 an accented note and a non -accented note. So 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:23.620 they're gonna play with a little bit more lyrical 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:27.020 style type tonguing. for the rest of the slow 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:31.379 part. Typical melody people have the melody like 00:02:31.379 --> 00:02:35.060 flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet. But the low voices, 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:37.620 their response is really important. It requires 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:41.539 super firm articulation and they're moving. Lots 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:44.759 of little mini scales. One, two, and three, four, 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.120 one, two, three, four. So lots of little mini 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:49.580 scales. And then that's it. It's like a four 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:52.879 measure slow. And then I like, we will add, if 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.060 the band can take it, we'll add a little, a ritardando 00:02:56.060 --> 00:03:00.789 in that measure for one, two, and three four 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:03.449 boom and then fast tempo when you get to measure 00:03:03.449 --> 00:03:06.330 five this is fierce and it is a percussion break 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:08.270 this is something it's a two measure percussion 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:10.449 break the winds come in at measure seven you 00:03:10.449 --> 00:03:13.650 will have to practice that tempo transition ad 00:03:13.650 --> 00:03:16.250 nauseum until the percussion feel really really 00:03:16.250 --> 00:03:17.830 comfortable with what that new tempo is going 00:03:17.830 --> 00:03:20.469 to be one and three and and one two and three 00:03:20.469 --> 00:03:23.949 and four it's really fast yeah and it's active 00:03:23.949 --> 00:03:27.210 lots of percussion parts going on yep and then 00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:29.469 it measures Seven we come in with the full melody 00:03:29.469 --> 00:03:31.129 and it's clarinet and trumpet with the melody 00:03:31.129 --> 00:03:33.610 the percussion also still have pretty active 00:03:33.610 --> 00:03:37.289 parts But they now need to layer down. Yes, so 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:40.330 that they're not just like covering up the band 00:03:40.330 --> 00:03:44.090 then the the band comes in and like we Willie 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:46.370 Owens did a great job of marking in that the 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:48.870 lows are mezzo forte and the melody is forte 00:03:48.870 --> 00:03:51.090 so that's good it's already kind of done for 00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:53.629 you clarinet and trumpet have the melody and 00:03:53.629 --> 00:03:56.990 again the range is very doable you know less 00:03:56.990 --> 00:04:00.090 than an octave range so that's pretty nice for 00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:01.610 a beginner band where they're not having to go 00:04:01.610 --> 00:04:04.330 up super duper high low voices are still moving 00:04:04.330 --> 00:04:06.789 around so it's fast but you know but they're 00:04:06.789 --> 00:04:09.120 still they're not like staying on One note, rest, 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:11.840 two, and three, four. So they're having to move, 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:13.780 move their fingers, move their tongue. I like 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:17.860 that it's fun and a little more meat for the 00:04:17.860 --> 00:04:21.639 low voices too. That's true. Then the flutes 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.779 come in with the pickup and they add in on the 00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:25.899 melody with clarinet and trumpet, along with 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:30.560 oboe. And we now get to have these little accents 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.740 together as a full band at 13. One, two, and 00:04:33.740 --> 00:04:36.459 three, four, and one, two, three, four, and lows 00:04:36.459 --> 00:04:39.560 have accents. So it's fun because the kids get 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:43.420 to do different articulations, which when you're 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:44.879 at the beginning of the year, you're really just 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:46.420 like, oh gosh, let's just play the right notes 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:49.139 and rhythms. Full body of sound. Don't change 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:50.759 anything. Don't change anything. Now you get 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:52.399 to teach them about all this cool stuff that 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.220 they're going to get to see in seventh and eighth 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:58.600 grade. Then at 15, we go to the lows having the 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.649 melody. and the uppers have it marked at mezzo 00:05:02.649 --> 00:05:04.610 forte but they may want to play even softer. 00:05:04.889 --> 00:05:07.110 Well and I love this at 15 the flute and the 00:05:07.110 --> 00:05:10.410 oboe have a counter melody along with the bells 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:13.430 and it's really cool. It's the lows moment and 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:15.370 they need to play the melody that needs to be 00:05:15.370 --> 00:05:18.850 the lead voice but after that I love the flute 00:05:18.850 --> 00:05:21.269 oboe and bell part being the next one layered 00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:23.370 in the texture. It's a really cool counter melody. 00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:26.670 Yeah and they are not marked mezzo forte but 00:05:26.670 --> 00:05:29.040 everybody else in the band is marked. Right. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:31.860 Yep. And then you have this third part going 00:05:31.860 --> 00:05:34.720 on in mid -voices like clarinet, horn, and alto, 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:38.660 tenor sax, and they are equally, like it's still 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:41.660 a really important part, rest, two, four, one, 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:44.259 and three, and so their part is still really 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:47.040 important too. But I think it's just written 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:48.980 so well, it's written layered really, really 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:50.600 well, but you'll have to spend time balancing 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:52.439 it and making sure that the kids understand their 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:53.899 priorities. And that the lows get to be the important 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:56.819 part. That's right. Then the whole band at 21 00:05:56.819 --> 00:06:00.279 comes down to piano dynamics we have this cool 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:02.819 little bell part where it's like an octaves bing 00:06:02.819 --> 00:06:05.399 dong ding dong and the triangles play on two 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:08.600 and four along with the low brass and then the 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.519 flute clarinet sax get to do this one two and 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.509 three four and one So it's like it's kind of 00:06:14.509 --> 00:06:17.170 thinned out and got real quiet then we add in 00:06:17.170 --> 00:06:19.589 the horns on the same thing with tenor sax and 00:06:19.589 --> 00:06:22.629 then we crescendo up into 24. And this is a part 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.230 you will have to spend time on every single time 00:06:25.230 --> 00:06:27.470 I play this piece. We have to work on some of 00:06:27.470 --> 00:06:29.629 the people go one and two three and four and 00:06:29.629 --> 00:06:31.769 some of the people respond one two and three 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:33.949 and their tendency is gonna be to clip the eighth 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:40.889 note. Don't let that happen make them like we 00:06:40.889 --> 00:06:43.810 talk about it's It's whole note air, even though 00:06:43.810 --> 00:06:46.110 your tongue is interjecting every once in a while. 00:06:46.110 --> 00:06:49.389 Yep, yep. Building up to 24, the full band has 00:06:49.389 --> 00:06:52.589 one, two, three, and then percussion gets moment. 00:06:52.949 --> 00:06:56.110 And then this part's so fun at 25, they get to 00:06:56.110 --> 00:06:59.810 do some foot stomps and some hand clapping. So 00:06:59.810 --> 00:07:02.389 the kids love it. You could do whatever you want. 00:07:02.470 --> 00:07:04.170 If you were playing this on a spring concert, 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:07.129 you could literally have like the back row stand 00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:10.230 up and clap. you know, only or like the front 00:07:10.230 --> 00:07:12.470 row, you know, you could do so many things with 00:07:12.470 --> 00:07:15.910 this. And but you do have to practice this because 00:07:15.910 --> 00:07:18.550 their foot stomps like hand claps are not really 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:20.449 tough to be in time. They're going to be so slow. 00:07:20.449 --> 00:07:22.889 I know. Oh, my gosh. The kids think they need 00:07:22.889 --> 00:07:25.209 to lift their leg, you know, like, oh, they're 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:27.610 just so excited. Poor babies. But you you have 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:30.069 to work on this. But it this all this foot stomp 00:07:30.069 --> 00:07:32.930 and hand clap stuff is is adding to what the 00:07:32.930 --> 00:07:34.610 percussion are doing. The percussion are playing 00:07:34.610 --> 00:07:37.009 throughout this. Yep. And it's fun. And like 00:07:37.009 --> 00:07:39.339 take time. make it be fun for the kids, because 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:42.040 they think it's neat. And it's just a percussion 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:46.069 break with band. Yeah, body percussion, I love 00:07:46.069 --> 00:07:50.129 it. At 29, it is soft. The bells are playing 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:52.750 like it drops to just percussion. Bells are going 00:07:52.750 --> 00:07:56.629 ding, dong, ding, dong. We add wind chimes and 00:07:56.629 --> 00:07:59.470 sleigh bells here. And then it's getting us ready 00:07:59.470 --> 00:08:01.310 for the wind players to come back in. So the 00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:03.709 percussion are starting and then layering down 00:08:03.709 --> 00:08:06.029 and decrescendoing. And then when we get to measure 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:09.670 31, the winds come back in, but it's soft. The 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:12.310 clarinets are playing the same thing that the 00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:19.389 bells had. this part right here you have some 00:08:19.389 --> 00:08:21.189 dotted half note you have some quarter note you 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.310 have some whole note even though it's soft it's 00:08:23.310 --> 00:08:24.910 real important to make sure that the students 00:08:24.910 --> 00:08:28.810 are tonguing firmly so that there's real clear 00:08:28.810 --> 00:08:32.250 rhythmic articulation exactly and then they're 00:08:32.250 --> 00:08:34.509 they're slurring more here too so it's a little 00:08:34.509 --> 00:08:36.649 bit more lyrical and then we're building up into 00:08:36.649 --> 00:08:39.789 34 where they have accents again one two and 00:08:39.789 --> 00:08:41.970 three so we're always building up then there's 00:08:41.970 --> 00:08:45.169 a cool rim shot and all the percussion play on 00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:47.269 beat four where nobody else plays so it's like 00:08:47.269 --> 00:08:50.649 a fun moment again. Then we kind of start go 00:08:50.649 --> 00:08:52.730 back to the same melody melody with the flute 00:08:52.730 --> 00:08:56.789 counter melody before and that continues to 41. 00:08:56.809 --> 00:09:00.309 41 we now all have accents the lows get to do 00:09:00.309 --> 00:09:03.649 this cool little one two and three one two and 00:09:03.649 --> 00:09:06.629 three four and then the uppers are the response 00:09:06.629 --> 00:09:10.370 to them and then the last little melodic parts 00:09:10.370 --> 00:09:14.200 in the uppers and then one foot stomp, and then 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:15.879 tell everybody what you do, because this is adorable. 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.240 I love this, and the kids love it. You would 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.000 be shocked at how excited they get about this. 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:23.639 So the piece ends with one foot stomp, two foot 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.299 stomps on beat two and three, and we mark in 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:29.840 our part, stomp stand. So they will stomp on 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.600 beat two, stomp on beat three, but they kind 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.179 of use that stomp to push their body up, and 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:38.779 then they stand. So we always do this as a concert 00:09:38.779 --> 00:09:42.679 closer, and it's super effective and the kids 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:46.299 get so intense about making their face serious 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:49.279 and stoic so they're like boom stop stand and 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.279 they're frozen and they're just like intense 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:56.240 it looks like a little mini marching band Precious 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.580 they love it. They get so excited about it. Yeah, 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:00.259 and I'm sure the parents think that's what they 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:03.080 do They love that too. Yeah, this is a piece 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:05.720 that I like with both pieces that we're talking 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.860 about in this episode You know Katie and I've 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:10.580 talked about this before but one of the things 00:10:10.580 --> 00:10:13.340 I love to do is to program music on my sixth 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:17.279 grade concert That we will play for pep music 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.639 in seventh and eighth grade So you're not having 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.100 to reteach that to those kids So this is a piece 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:24.840 that even though it's got a lot of percussion 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.179 My percussion directors are awesome. They have 00:10:28.179 --> 00:10:31.360 written out marching percussion parts for it. 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:34.379 So you can teach this at a spring concert for 00:10:34.379 --> 00:10:36.139 your beginners and then of course your eighth 00:10:36.139 --> 00:10:39.120 graders will sight read it super easily the next 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:41.379 year. Play it as a pet band piece. We do this 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:43.600 for both of the pieces that we are talking about 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.500 today in this episode. Oh that's so smart. I 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:47.559 do that too for crunch time but that's already 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:49.759 written out. Yeah. And it comes with a musical 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.860 jump start. Of course which we love how Willie 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:54.720 Owens does that but love love love I love Tambora, 00:10:54.899 --> 00:10:57.899 it's lots of fun, very programmatic. Okay, the 00:10:57.899 --> 00:11:00.000 next piece we're gonna talk about is Alpha Squadron. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:03.159 This one is in the key of E flat, it's two minutes 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.220 long, it's four four, and this is one of my absolute 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:10.580 favorite beginner pieces to do. It's simple, 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:15.639 but it sounds harder than it is. And again, it's 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:19.360 very transferable to the pet band scene, so I 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.879 love that. And this piece does have split parts. 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:26.659 It has split clarinet, split alto, split trumpet. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.259 But they only split, yeah, very little bit. Right, 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.019 it's like one divisi note here and there. But 00:11:31.019 --> 00:11:32.860 it's still, it's fun, because then they feel 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:36.039 like it's a big person song. So, at the beginning 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:39.419 it's marked 144, so it's very quick. And it's 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:42.379 a hit by the whole band. One, two, three. four 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:46.580 one two three four one and the percussion is 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:49.019 active especially snare you don't need a lot 00:11:49.019 --> 00:11:50.980 of percussionists for this piece you can get 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:54.220 by with really three or four yeah so that's something 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:56.059 that is good if you're looking at doing this 00:11:56.059 --> 00:11:58.720 maybe with like one where you don't have as many 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.200 percussionists in your band I love the articulation 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.320 that he is marked in here so this long short 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.460 exactly when you play four one it's written tenuto 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:11.320 marcato which is what they would do anyway so 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.980 So it's nice that that's written in. Hey, you 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:15.840 played it exactly the way it's marked. That's 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.080 correct, we don't have to re -teach that. At 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:20.600 measure four, the whole band has another hit 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.899 on beat three. And then at five, the trumpets 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:27.279 get to have the melody first. Everybody continues 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.539 on the hits, but they're gonna layer down so 00:12:29.539 --> 00:12:31.360 we can hear the trumpets. They do need to kick 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:36.559 out. It's a D. D, D, D, D, D, F, D, G. Yeah, 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.340 and so everybody else still has those same hits 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:41.980 in the background, even per. so it's like a little 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:46.960 trumpet feature here and then the flutes get 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:49.039 to add in with them and the trumpet split when 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.980 the flutes add in at measure 11 and then they 00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:55.299 finish all together the whole band one two at 00:12:55.299 --> 00:12:58.840 measure 12. This melody right here everyone in 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.639 the band gets the melody at some point so it's 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:04.000 great like we talk a lot about melody studies 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.480 or melody sheets this is a great one that you 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:08.980 can utilize that on because everyone in the band 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:13.259 has that melody. at some point. At measure 13, 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:16.700 now the trumpets continue and the low and mid 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:20.539 voices continue with the hits, but we add in 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:23.279 a counter melody in flute, oboe, and alto that 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:26.639 is really, really cool. Again, for our purposes 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.019 today, we're talking about beginners, but this 00:13:29.019 --> 00:13:31.679 can be used for any young band. I love that it's 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:34.460 a perfect opportunity for these beginners to 00:13:34.460 --> 00:13:37.519 see, hey, vibrato is really, really important 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:41.289 right here in the flute. alto and oboe for all 00:13:41.289 --> 00:13:43.730 of the instruments. So I like the trumpets to 00:13:43.730 --> 00:13:47.490 come down. We let the flobo and alto be the more 00:13:47.490 --> 00:13:49.750 important thing. Clarinets add in with the trumpets 00:13:49.750 --> 00:13:53.110 here, by the way. This is a really, really great 00:13:53.110 --> 00:13:56.269 point. Show layering. Hey, this is a new idea. 00:13:56.649 --> 00:13:59.389 Now, there is a rhythm. Every time we play this, 00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:02.149 we have issues here. Most of the time... They're 00:14:02.149 --> 00:14:05.149 playing one and two, three, four, one and two, 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:08.409 three, four, and then in measure 18, it flips 00:14:08.409 --> 00:14:12.149 one, two, and three, four, and that's the only 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:14.529 place where the eighth note is on beat two and 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:18.220 it will. eat their lunch every time. Sweet little 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:21.179 babies. Yes. Not that bad, but you gotta think 00:14:21.179 --> 00:14:24.100 about it, yeah. And I like that always at the 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:26.200 end of each phrase you get those little house 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:28.419 top accents, one, two, the whole band together. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:32.440 Then at 21 we get softer, the altos have the 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:34.860 melody with the clarinets only and bells playing 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:37.559 underneath. So it's very thinned out for four 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:41.139 measures. This is a great moment to teach beginners 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:44.840 about phrase shaping. Amen. Yeah, because this 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:47.720 is not hard, but it's a good way to say, hey, 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:49.940 you know what? We cannot breathe between measures 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:53.080 22 and 23. That's a two measure phrase. We don't 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:54.700 wanna do that. And in fact, we're not even gonna 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:57.519 breathe between 24 and 25. Instead, we're gonna 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.159 find those sneaky places to take a breath. You're 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.460 gonna breathe in measure 22 between the quarter 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:05.360 note and the half note. And you're gonna breathe 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.220 between the half note and the two quarter notes 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:10.919 in 23. So we kinda do a little bit of like pre 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:14.860 -teaching how to do phrasing. beginner band, 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:16.720 you know, and you may not do it with everybody, 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:18.919 but you can at least do it with the melodic instruments 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.509 that like are gonna have to do that the most 00:15:21.509 --> 00:15:24.710 like flute, clarinet, alto, whatever. So that's 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:27.230 just a little side note. This is also this section 00:15:27.230 --> 00:15:29.529 right here and this comes back later in the piece 00:15:29.529 --> 00:15:31.750 with this alto clarinet feature. You need to 00:15:31.750 --> 00:15:33.549 make sure that your clarinets are using resonant 00:15:33.549 --> 00:15:35.289 fingerings. Oh for sure. They're sitting right 00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:37.590 here in this third tone area. Yeah so they need 00:15:37.590 --> 00:15:39.789 to be using resonant fingerings in order to make 00:15:39.789 --> 00:15:42.649 the blend with the saxophones really nice. Then 00:15:42.649 --> 00:15:45.070 the band comes in four measures later also at 00:15:45.070 --> 00:15:47.809 a piano dynamic and we have like the typical 00:15:47.809 --> 00:15:50.009 melodic instruments. of building it up on a little 00:15:50.009 --> 00:15:53.029 mini scale. The low people come in on three, 00:15:53.029 --> 00:15:55.009 four, but we're still, we're all crescendoing 00:15:55.009 --> 00:15:58.009 up. Then the whole band has one, two, three. 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:01.389 Then we've got more lyrical style and we're crescendoing 00:16:01.389 --> 00:16:04.429 up even more to 29. So we're just kind of building 00:16:04.429 --> 00:16:06.529 and building and building the excitement. Snares 00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:09.830 end up adding, or snare adds in leading into 00:16:09.830 --> 00:16:12.269 29 again. And there's like, of course a cool 00:16:12.269 --> 00:16:16.049 sax and horn like one, three. I love when you 00:16:16.049 --> 00:16:18.299 get that and the kids think that's fun too. So 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:22.279 at 29, the melody goes to the low voices, altos 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:26.320 and horns. So it's nice, it's the exact same 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.019 melody we had before, so now the upper voices 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:31.860 are doing the hits, right? But same melody, so 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:34.220 it's great, like practice this together. Then 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:37.240 we add in the upper voices all on the melody, 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:40.600 and this is where the... split parts comes in. 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:44.620 For clarinet and alto, that's it. This is the 00:16:44.620 --> 00:16:47.639 different rhythm. That's right. It's just harmony. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.899 That's it. And this is the only place where those 00:16:49.899 --> 00:16:52.639 divices take place. We end up with those two 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.360 accents again. The way we end every phrase. And 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.259 then it's like the beginning again. We got more 00:16:57.259 --> 00:16:59.659 hits at 37. The percussion's a little active. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.720 This part at 37, this is a, like we talk about, 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:06.339 this is a brain moment because the whole band 00:17:06.339 --> 00:17:09.000 is playing the exact same thing. and the hits 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.119 are not happening on the same beat as always. 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:13.440 So they have to make sure it is a counting game. 00:17:13.660 --> 00:17:16.400 We talk about like, I bet you start that, right? 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:18.359 Like you have them count at first. That's exactly 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.779 right. Like you don't even play. One, two, three. 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:26.589 One, yes, absolutely. We do that. And we talk 00:17:26.589 --> 00:17:28.390 about it being a game, like as the director, 00:17:28.529 --> 00:17:30.549 I'm gonna do my best to help you, but you have 00:17:30.549 --> 00:17:33.170 to use your own brain, right? We can't just depend. 00:17:33.910 --> 00:17:36.849 But this part can be tricky, and then you'll 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:38.670 get - You'll always get the trombone - Two, four, 00:17:38.730 --> 00:17:42.579 one. Yep, yep, yep. Yeah, that's always fun. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:44.940 It's basically like the percussion get the melody 00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:47.119 one, two, and three, four. Right. You know, they 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.900 have like a really cool little part here, but 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:52.460 this is the only section that requires like major, 00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:55.099 major focus. Yep. And then 45, we're back. Yep, 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.460 it's back to the clarinet and sax melody. Everybody's 00:17:58.460 --> 00:18:00.740 coming in softer and building up again to 53. 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:04.000 53 is the trumpet and the clarinet with the melody 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.019 again with the cool little counter melody and 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:08.700 sax and flute. Just like we had it for 13. It's 00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:12.039 exactly the same. 61, the trumpets and the flutes 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.019 and the clarinets and saxes get the melody. We 00:18:14.019 --> 00:18:16.099 get a little harmony coming in. We start to build. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.200 We're layering. Yeah, we're layering and then 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:20.480 we're getting louder and louder too. And then 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.319 the piece ends with a chord. With a picardy third. 00:18:24.619 --> 00:18:28.140 With a picardy third. Yeah. You have to work 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:30.779 on that. Yep. And then the whole piece ends with 00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:33.779 two and three. So that's always fun. Yes. Kids 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:37.339 love it. It's precious. It sounds like this is 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:40.240 my kids almost every year, their favorite one 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.720 that we do at the spring concert. And like I 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.460 said, I think it's great for a pet band piece 00:18:44.460 --> 00:18:47.359 too. So it's super easy. Sounds really cool. 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:50.380 Very effective. Love Alpha Squadron. Sounds like 00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:53.200 movie music. Yes. Well, we hope you will consider 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:56.359 programming Tambora or Alpha Squadron in the 00:18:56.359 --> 00:18:58.619 future. And thank you for joining. us on this 00:18:58.619 --> 00:19:01.039 episode of Banned BFFs.