WEBVTT 00:00:06.780 --> 00:00:10.480 Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs. The podcast 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:12.759 where we make your music selection less complicated. 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:15.080 On today's episode, we're going to be discussing 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:18.140 Going Rogue by Brian Balmages. Cheers to starting 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:22.699 the conversation. Yay. We love the clinking sound. 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.579 I'm super excited about this piece. This is relatively 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:30.640 new to the grade one Texas PML. It is in the 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:33.259 key of concert B flat or G minor. It's less than 00:00:33.259 --> 00:00:37.500 two minutes long, about a minute 45. Great low 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:40.079 parts. Everything is extremely accessible for 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.159 all of the wind players. Some cool percussion, 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.679 timpani, mallet. If you've got a, this is one 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:48.340 that I think you could do with a pretty limited 00:00:48.340 --> 00:00:50.740 number of percussion. And if you have an excessive 00:00:50.740 --> 00:00:52.890 amount of percussion, you can double the. snare 00:00:52.890 --> 00:00:56.829 drum part that is meant to sound more like military 00:00:56.829 --> 00:00:58.789 it's Tom they don't have the snares on anyway 00:00:58.789 --> 00:01:01.969 so it just added that kind of military feel so 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:04.030 it's called going rogue which makes you think 00:01:04.030 --> 00:01:06.430 of like you know like Laura just mentioned like 00:01:06.430 --> 00:01:09.609 a military mission or like your plant you know 00:01:09.609 --> 00:01:11.750 the spy or something that's what I thought was 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:15.590 spy yeah and I actually thought it has like Mackie 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:20.349 esque vibes to it at a point five level so it's 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:22.469 really fun and I think that you're students would 00:01:22.469 --> 00:01:24.930 really love it because it sounds kind of dark 00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:29.909 and kids love minor music. So it starts off as 00:01:29.909 --> 00:01:33.390 Laura mentioned with a lot of percussion but 00:01:33.390 --> 00:01:36.049 also with the low brass and the low reeds. The 00:01:36.049 --> 00:01:39.209 parts though are mostly all eighth note rhythms 00:01:39.209 --> 00:01:43.290 so it's just one and rest, three and rest, rest, 00:01:43.569 --> 00:01:47.489 two, three and that theme comes back over and 00:01:47.489 --> 00:01:50.069 over and over. So if your kids can articulate 00:01:50.069 --> 00:01:52.290 at that then you're fine for the rest of the 00:01:52.290 --> 00:01:55.650 piece. Again it's at a really good range so it 00:01:55.650 --> 00:01:59.150 starts off just with a concert D. The timpani 00:01:59.150 --> 00:02:03.269 part does kind of mimic the tuba and the euphonium 00:02:03.269 --> 00:02:06.730 part but it is a bit different. So I would probably 00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:10.180 make sure that I have a timpani part. covered 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:12.800 if possible in the group if you have enough players. 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:17.300 After those four measures of the low brass, then 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:20.699 more of the band comes in to add in. So one of 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:22.439 the things I noticed in this is like in that 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:24.000 measure, like Katie mentioned in the second measure, 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:25.879 that theme that kind of comes back over and over, 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:30.039 rest, two, three, that half note. This is a great 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:32.379 opportunity to teach younger players about not 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:34.539 breathing after that half note, going through 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:37.939 all the way to the next measure. There is a lot 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:41.689 of playing on one beat, resting on another, whether 00:02:41.689 --> 00:02:43.789 you're playing on one and three, resting on two 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:45.949 and four, or playing on two and four, which we'll 00:02:45.949 --> 00:02:48.270 hear about in just a second, resting on one and 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:51.069 three. So you also, another good training opportunity 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:52.909 for younger players, make sure that they're not 00:02:52.909 --> 00:02:56.150 breathing every single time they have a rest. 00:02:56.169 --> 00:02:58.229 That's gonna cause some timing and precision 00:02:58.229 --> 00:03:00.669 issues for you, and tone quality issues if they're 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:02.389 not, you know, they can't keep their face still. 00:03:02.610 --> 00:03:06.840 Yep. So at measure five, the trumpets, the flutes, 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.479 the clarinets, the oboes and the saxes and the 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:13.439 horns and the xylophone, everybody else, they 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.400 all come in and now they've got the melody part 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.620 that the lows had before and the lows are gonna 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:21.199 back off and they're gonna play on like Laura 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:24.099 just mentioned two and four. So you've got one 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:27.759 and two, three and four. rest for everybody, 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:31.800 two, three, low brass four, one and two, three 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:34.840 and four, nobody, two, three, low brass four. 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:36.240 Except flute and oboe. Oh, I'm so sorry I missed 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.300 that, yep. So flute and oboe are gonna play on 00:03:38.300 --> 00:03:40.280 that one beat along with xylo and that's it. 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:43.740 So the cool part is there are a lot of dynamics 00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:47.460 written in because the... parts are easier to 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:51.039 read, you can really go into more depth on making 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.900 it sound mysterious and fun. Yeah, and so some 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:57.520 of these extra shaping exactly exactly. And he 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.979 wrote in a lot of them and you can just follow 00:03:59.979 --> 00:04:02.879 them because it goes along with that like, you 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.580 know, suspense and some accents and things like 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:08.060 that too. So when we have that back and forth 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:10.340 with the upper voices going one and and the lower 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:12.860 voices answering on two and four, one and two, 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:15.360 three and four, one and two, that's the stuff. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:18.079 talking about like that precision and alignment, 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:21.519 if those kids are waiting on each other, right, 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:23.819 they need to be really confident, practice a 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:26.620 lot with a metronome to make sure that they're 00:04:26.620 --> 00:04:30.189 keeping that nice and in line. Yep. At nine, 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:34.089 we get our first new melodic material, the clarinet, 00:04:34.350 --> 00:04:38.250 sax, and horn, just horn, sorry. The mids, they 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:41.769 get the melody part. Clarinets are on a low B, 00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:44.790 so all of the notes on clarinet are under the 00:04:44.790 --> 00:04:48.189 break. And they are gonna get a chance to do 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:50.589 some shaping in here too. Which I love. Yeah, 00:04:50.689 --> 00:04:53.689 so it's like whole note melody with a little 00:04:53.689 --> 00:04:56.129 bit of half notes thrown in here and there. So 00:04:56.129 --> 00:04:58.980 you can really teach kids about like odd. and 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.459 even breathing, which I think is a great skill 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:04.519 to be teaching at any point in the year. This 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.199 would be a great piece to do at the beginning 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:10.300 of a year with like a sub non varsity or varsity 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:13.199 band, if you're looking for something to just 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.980 teach some of these really. easier concepts, 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:18.620 but it would also be a really acceptable piece 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:20.740 to play later in the year for sub -non -varsity 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.579 or non -varsity to show all the concepts you've 00:05:23.579 --> 00:05:26.519 learned. So you can teach them like you're gonna 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:28.759 breathe on between eight and nine or you're gonna 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.899 breathe between nine and ten. So with this whole 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:34.920 note melody that makes it possible to do. And 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:36.839 the tempo is pretty brisk. I mean this is going 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:41.139 136, 140 in that area. So this whole note melody 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:43.180 that Katie referenced and then it adds some half 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:46.110 notes in. I mean, it does feel like it has direction 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:49.850 because the tempo is fast enough. Yep. The low 00:05:49.850 --> 00:05:52.149 brass go back and low reeds go back to having 00:05:52.149 --> 00:05:55.660 that. Opening thematic materials, so they're 00:05:55.660 --> 00:05:57.800 not gonna play loud. It's marked mezzo piano, 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.339 but so is the melody So you might ask them to 00:06:00.339 --> 00:06:02.300 take it down to a piano level so the melody can 00:06:02.300 --> 00:06:04.740 be a little bit stronger But you don't want the 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:06.879 melody to be loud either because it's supposed 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:12.459 to be still mysterious at 15 the flutes Come 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:15.459 in and the oboes with like a little interjection 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:18.060 just for two measures with that one and three 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:21.459 and At the end of the actual melody and then 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:25.500 low brass and low leads us into measure 17 with 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:29.560 rest two three and four one and then at 17 the 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:31.399 trumpets take over the melody so now we have 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:33.899 this new idea the clarinets the trumpets are 00:06:33.899 --> 00:06:36.620 playing basically what the the clarinets altos 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:39.060 and horns were doing before that whole note melody 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:42.540 and clarinets and French horns have now shifted 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:44.860 gears now there's is a lit that we've got half 00:06:44.860 --> 00:06:48.000 notes and quarter notes it is still stepwise 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.639 motion there's not lots of skips in here and 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.319 in a great range for both horn and clarinet but 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:58.439 they have the new material here right the horn 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:01.540 and alto and flute and oboe are also coming in 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:04.600 on that whole note stuff uh that those mid voices 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.160 had before i like the new bringing the tenor 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:11.160 sax horn clarinet thing this new idea out just 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:13.779 a little bit yep and it's the whole band is marked 00:07:13.779 --> 00:07:16.259 mezzo forte here so this is another opportunity 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:18.879 for you when you're marking your parts to mark 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:21.500 to keep them mezzo forte but then make the whole 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:23.819 note part mezzo piano and then make the low person 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:26.319 part piano so that you're already layering it 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.579 for the students and they understand like how 00:07:28.579 --> 00:07:31.540 to bring out the the new melodic material. There 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:35.000 is a lot of eighth note in this but there is 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:37.519 not a single time that I can think of, Katie 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:38.779 correct me if I'm wrong, where the eighth notes 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:42.839 change. So it's great for you know developing 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:46.360 that consistent articulation exactly. Yeah, but 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.300 they don't change notes. It's just tonguing on 00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:52.279 the same note for two eighth notes. There's also 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:55.819 some cool color chords that Mr. Balmay just kind 00:07:55.819 --> 00:07:58.300 of played around with. So sometimes the chord 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:01.680 might sound a little bit like, huh. or oh, interesting 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.420 there. But again, I think that adds to the like 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:06.240 mysteriousness, but it might be a little bit 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:10.259 trickier for your horns to like hear it and go, 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.939 oh, is that right? So just a good idea to like 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:16.139 maybe play along with them on the harmony director 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:19.160 or on a horn if you can do that. So that way 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:21.279 they know like which way the notes are going 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.199 and they can be a little bit more successful. 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:26.620 There's some accidentals in here, which I really 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:31.870 like and appreciate, but nothing is There's absolutely 00:08:31.870 --> 00:08:33.769 nothing crazy. And rhythmically, I know we've 00:08:33.769 --> 00:08:35.789 talked a lot about this. One of the things I 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:38.370 like about how he writes in this, there are a 00:08:38.370 --> 00:08:40.690 lot of times where people are resting on beat 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:43.870 one and entering on beat two, not even just the 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:47.110 rest two, rest four. And man, that can be a trap 00:08:47.110 --> 00:08:49.029 sometime for younger players. For sure, if you're 00:08:49.029 --> 00:08:51.909 not looking ahead. Exactly. So I think like taking 00:08:51.909 --> 00:08:54.289 this as an opportunity to utilize the importance 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:56.830 of being really solid on your rhythm counting 00:08:56.830 --> 00:09:00.750 too. Yep. It's so cute. It is. At 24 the full 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:03.490 band now has an accented part with a little suspended 00:09:03.490 --> 00:09:07.269 cymbal roll leading us into the next section. 00:09:08.009 --> 00:09:10.509 The timpani also again here has a little bit 00:09:10.509 --> 00:09:13.289 of a different part than the low brass. So again 00:09:13.289 --> 00:09:15.370 I definitely think if you have enough players 00:09:15.370 --> 00:09:17.690 putting someone on timpani would be super important. 00:09:18.389 --> 00:09:21.950 Going into 25 now the full band has accents and 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:24.710 it's marked forte and now we all are back to 00:09:24.710 --> 00:09:27.210 that part we had before where the upper wood 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.580 winds are going one and lows are going two three 00:09:29.580 --> 00:09:33.559 and four one two three and this time everybody 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.440 has all accented notes so this is a good opportunity 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.100 for you to teach what is different about an accent 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:42.919 or what is different about what you had before 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:44.919 and we're starting to see accents in the percussion 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.299 part here too which they had not had them before 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:50.159 so utilize your percussion to help the wind players 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:52.259 know hey this is how this is supposed to sound 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:56.059 yep Once we get to 33, it's a percussion break. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:59.179 So now they're gonna be very soft. It's marked 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:02.159 piano. This is like, we've backed all the way 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.320 off. It's like one ninja going through the wire. 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:08.870 There is a sand blocks part. And he does mention 00:10:08.870 --> 00:10:10.769 in the score that if you don't have sand blocks, 00:10:10.789 --> 00:10:14.230 you can use cabasa or maracas. You can use a 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:16.750 shaker, maracas, yeah, anything like that. But 00:10:16.750 --> 00:10:19.529 the most important thing because this is the 00:10:19.529 --> 00:10:21.809 timing. That's right. It's straight eighth notes. 00:10:22.029 --> 00:10:24.750 So the pulse has to, I mean, you have to have 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:29.370 a strong, secure player on it, whatever instrument 00:10:29.370 --> 00:10:31.490 you're using if you're not using the sand blocks. 00:10:31.710 --> 00:10:36.529 Then the snares get to play on the rim, the hi 00:10:36.529 --> 00:10:41.409 -hat. on a closed part so it's just adding instruments 00:10:41.409 --> 00:10:44.570 and building it up a little bit and then at 37 00:10:44.570 --> 00:10:46.690 the lows come back in again just like at the 00:10:46.690 --> 00:10:48.250 beginning of the piece this time it's marked 00:10:48.250 --> 00:10:52.529 piano and they're coming in on a new melody it's 00:10:52.529 --> 00:10:54.629 just half notes and whole notes and then we have 00:10:54.629 --> 00:10:58.090 sprinkled in the one and three and just every 00:10:58.090 --> 00:11:00.570 once in a while from different groupings of voices. 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:04.590 I love that the low brass and low reeds are featured 00:11:04.590 --> 00:11:08.889 in this way and it Exposed in this way the notes 00:11:08.889 --> 00:11:11.210 are not hard notes. They're not in a hard range, 00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:13.950 but it's a really good You know time for you 00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:16.750 to focus on hey We have to sound really really 00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:18.809 good because there's no one else playing with 00:11:18.809 --> 00:11:21.009 us here And he does that a couple of times in 00:11:21.009 --> 00:11:23.809 yeah And I think this is the only section where 00:11:23.809 --> 00:11:27.129 those low voices have an accidental and it's 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:29.850 an e natural So it's just good to also teach 00:11:29.850 --> 00:11:33.159 the trombones like how to hear that Saxes have 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:35.440 a C sharp. We got to think about that tuning 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.659 too. Horns have an F sharp in the same measure. 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:39.879 So it's just one of those chords where you might 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:41.559 just have to kind of settle on it, make sure 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:43.879 everybody's got the right thing. The band is 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.720 doing some like hairpin dynamics here. Actually 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:48.320 not hairpin, we're just getting louder and louder. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.899 So we're at mezzo piano and then we are doing 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:52.840 crescendo to mezzo forte and then a crescendo 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.820 to everybody coming in at 45. So this is a big 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.480 old long crescendo for eight measures where we're 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.509 adding voices and adding the excitement. And 00:12:01.509 --> 00:12:05.379 then at 45, we're back to. everybody basically 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:08.440 having the part that they had before the lows 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:12.419 and the mids have that melody part then the trumpet 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:15.279 and the clarinet come in at measure 49 with those 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.539 half notes and they're everybody's got accents 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:20.480 here again so we want to make sure we bring that 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:22.860 out differently this is just like what we had 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:25.100 earlier where the flute and oboe are the only 00:12:25.100 --> 00:12:28.440 ones that are playing one and three and one and 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:31.620 three and everyone else is playing this yeah 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:36.789 this cool little melody Then at 53, the flute 00:12:36.789 --> 00:12:39.529 gets the melody alone. It's marked piano. They 00:12:39.529 --> 00:12:41.470 come in and they're doing like a little, you 00:12:41.470 --> 00:12:48.889 know, um, jaws, like a major, minor second. Clarinet 00:12:48.889 --> 00:12:51.690 and then saxophone. So we're like adding in different 00:12:51.690 --> 00:12:54.309 voices, but it's only the woodwinds. It's only 00:12:54.309 --> 00:12:57.370 the upper woodwinds. Then there's a rest for 00:12:57.370 --> 00:12:59.590 everybody except the little same blocks part 00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:03.960 and they go, and then the whole band. at the 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.580 very end. So it's like, we caught the person. 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.340 I thought so. I did the motion. Y 'all can't 00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:10.440 see me. You missed it. You missed it, but she 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:12.820 did. Trust me, she did it. It was good. So this 00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:16.710 piece is so cute. And I don't think a lot of 00:13:16.710 --> 00:13:19.129 people have discovered it yet because it was 00:13:19.129 --> 00:13:22.529 new on the PMO last year. But this is like what 00:13:22.529 --> 00:13:26.149 you would definitely call a kid magnet type piece 00:13:26.149 --> 00:13:29.070 too. They're going to want to practice it. And 00:13:29.070 --> 00:13:33.330 it's not above anybody's ability level. So it's 00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:35.090 a really, really fun little piece. It would be 00:13:35.090 --> 00:13:38.730 fun for a fall concert too. Again, if you think, 00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:41.110 oh, this might be a little bit too easy for UIL, 00:13:41.409 --> 00:13:43.070 then you could play it at your fall concert. 00:13:43.370 --> 00:13:45.509 Yeah, definitely. Alright, well we hope that 00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:47.429 you will consider programming Going Rogue in 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:49.470 the future and thank you for joining us on this 00:13:49.470 --> 00:13:52.250 episode of Band BFFs!