I just finished reading a really sweet and inspiring book that is helping me to get there.  32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny:  Life Lessons From Teaching, by Phillip Done.  The author has taught 3rd grade for around 25 years, he has a great sense of humor and an obvious love of children.  The book is a series of lists and short stories that range from laugh-out-loud funny to tear-jerking.  I identified with Done in many ways, both as a teacher and as a parent; as an observer of education, children and their lovely quirks.  I have turned down the corner of a bunch of pages that I plan to return to throughout the years to come.

The first chapter, I Am a Teacher, has four pages of great comments like “I fix staplers that won’t staple and zippers that won’t zip, and I poke pins in the orange caps of glue bottles that will not pour.  I hand out papers and pencils and stickers and envelopes for newly pulled teeth.  I know the difference between Austria and Australia”.  Most of the things on his list are not taught in college, but they are a huge part of the job and part of one’s identity as a teacher.  For me, I suppose that Austria = fsharp and that Australia = bflat.

I can tell that Done has a love of standarized tests, just like me.  The chapter Testing tells of the day in March when he realizes that the time has come for filling in bubbles.  No more discussions.  No more reading after lunch.  No more questions.  Everything must be taught right away even though there are three more months of school to go.  He says to his class (p. 187):

“You don’t like these tests?” I asked.  “You don’t want to do these tests?  Don’t you realize that these scores are published in the newspaper and parents and real estate agents everywhere look at these scores?  Don’t you realize that your parents’ property values are affected if you don’t know how to find the diameter of a circle?

“You want to paint?”  I continued.  “You want to run?  You want to sing?  You want to do a play?  You want to go on a field trip?  You want to play your song flute?  Ha!  What do you think this is?  A school?”

It is nice to know that I am not the only teacher in the country with a nice sense of humor sarcasm about testing.  Thank you, Phillip Done!

He has a musical background too, and several of his comments reveal a good understanding of what music teaching is like.  The chapter entitled Why for instance asks many questions about why kids do the things that they do, “Why do kids choose to play instruments that are similar to their own personalities?”  That is so funny to me, because I have wondered about that for years.  I swear, I can meet someone, and guess their instrument of choice in just two guesses.  He also jokes about how the band director in his building will feel when she figures out that the entire class has signed up for trumpet.  Eeeek!  At least it is not saxophone, right?

One of my favorite chapters is Teacher Speeches, where Done comments about the speeches that teachers make repeatedly throughout the year.  ”It would be so much easier if I could just shout out the number of the speech.”  #479 is my absolute favorite, one that I have stood by and proclaimed for years.  ”Do not ‘Sorry’ when you make a mistake.  Never say ‘Sorry’ if you make a mistake.  I want you to make mistakes.  If you make mistakes, then I have something to teach you.” 

I tell that to kids all of the time.  I love to tell them about my beloved beginning band teacher.  She always said “if you are going to make a mistake, make a big one!”  I wish she had lived long enough for me to have gone back and asked her about that one.  It has been 25 years since I heard her say that; I think she meant to be bold and brave and to not be afraid of making a mistake.

I laughed out loud when I read Spring is Here.  I was sitting at Starbucks, enjoying a latte and honestly burst out laughing and probably looked like an idiot.  Mr. Done writes that he knows it is spring when the song flutes are passed out.  Me too!!!  For a couple years now, I have teased my colleague Nancy about how I know it is spring when I hear her flutophone classes tooting.  I walk down the hall for a quick cup of coffee and I can hear their oh-so-sweet song.  I know that Nancy loves teaching classroom music and that she is a big advocate of using flutophones in her classroom, but let’s be honest… 25 flutophones chirping out “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” at 9:15 am is enough to test the fortitude of any teacher.  It even tests her patience, I suspect. 

Still, those flutophones mean spring to me, and that vacation is just around the corner!

How to Know When You Need a Vacation helped me to realize that I am almost ready to be done with vacation, almost ready to feel like I do not need a vacation anymore.  Last on his list of when one needs vacation:  “When it is three in the morning and you are humming ‘Frosty the Snowman’ for the 157th time with your eyes wide open in bed.” 

Oh, how I have been there.  Except that for me, it is “Jolly Old St. Nicholas”.

I am almost ready to hear it again.  Almost.  Not quite, though… just this morning, my daughter Marissa wanted to play it on the piano for me.  I cowered, cringed and cried “NO!!!”  I am not ready for that yet. 

Nancy is coming to my house to teach Marissa’s lesson today… I wonder if she is ready to hear St. Nick yet.  We shall see!

To be honest, I did not know very much about Schoener before this week.  I knew he was a fellow Pennsylvanian and an elementary band teacher.  Mostly, I knew that he wrote band music that my kids loved.  In fact, his website was bandmusickidslove.com, which was no exaggeration.  He had a way with picking tunes and voicing parts that were fun for students to play and were tremendous crowd-pleasers.  You could tell, from his work, that he knew young players.  He knew how to write for them, and to challenge them, and how to make them sound COOL!  He also wrote works that were flexible and very user-friendly in an elementary school.  One of his best techniques was his “all-inclusive” arrangments, which were written for kids with a year or more experience AND for beginners.  The set included regular parts and “easy” parts. 

After reading Mrs. Schoener’s email, I did some googling and my goodness, her husband must have been a truly amazing man.

He would take only a half day off, or even go on a Boy Scout trip (assistant scoutmaster in his son’s troop) on a chemo day.  He obviously inspired and motivated many, many students over the years, and I am sure he is very much missed.  Like I said, I did not know him, but I am very saddened to hear of the passing of such a great man, husband and father.

Rest in Peace, Brad Schoener.

We (myself and the other 3 elementary band teachers) saw a TON of kids yesterday.  70 students, in fact.  I currently have 109 students on my roster for 09-10, not counting the 3-5 classes that I will teach at another band director’s building.  I had 105 at this time last year, and ended up with 83 last month, so I am not really holding my breath on having 109 students this time time next year.  On the upside, I am pulling from around 225 this year (smaller classes than last year), so my percentage is higher; getting close to 50%, which is my goal.

4th Grade:  1 oboe, 4 flute, 14 clarinet, 16 alto saxophone, 1 fhorn, 11 trumpet, 2 trombone, 4 baritone and 5 percussion.

5th Grade:  1 oboe, 5 flute, 4 clarinet, 12 alto saxophone, 17 trumpet, 7 trombone, 1 baritone, 5 percussion & 1 keyboard player (covers tuba parts).

I have concerns again about 5th grade beginners, but am sending home a list of private teachers and suggesting that the kids get a few lessons in over the summer. 

I am kind of laughing about instrumentation, because I will repeat something like what I said last year:  “The instrumentation is not perfect, I know that.  I would like to have some more horns.”  Last year, I would have liked less percussion and more clarinets.  This year, I am starting a ton of clarinets and not many percussion students.  Too many trumpets, but hey… maybe they can convert to french horn!

Just like last year (and every year so far in my career), I am perfectly fine with my instrumentation.  I have a few theories about recruiting and retaining kids and #1 there is getting the right instrument in the right kid’s hands.  I aim to make sure they all get a chance to hear, see and touch each of the instruments and then Let Them Decide. 

I have never bought into the idea that I should sit there with a list of perfect instrumentation and put the kids in a place that suits the program.  That is backwards to me, and I know that many directors do not believe in that at all.  But, I have talked to too many kids (and adults, for that matter) that told me that they were forced into playing an instrument that wasn’t their first choice… and I have yet to find one of those people who played the forced instrument for more than a couple years. 

Who cares if I have dream instrumentation if the experience here does not lead to a lifetime of learning and loving in music?  What is the point, if they just quit because they do not like the instrument?  For the most part, kids have to enjoy playing the instrument to stick with it and to succeed. 

Last year, I wrote that I have a Field of Dreams approach to recruitment.  If I build a great band, they will come.”  Well, my Field of Dreams is working, I think.  59 out of less than 100 upcoming 3rd graders tried a band instrument yesterday.  Of course, many of them played a string instrument in 2nd grade, which brings up a few bald spots in the grass of my Field of Dreams.  Some kids are conflicted about moving to band and/or are considering playing in both next year.  The past few days have been interesting for me; as you might imagine that moving from one ensemble/teacher to is … uh … stressful for some colleagues.  It is very strange to walk into a room and see people stop talking when they see you, and to feel a chill.  I really do not feel comfortable blogging about this with great detail, but I will say that I find this all to be very stressful for me.  We start strings in 3rd grade.  We start band in 4th.  There are going to be kids who leave strings and I expect some stress.  But I did not expect it to be like this.

In any case, I did my best to make sure they kids had an appropriate level of exposure to the instruments.  I do things similar to what my colleagues (in band and strings) do in recruiting.

I think the biggest part of recruiting and retaining happens at other times of the school year.  Lots of little things along the way are seen by the younger students… things that benefit my students and are for them, but I am aware that they have an effect on the younger ones. 

For instance, I like to have my students perform in December; they love playing holiday songs, but the winter concert isn’t until late in January.  So, during the last week before winter vacation, I arrange for my students to go caroling in the cafeteria, during lunch groups.  Historically, that week is poorly attended and/or challenging to focus kids on regular lesson material.  I have found that caroling works really well, in terms of getting them to perform in a small group and to achieve on a number of songs that they love.  Of course, the January and May assemblies are also another thing that is really for the current band kids, but I think it has an effect on the younger students.

In March, I (again) held a petting zoo in my classroom, so the 3rd grade general music classes could see and touch the instruments.  This is done at around the same time as when they study the instruments in music class, so it suits their curriculum.  Last year, the music teachers brought over grades K-3 and I invited the string teacher to bring over her instruments, but that much was pretty disruptive in my classroom.  The instruments take up a lot of space and I lost a bunch of instructional time, having so many classes in to visit the “animals”.  This year, I opted to keep it simple and in line with general music and band curriculum.

My 3rd Grade instrument demo, last month, was same as last year.  I have a PowerPoint presentation about band and had middle school students come over and play each of the instruments.  45 minutes, quick, no Q&A… just a nice class period of listening to instruments and finding out how lessons/band works.  Last year, I made trading cards for each instrument, which I did not do this year.  I never got around to it, and I didn’t think it really did anything for the program anyhow.

In the past few weeks, we had the parent pemo meeting and try-outs and now that I look back on things, I actually did less this year.  Less petting zoo, not as much paperwork, etc.  I tried to streamline things and I feel pretty good about how it all went.  It has been a great year, I feel like I have grown so much as a teacher and I really can’t wait to start a new crop of students next year!

At that point, I had 105 students on my list and walked into school in August 2009 with 105 students on my roster.  Those were not all the same kids, however.  There were some that never made it on the 2nd list, as they informed me that they were not going to be in band, that they would continue with orchestra.  It was nearly an “even-Steven” situation, though, as I received a few move-ins and new papers at the beginning of the school year.  I ended this school year with 83 students.

When I wrote last year’s entry, I was fresh out of the 5 days of instrument try-outs and was thinking about a few things regarding instrument selection.  I had a really nice list of students, and a good variety of instruments.  But, I knew that there would be changes.   I had concerns about the 16 5th grade beginners, because I cannot offer them a true beginning band class.  They have lessons with other beginners, but because of the way that my schedule works here, they cannot attend a beginning band.  Instead, I have to put them in with 2nd year students and it is hard on those kids.  It is very challenging to structure the class in a way that challenges the 2nd year students, and doesn’t “lose” the beginners.  Even more challenging to retain those beginners.

Of the 16 5th grade beginners, 1 of them quit band and stayed in orchestra (yay, still on an instrument), 11 stayed in band (I am pretty proud of how far they came, and most are going to continue in middle school) and 4 quit.  Those 4 make me sad, because each of them were in orchestra in 3rd grade… tried a band instrument at the end of 3rd grade… did not start band, stayed in orchestra… quit orchestra at the end of 4th… started band in 5th and could not keep up with their peers.  I cannot help but wish that they had been encouraged to start the band instrument in 4th, as they had expressed interest in doing so.  They could have started with their peers and I think they would have had a much better chance of succeeding with 2 years of instruction.

Anyhow, back to the starting with 105 and ending with 83 (that doesn’t look good, does it?).  Here are the stats:

3 moved to another school district.

3 never started lessons with me, opted to stay in orchestra (1 of which quit orchestra and was back in my room yesterday, trying out a band instrument again!).

2 never started lessons with me, no instrumental music in 08-09.

2 were in band in 4th grade, quit before 5th grade began (1 was a really good player, who I was sad to lose).

5 were in band and orchestra for several months, and eventually quit band; stayed in orchestra and are still playing.

7 quit after a few months of band, all had some struggles, no instrumental music by the end of 08-09.

2 were in orchestra in 3rd grade, band in 4th (or part of 4th), went back to orchestra for part of the year and are back in band.

All of that is probably not of interest to anyone but me, but I like to look over the lists and reflect on my instruction.  I try to take a look at who quit and why… and consider their history of instrumental music.  Hopefully, I can see some trends and improve my recruitment and instruction in future years.

The first band to perform is the 4th grade Beginning Band, our first song is Bugler’s Dream, arranged by Paul Lavender.  The original melody was written by French composer Leo Arnaud.  It was later arranged by famed American composer John Williams, as a theme song for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.   Our arrangement uses only 6 notes and serves as a wonderful fanfare to begin our concert.

Galactic Episode is an original composition by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams.  It is part of our lesson book, which is called Accent on Achievement.  In composing it, Reilly and Williams used everything we learned in the first three-quarters of our lesson book.  It is our most challenging piece.  In it, we have to play a soft and slow section and then a loud and fast section.

The Flintstones Meet the Jetsons uses the theme shows from two of Hanna-Barbara’s most popular cartoons.  It is arranged by Gerald Sebesky, who has combined the themes into one rockin’ and futuristic song. 

In 2002, composer Ralph Ford published the piece Cango Caves.  He was inspired to write it after having visited the caves in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.  The caves were discovered in 1780, and in the years since then, scientists have recovered artifacts used by the Bushman during the Middle Stone Age.  We hope you will enjoy Ford’s musical depiction of the natural caves of South Africa. 

The Beginning Band’s last number is a piece written by Andrew Balent, called Band Room Boogie.  Boogie-woogie style started early in the 20th century and was often played by swing bands such as the Tommy Dorsey and the Glenn Miller bands.  Playing it has been a great chance for us to learn how to play in a swing style, it has been one of our favorites this year, and we hope you enjoy tapping your toe to our Boogie.

 Select Band

This year’s Integrated Arts theme has been “Pittsburgh”.  A number of our upcoming numbers have a connection to Pittsburgh, including our next one.  Many famous jazz musicians have lived and played here, including Harold Betters, Johnny Costa, Lena Horne, Billy May, Joe Negri and Sammy Nestico.  River City Blues, by Steve Hodges, was not really written for our river city.  But it is a fitting tribute to it and the impact that jazz has in Pittsburgh and around the world.

The H.J. Heinz Corporation is well-known in Pittsburgh for many reasons.  Ketchup is probably the number 1 reason.  Over 640 million bottles are sold world-wide.  We suspect that composer Dean Sorenson may have been inspired by this amazing condiment when he wrote our next number… Ketchup Is Not A Spice.  It is written in a Latin style, which will sound totally different from our last blues-y number. 

The Select Band portion of the program concludes with our favorite piece.  Called Walkin’ to Band Man!, it is written in a funk style, where the rhythm is the main focus.  This rhythmic focus is sometimes called a “Groove” and has been the preferred style of great bands, such as “Tower of Power”, “Earth, Wind and Fire” and “Average White Band”.  It was written by Brad Schoener, a Pennsylvania composer who has his own publishing company called “Band Music Kids Love”.  He is right, we love his music!

Advanced Band

Sousa Spectacular, like the 4^th grade’s “Galactic Episode,” is from our lesson book.  The arrangers, John O’Reilly and Mark Williams, used several of John Philip Sousa’s most famous marches, including “High School Cadets”.  It is the most challenging piece in book I, with an entertaining percussion part, fast fingerings for the wind instruments and a key change midway through the piece.

Our next piece was written by composer Anne McGinty, in 1990.  She has strong ties to Pittsburgh, as she earned her Bachelor and Masters of Music degrees from Duquesne University in flute performance and music composition.  She has written more concert band pieces than any other woman in the field, and has published over 225 titles.  Prelude and Dance is in two movements, one slow and one fast, both using the main melody in a canon.  The most common form of a canon is a “round”, where the same melody is repeated at different times, like in “Row Row Row Your Boat” or “Frere Jacques”.

As the opening theme to the show “The Mickey Mouse Club,” this music is easily recognized all over the world.  It was written by the host of the show, Jimmie Dodd.  The TV show ran from 1955 to 1959.  But the Mickey Mouse March can still be heard in the Walt Disney Resorts all over the world. This arrangement was done by Devon Lippmann, who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh.  He is currently a band director in the Norwin School District.

The theme to the mid-60’s TV show “Secret Agent” is featured in our next number.  Secret Agent Man, arranged by Ralph Ford.  The main melody is inspired by that of Bond 007 and has been recorded by many groups in the past 40 years, such as “Devo” and “Blues Traveller.  Many movie-watchers recognize it from and was used in “Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery.”

Our next piece, River Trilogy, is a medley of three well-known American folk songs.  It opens with “Deep River,” then features clarinets and flutes with “The Water is Wide” and concludes by featuring our trumpet section in “Shenandoah”.  It is arranged by John O’Reilly and is a wonderful tribute to our city, with our three rivers.

Our last song for the evening has a very strong connection to Pittsburgh.  It was commissioned by North Allegheny band director Mr. Steve Kraus, specifically for McKnight and Peebles Elementary Schools.  The world premiere of this number was here in our own school District.  The composer is also a Pittsburgher as well.  Sam Hazo has published numerous pieces for concert band, all very well-reviewed and popular worldwide.  He travels all over the world, serving as a guest conductor and has worked with stars such as Brooke Shields and James Earl Jones.  We hope you enjoy As Winds Dance as much as we do!

I was 22 years old, on a college-marching-band-wind-ensemble “high” and answered “High School Band Director!!!”  I wish I could remember exactly what he said to me in reply.  I can only remember that he suggested I consider beginning band and I recall feeling disappointed.  I thought he was trying to talk me out of high school band.  I assumed that he must have thought that I did not have what it took to do high school band, because why else would he discourage me from it?  I was in this college-mode, where directing grade 5 pieces, going to competitions and leading a marching band was the ultimate.  He was the only professor to talk about beginning band, everyone else had taught high school, and that what was in my head.  High school is where you got to conduct and perform intriguing music by outstanding composers!  

I could not understand why my this adored mentor of mine was suggesting I do something other than high school.*

I know that I was not alone in feeling that way about high school being one thing and beginning band being another thing (perhaps “lesser”); my college friends expressed similar ideas (some of them probably still do!).  From what I know, this is pretty common and many college graduates feel this way. 

To be honest, when you are 22, what musical experiences do you have the most memory of?  The most excitement about?  The greatest confidence in?  It is probably high school / college performing group experiences and those are the experiences that you can translate and use most easily, when you start out teaching.  Additionally, most professors come from a secondary-education background and have never taught elementary band.  The experiences that they bring with them to the undergrad classes are rich in work with students who already have a lengthy musical background.  Not in “fsharpbflat” things, which is a whole different world.  

I know that, for me, it was very easy to picture myself directing a high school group.  I could not imagine what elementary band teaching would be like and could not picture myself doing it.  Not because it was unappealing to me, but because I had very little exposure to it OR to people who taught it and could share with me their experiences.  It did not take me long to picture and imagine those things, but for some music educators, I think it takes a lot longer.

I have heard many comments here and there over the years, about beginning band.  They usually start with lines that serve pretty much the same function as Seinfeld’s “not that there is anything wrong with that”.  “Beginning band is of course where it all starts,” or “the most important job in the program,” or “we couldn’t do it without those who are starting these kids”.  My favorite is “I could NEVER do your job!” which I guess is a complement, but I am never quite sure.  In any case, the remarks usually go on with a “BUT…” that somehow ends up placing beginning band back down into that “lesser” place. 

I know this job is important within the program, I am confident and secure in that.  This is not about me when I say this:  I worry that we are not doing our best job of recruiting beginning band teachers.  Undergrads should have meaningful experiences with young children.  They should observe a lesson during the first month or so of instruction (hear the squeaks!).  They should try scheduling pull-out lessons and see what instrument fittings and recruitment is like.  They should teach young children and get a very good sense of what is possible to achieve during those first few years.  We should recruit people who love children, who are strong musicians and advocate high standards that are age-appropriate.  We should nurture and share ideas about what it takes to hook a child into band, keep them on the line.  We really need more people like that in the profession.

* As it turned out, Dr. Kuehn ended up doing a wonderful job at recruiting me into a beginning band teacher.  At that time (early 90s), he split his time between teaching private clarinet/saxophone, elementary methods and the (now defunct) University School.   It was during that conversation we had, or not long after, that he asked if I wanted to do an internship at the University School.  That internship at the University School was beyond value at that time in my life.  Before I had even set foot in a public school, I had already taught 9 and 10 year olds.  I had already ran portions of beginning and advanced (2nd year) band rehearsals.  I was also very comfortable with using Edwin Gordon’s Comprehensive Music Learning Sequence.

In any case, I was able to do some fancy scheduling, and my ensembles will be able to rehearse on Monday of testing week.  Phew.  A lot of lessons will be cancelled, but I am hoping I can make that work too.

Next year is going to be bad, though.  The state has published their testing dates for next year, to be three straight weeks in April.  You know, the three weeks before spring concerts.  I honestly have No Clue how we (performing group teachers) can make things work.

I need to give myself an attitude adjustment before the meeting and keep the frown off of my face.  I like to be a team player, but this particular team is a rough one for me.  The meeting will be to prepare for the week of reading and math testing that will be in mid-March.  This week happens the be the third week of standardized testing of the year, and it is like a 3rd strike (and definitely not a charm) for me. 

• Lessons will be cancelled for a large portion of the week. 
• I will need to find a different time for my two large ensemble rehearsals, which is very challenging.  There just is not much time left in the week.
• The lessons and classes that are not cancelled will likely be poorly attended, for various reasons out of my control. 
• I will spend nearly twelve hours during the week, proctoring the testing of a small group of students (those with 504s or IEPs).  It is an important part of the process, but I am disappointed that a large number of my band students will miss what is essentially an entire week of instruction. 
• Band is not the only class affected by a week of testing; nearly every subject in the building is adjusted, trimmed or cut during a testing week. 

I recognize the idea behind NCLB, and admit that it was a good one.  However, I think it has been very bad for the children of our nation.  I have been very hopeful, that our new president would just throw NCLB in the trash.  Then, several weeks ago, I listened to an amazing interview with Howard Gardner, on the Bob Edwards Show.  Gardner and Edwards talked about an open letter to President Obama, where Gardner basically suggested that President Obama live with NCLB for a little and see what is working and what is not.  The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with him.  Rather than make a huge change in education very quickly, at the beginning of an administration, perhaps something gradual would be better.  That any change would be something that would need to be given much thought and consideration. 

Plus, it is obvious that the economy is needing more attention right now.  Like every other state, PA is making cuts in the budget for next year.   I have a suggestion for Governor Rendell.  He could scale back the PSSA tests!

Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?  Instead of weeks of testing, piles of paper and a large list of PSSA scorers  to be paid (which I have heard are contracted out to some group in Michigan, if I remember correctly)… cut it by 75%.  We would have more time to teach our students and the state could really save some money.  A win-win situation!

She’s right.  My students do need to listen more, but my response to her was “when?  how”.  In other words:  how do I fit this in, when I only see them in a small group 30 minutes/week and in a large group 45 minutes/week?

To be clear, the 30 minutes/week are full of missed chances to teach.  Student absent.  Student taking standardized tests.  Student forgets to come to lesson.  Student is late.  Student misses lesson to take a test.  Student misses lesson because of a snow day.  Student has “something special” in their regular classroom.  The 45 minutes/week aren’t much better.  The 4th graders come to me in the last 45 minutes before their very late lunch time (1:05)… the 5th graders come to me right after their lunch, when the rest of their class is at recess.  It takes every ounce of my effort and experience in classroom management to gain their focus and keep it.

I used to be much better at incorporating more than just learning the notes and preparing the concert.  I used to prepare lessons that incorporated all of the Nat’l Standards.  I am not sure when I drifted away and became a caricature of my blog name (like, I spend all day teaching F# and Bb!).

No matter.  My student teacher is right, we need to do more listening in band, even in time-crunched elementary band.  Listening examples/exercises.  Listening to different styles, to great solos and listening to play-by-ear more.  

Guess what I told her to plan for the next 4th grade band rehearsal?  Yes, a listening exercise.

Beginning Band 

Pour It On

Our first full band number is a song called Pour It On.  It was arranged by Peter Blair, and is based on the first five notes of the Concert Bb scale.  It uses a traditional American rock-background pattern in the percussion with a catchy melody.

Ode to Joy

Beethoven completed his famous Ninth Symphony in 1824.  The main melody of the final movement is a musical setting of a poem entitled “Ode to Joy”.  It was written 40 years earlier by a German poet named Friedrich Schiller.  The poem celebrates the ideal of unity and brotherhood of all humankind.  The melody that Beethoven created around the poem is well-loved and this is one of our favorite band pieces.

Blues Adventure

The last small group performance is the jazz duet “Blues Adventure”.  It is written in 2 parts; some of the members of the ensemble will play the main melody, some will play a harmony line.  It is written with traditional jazz harmonies and played in a swing style.

Surprise Symphony

Joseph Haydn’s “Surprise Symphony” includes one of his most famous musical jokes.  He varied the main melody to trick the audience.  Our third small group will perform the theme and a variation of this melody where the rhythm is changed.

Eagle Summit

Our final Beginning Band piece is a march called “Eagle Summit”, written by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams.  It has been the most challenging song for us to prepare, because it uses many fast moving notes and because each section’s part is different.  We have to listen very carefully and play independently.

Select Band

When the Saints Go Marching In

Our first piece is an arrangment of ”When the Saints Go Marching In”, by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams.  The main melody is traditionally used in a “jazz funeral”, where the band plays the song in a very slow speed, on the way to the cemetery.  On the way back from the cemetery, the band plays a fast version of it, called the “hot” number.  The song is so popular with New Orleans that their pro football team is called the “Saints”, named after the song.

Rock Around the Clock 

“Rock Around the Clock” is Rock-n-Roll song, based on the blues style background, called a 12-bar-blues.  It was written in 1952, by Max Freedman and James Myers, specifically for the group called Bill Haley & His Comets.  It is one of the earliest Rock-n-Roll songs recorded and is still one of the most popular and well-recognized.  Our arrangement of the hit is by Eric Osterling.

Advanced Band 

This Old Band

This Old Band, arranged by Anne McGinty, features five familiar folksongs.  All in just a few short minutes, you will get to hear the following tunes:  Frere Jacques, Skip To My Lou, Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me, Yankee Doodle and of course:  This Old Man.

Elizabethan Dance 

Between the 14th and 17th centuries, there were many important changes in the art and culture of Europe.  That period of time is called the Renaissance.  As more musicians moved around Europe and shared their homeland’s musical styles, music became more international.  The concert band was not yet formed at that time.  Elizabethan Dance was written for concert band, to sound like the music that was performed in this time period.  It was written by Mark Williams.

A Prehistoric Suite

Prehistoric Suite, by Paul Jennings, is a piece of music in four parts, each representing a dinosaur or a moment in prehistoric times.  The first movement is called Stegosaurus, Gladiator.  The composer writes it in a majestic, strong, march style.  The second movement is Brontosaurus, Gentle Giant.  The trombones give a very clear picture of the lurching, long neck of this dinosaur, by moving their slides together.  Pterodactyls, Graceful Giants of the Sky, is the third movement. This has been the most challenging movement for us, because it is slow and soft.  The graceful and smooth sounds of the clarinets and flutes are like a winged dinosaur, soaring through the sky.  The last movement is The Battle, which features a vicious scene between a Tyrannosaurus and a Triceratops.  It is fast and loud and even sounds scary in two sections. 

Ode to Louie

At first, Brad Schoener’s Ode to Louie will remind you of something you already heard this evening; the Ode to Joy that the 4th graders played.  Our version includes Beethoven’s melody, but adds a few twists.  The biggest twist of all is when the saxophones introduce the tune to the American Rock N Roll song Louie Louie, and the band plays both melodies at the same time!  Louie Louie was written in 1955, by Richard Berry, and has been recorded in hundreds of different arrangements.  The song is in the style of a Jamaican ballad, and was inspired after Berry listened to a performance of the Cuban song, “El Loco Cha Cha”.

Pachelbel’s Canon

During the Baroque period, around 1680, Johann Pachelbel wrote Canon in D Major, for 3 violins and basso continuo.  Pachelbel was a highly-regarded composer when he was alive, but he is most well known for this canon.  In the late 1970s, it became even more popular when it was recorded by a famous chamber orchestra.  Today, it is frequently played at weddings and has been arranged for many different kinds of ensembles.  The arrangement that we are playing tonight includes parts for beginning band students and for advanced band students.  It was arranged by Brad Schoener.