picking music, part 2

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One thing I tend to avoid when picking music is new arrangements of popular music. Though sheet music retailers like JW Pepper and Sheet Music Plus regularly have a hefty number of pop arrangements among their bestsellers, I refuse to put money toward those pieces. Last I checked, six of the top 12 concert band sets at Sheet Music Plus were from the movie Frozen, and all of the top 12 had some connection to film or TV.

Before you assume I'm simply going to bash pop music, please keep reading a little further. There is a lot of interesting music written for film, television, video games, and radio, but I think it is disappointing to rely on those sources primarily for music in a concert band setting. I have a few observations to make about these pop bestsellers and some suggestions for programming music for concert band.

  1. I realize that one major reason pop music is on top of the bestselling lists is that it is new. Basically everyone who wants a copy of Air for Band (Frank Erickson) already has it in their library, and there are likely not many copies sold each year even though it is an excellent piece for young band. Even so, not a single piece in the top 12 at SMP was originally for band!
  2. Another observation about the current best-selling music is that it is mostly very recent. What was popular a year ago is not necessarily popular now. The top 25 at SMP contain a Beatles arrangement and music from The Lion King. An arrangement from Skyfall still has a spot in the top 25, but one of "Gangnam Style" is past 500. Perhaps this is because some music lends itself better to being arranged for concert band, or perhaps some of it is better music to begin with. I won't try to figure that out here.
  3. No new music written (released this year) specifically for concert band shows up in the top 50 at SMP.

I'm sure there are some different conclusions that could be drawn, but here are the ones I would like to make. 

  1. When I pick music, I want to be able to use it many times. I have a small budget, a small library, and limited options for programming to begin with. Anything I purchase should be something worth playing by every student in my program at some point. Purchasing very popular music is (I think) taking a greater risk since some (or most) of its appeal is an extra-musical connection which may not exist even a couple of years from now.
  2. Rather than purchasing as many pop arrangements, why don't we participate in commissioning new works? I realize it is expensive, but it is a rewarding process for those involved. Composers are compensated well, bands receive interesting new works, and the members of the band get to participate in the creation of new art.

My school was part of a consortium that commissioned Due North, by Michael Sweeney. It cost us about as much to participate as a regular new set of parts, and it's a great new work. I hope to be a part of and hear about more projects like it in the future.

how I pick music for band

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One of the comments I hear most frequently after one of my bands performs is "Great program!" Perhaps people say it because we still have so far to go in technical execution, but I've heard it enough from judges and other audience members alike that I think I do a reasonably good job of programming music. So how do I pick good music?

There was no music library when I started teaching at SCPA. I knew that the two bands I started with would play every piece of music I purchased that first year, so I had to make sure everything I got would be good. I was able to purchase only nine pieces. With small, inexperienced, imbalanced groups I had to make sure I picked repertoire that was easy enough and could get them to experience success early on. Two pieces from that time that were very helpful were Rob Grice's Defender of Time (for getting students to buy in and enjoy something that sounded good almost right away) and John O'Reilly's A Shaker Hymn (for working on phrasing and expression). 

3516778 look inside A Shaker Hymn Arranged by John O'Reilly. Concert Band. Concert Band; SmartMusic. Yamaha Band Series. Grade 1. Conductor Score & Parts. 112 pages. Published by Alfred Music (AP.12987).
7925243 look inside Defender of Time Composed by Rob Grice. Concert Band. Concert Band; SmartMusic. Alfred Debut Series. Grade 1. Conductor Score & Parts. 62 pages. Published by Alfred Music (AP.26808).

Once I got through the first year and had a little more time to think about building a music library, I relied heavily on the list of repertoire in Lynn Cooper's Teaching Band and Orchestra as well as the JW Pepper Basic Library list. I wanted the majority of what I bought to be time-tested works that I could count on playing multiple times over the coming years. Still, I didn't buy items blindly, and I did listen to new works from publisher CDs that gradually started showing up. Here is my process for listening (made much easier by the greater number of scores and recordings available online).

  1. Look at the title and composer. Does the title display creativity or inventiveness?
  2. Listen to the first part of the piece. Based on the title, how do the sounds line up with my expectations?
  3. After 30-60 seconds, do I have a strong reaction to the piece? Perhaps I notice that the trumpet parts are too difficult or that it requires a balance of instruments I don't have, in which case it is easy to rule out (though if I like it enough, I'll add it to a list to consider the following year). 

I typically set up a spreadsheet to type pieces that appeal to me. I attach a rating as I go (high/medium/low or 1-10) so that I can identify which ones I really want to listen to again later. I include the prices and grade levels as well so that I get the balance of pieces I'm looking for and stay within my budget.

Since I listen to anything I plan on buying at least twice, I hope that the pieces I pick are more substantial than just an ostinato hook or one catchy melody. If I find myself still wanting to listen to the piece, I figure there is a good chance I can help my students appreciate it.

After I've compiled my list, there are always too many pieces to fit within my budget. As I listen to them again, I try to make sure I have a balance of expressive ballads and exciting openers, arrangements of familiar pieces and new works, and many other factors (time signatures and difficulty level come to mind next). At this point, I am no longer quite so worried about having enough music for every group to play during the year. Still, the library only contains 150 pieces split across beginners through high school, and I always want to have extra music on hand for building the sight-reading skills of every group.

Last tip: it's not for everyone, but I've been able to stretch my budget quite a bit during the past few years by purchasing during Sheetmusicplus.com's annual concert and jazz band sales. Many pieces are 20% off, and my school also gets an 8% rebate on our orders (or others, as from the affiliate links above).

Here are a few of the many selections I'm most looking forward to from my listening this year:

Rites of Tamburo – Robert W. Smith
Foiled Again – Jack Wilds
Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Major – Bach, arr. Moehlmann
Mother Earth – David Maslanka

 

schiller american heritage elite iv horn

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I have a decent sample size (4) for the Schiller American Heritage Elite IV Horn. My school owns two, and I've had two students play them (one in nickel, all the others are lacquer) during the past five years. There are now some newer models which I have not tried playing, but the Model IV is still available.

First, the pros:

  • inexpensive (around $700 when I got the two for the school)
  • finish looks consistently nice
  • adjustable fourth valve for different sized hands
  • plays reasonably in tune
  • valves and slides operate smoothly
  • tone is solid
  • came in a nice case with pockets on the outside

And then the cons:

  • metal used on valve paddles is soft
  • only reasonably in tune? my students have fewer issues with it than I do

In their years of use, I've had the following issues with these horns: broken string (easily replaced), bent paddle (I bent it back), and a couple joints came unsoldered (I'm not sure if the student was involved in that or not). I would be very hesitant to have a younger student or a less dextrous and responsible student playing on these because of the paddles, but the students I've had on the horns have not had any major issues with bending things (it's been my fault when I want to push the valves like I'm playing trumpet). I'm hopeful that the newer models have corrected this, especially since they run a few hundred dollars more.

Here is how it sounds.