Highlights include Blockbuster Longtones and Indie Drama Lip Slurs for Brass, allowing instrumentalists of all levels to warm up and practice fundamentals with engaging accompaniments from movie soundtracks and sweeping, orchestral scores.

Also included are ensemble works composed or arranged by Sally K. Albrecht, Brian Balmages, Andy Beck, Lisa DeSpain, Greg Gilpin, George Shutack, and many more; as well as pop, movie, and video game music from Lizzo, Beyoncé, Black Adam, and Super Mario Bros.!

Click here to view all of this month’s new interactive repertoire as a PDF or one of the shareable playlists below.

New Ensemble Repertoire Includes:

• 36 new choir titles
• 25 new solos
• 11 new concert band titles
• 10 new titles for jazz ensemble
• 7 new titles for string orchestra
• 2 new method books
• 1 new work for small ensemble

SmartMusic is home to the largest interactive and digital sheet music libraries available, with tens of thousands of titles spanning every instrument, ensemble type, skill level, and genre. Each subscription provides access to every title in our unrivaled repertoire library of music from more than 130 different publishers. Get started by generating a quote.

The post SmartMusic October 2022 Repertoire Update appeared first on SmartMusic.

After students have a good understanding of posture and bow hold, I address the concept of tone through what I call the “LAWS of Tone and Dynamics,” with LAWS standing for Lane, Amount, Weight, and Speed. These four terms help students understand how to create a characteristic tone and a variety of dynamic levels.

Lane

The location of the bow on the string plays an important role in the quality of tone that one can produce and the volume that will be produced. Different methodologies divide this into various amounts of areas, with the basic three being Sul Tasto, Sound Point, and Ponticello. The opening of Sound Innovations: Sound Development explores lanes in relationship to dynamic levels, with an explanation of where to play prior to each of the first six exercises in the book.

Generally speaking, students should play near the sound point, staying parallel to the bridge; however, allowing your students to experiment with different tone qualities is a great way to open their ears to what is possible. Using a simple tune such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” have them try playing in different lanes. You could even have them change up the name of the song depending on the tone quality—“Mary Had a Little Dinosaur” (for ponticello) or “Mary Had a Little Fish” (for sul tasto).

Amount

When explaining to beginners the role “amount” plays in tone quality, I simply say that “more bow = more sound.” We then explore the mechanics of how to use our shoulders, elbows, and even wrists to extend our bows from frog to tip and tip to frog. As they advance, they learn that tone development is a balance between location, amount, weight, and speed—so more bow doesn’t always equate to more sound.

To explore “amount,” check out the first few exercises in Habits of a Successful String Musician (or Habits of a Successful Middle Level String Musician).

Weight

I like to use the term bow weight rather than bow pressure because pressure infers tension, whereas weight has to do with gravity. Discuss with the students where this weight comes from (gravity and their scapulas, not squeezing their fingers).

Sound Innovations: Sound Development has a helpful unit that teaches students to experiment with different bow weights.

Speed

The speed of your bow does not always equate to the speed of the music or the rhythm. How fast you move your bow plays an important factor in the type of tone you produce when applied with different weights and different amounts. For example, if you use fast speed and large amounts with light weight, the sound might be wispy tone-wise, but it might also be loud dynamic-wise just because of the speed.

An entertaining example of this is having the students make a “light-saber” sound effect by drawing the bow, slow to start and fast to finish, on an open string (sorry in advance that you will now hear this sound at the start of every class period!).

Tilt

Once students understand how to use the LAWS, I add one extra letter… “T” for Tilt, and tell them they’d be “LAWST” (aka lost) without bow tilt. Tilting your bow with the hairs toward the bridge alleviates some of the friction created between the bow hairs and the string, and often results in a more resonant tone. For violin and viola, this means tilting your stick away from you and raising your bow arm slightly in response. For cello, this means tilting your stick towards you, which relieves some tension in your bow wrist and arm as well. For bass, there will be less tilt because of the necessity for some friction when creating a big bass tone, but you will at times tilt the stick slightly toward you.

Putting It All Together

I remember teaching Midnight Howl to my students one year, rehearsing the open 8 measures over and over. I was very focused on matching their bow lanes, amount, weight, and speed, so we could find a unified tone and match our articulation as well. Students started asking why we were going over this same spot day after day when they “knew it” already. They knew the notes and rhythms of course, but understanding all of the capabilities of their bow was another story, so we continued to work on it until they played and sounded as one. Setting them up with a strong foundation in these LAWS helped promote a very successful school year for that ensemble and I know it can for yours as well!

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Cartoon by Paul Hart

Ensemble type: Concert Band
Difficulty: Medium Advanced
Recommended by: Ted Scalzo, Education Specialist

“If you want your students to improve their technical performance skills and have fun at the same time, this is your piece. Actually, it is their piece!”

Why did you choose this piece to perform with your group?

This piece is a nostalgic look at old cartoon soundtracks. My students chose this piece because of the many emotions and moods conveyed throughout the composition. They understood some of the difficulties in performing the work and were very willing to put in the time to make the audience laugh and smile.

What skills does it address, or what lessons does it teach?

Many technically challenging sections must be perfected to get the audience to feel (visualize) what is happening. This piece also teaches students to focus on communicating with an audience. We use our skills to make the audience feel something.

What are some teaching strategies you would recommend to teachers who are rehearsing this piece?

Break the piece down into smaller technical challenges and also work on perfecting the emotional intent-chase, energy, courting, humor, and slapstick. Allow your students to decide how to communicate best what the composer intends in each section.

Why would you recommend this piece to someone else?

If you want your students to improve their technical performance skills and have fun at the same time, this is your piece. Actually, it is their piece! Several styles of music are encapsulated within the entire work. Anyone who has seen a Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry cartoon will understand what is being conveyed.

What memorable experiences did you have while rehearsing or performing this piece?

This was the last piece I performed with my wonderful students at Bay Shore High School. The fact that they chose it and we had so much fun preparing it is a memory filled with joy and laughter. Their pride in performing this challenging work and seeing and hearing the audience’s reaction is something we still talk about.

How did SmartMusic enhance the rehearsal process?

SmartMusic provided the students with a model and the ability to slow down difficult passages to perfect the style and nuance to communicate with our audience. My students said we could not have done this without SmartMusic as our practice tool.

What sections or measures needed the most attention?

Ensembles should work on measure 56 from day one. First, slow it down and have students gradually increase the tempo until they can perform it beyond the recorded tempo. We found going beyond our needs made performance effortless.

What interests you most about this piece?

Cartoon has a universal appeal to everyone, from the performers to the audience. It is a happy, uplifting, funny piece that students enjoy.

Add Cartoon to a playlist.

Click here to find more great SmartMusic repertoire with SmartPicks

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I firmly believe that focusing on the fundamental skills (specifically tone production, articulation, rhythm, technique, and style as appropriate) lead to both individual development and ensemble development since each of these skills build on the one before it.

Once students are able to produce a great sound, the next most important aspect of their playing is articulation. I believe that articulation should be worked on every day. One of the best parts of working on articulation is that kids can hear the improvement. It’s an immediate change. They want instant gratification—everything to happen right away—and articulation is one of those things that you can hook them on and give them the feeling of “Oh, this is cool. I do sound better.” Even in the first year of playing, I encourage everyone to work on the development of fundamental articulation, and to do an articulation exercise. It can be very short at the start and develop over time as the students continue to progress.

Check out these recommended articulation exercises from Alfred Music’s Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Intermediate Concert Band series.

Open the Playlist

Just like when you speak, articulation is important for clarity of what is being said or played. Ensuring that all students articulate correctly requires individual attention. Since you cannot see what they are doing inside their mouth, you must be persistent when you teach. Never be afraid to teach and reteach again!

Sample Articulation Exercise, courtesy of Robert Herrings: click here to download

As the teacher, having an understanding of where the tongue should touch inside of the mouth or on the reed is part of what we need to define for our students. Even within brass playing, where the tongue touches will vary from instrument to instrument. I am a firm believer in only giving the students the information they need. We don’t want to complicate things for them. Be short, clear, and concise. If we start trying to dissect it and get really “scientific” about what’s happening inside the mouth, then things will start to get distorted.

Articulation also changes with each student depending on their teeth structure. These days they will come to school with all sorts of orthodontic contraptions in their mouths! We are sometimes stuck trying to figure out different ways to get students to articulate clearly so they don’t distort their tone in spite of those devices.

One tool which is really helpful when teaching articulation is to have students start notes without their tongue: an air attack. An air attack is when you have the student make a fundamental sound with no distortion to the tone. Once that tone has been achieved, add the tongue back in at the start of the note. The goal is to have no change in the air speed or the embouchure from the successful air attack. Adding the tongue back in should only offer more clarity to the start of their sound. A phrase I often use and learned from a really smart band director is, “airspeed drives articulation.” We all know that if we want students to play with a great sound, they need to use great air. If the air is fast behind the tongue and the kids are able to execute very clear articulation, the tone qualities take care of themselves. A lot of times, some of the intonation takes care of itself, too!

As the students develop in their playing, define note starts and releases. So many bands do not start or end together! This is a skill that has to be taught and reinforced through repetition. Listen critically and address concerns as they arise. A beautiful note-start hinges on the intake of the breath and the tongue moving down quickly and together at the start of the note. The phrase “A band that breathes together, plays together,” stands true. With note releases, I stress that students should stop the note by breathing in, holding the vowel sound on the note-end and staying relaxed. The follow through of the note-end is often overlooked. No matter the duration, notes should all start and end together. With younger players, this is a skill that has to be monitored and reinforced consistently. To fully develop the students’ awareness and skill, vary articulation patterns to challenge their growth. 

Ensemble articulation consists of the combination of each individual performer’s articulation (consistency) and the overall transparency of the ensemble. This can be developed by modeling, the use of consistent language, working an articulation exercise, varying articulation patterns, the use of subdivision exercises, and vocalizations

Keeping these keys to successful articulation in mind—quality, strength, speed of tongue, and support of air—will make an immediate impact in the sound of your ensemble.

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An essential part of learning and playing a string instrument is understanding the geography and theory behind the fingerboard. When approaching this with students, I ask myself the following three questions:

Question # 1: Do the students know how to read notes on each string?

This is always a big hurdle for many incoming middle schoolers. Some students know all four strings, while others may only know the D and A string. Using a traditional beginning method book might be a great way to go back and teach these basic concepts, but some kids may feel that using their “elementary” book seems juvenile, so I try to present the material in a new way. For example, my composition Sky Suite has four distinct movements designed to introduce one string at a time (A, D, and then G). The goal is to allow the students to feel solid at reading and performing notes on each individual string, but doing so in the context of a piece of sheet music.

Another spin is to assign an exercise from a method book through SmartMusic. The benefits to this approach are a) you don’t have to pass out the whole book for just one concept, b) the students will likely not realize it is the same book they used in elementary school, and c) there are so many method books to access–you don’t have to stick with just one. For example, I might assign some G string review in Essential Elements Book 1 (#97 “Walking around” and #100 “The Low Down.”). Then I’ll have the students skip over to Sound Innovations Book 1 to play a G major scale, saying the notes out loud while we play.

Question #2: Do the students understand the chromatic scale, all of the notes available to them, and the concept of an enharmonic?

It is so important to get students to understand there are notes beyond the D major scale. To assist with this, I teach the chromatic scale early on in the year. I equate enharmonics to “nicknames” and have students practice saying and playing the notes. I use a method of “Say Play Play,” where they say the note aloud and then play it twice to give them time to really let the note name and finger position sink in.

Examples of Chromatic Scale Resources

• Sound Innovations: Sound Development, #229 Chromatic Scale (on D)
• Essential Techniques 2000 Book 3, #185 shifting chromatic fingering (1 octave)
• Habits of a Successful Musician, #185 two octave chromatic scale (starting on C)

Question #3: Do the students understand the different finger patterns they can play on each string and how the key signature affects their finger patterns?

Understanding finger patterns is an essential aspect of playing a string instrument. Chris Selby does a great job of providing exercises for understanding these patterns in Habits of a Successful Middle Level String Musician. For example,  #16 “First Two Finger Patterns” concisely shows the difference between playing F# and playing F natural, and then takes the exercise a step further by mixing up each pattern.  

To help students associate finger patterns with specific key signatures, you can go to Essential Technique Book 3, which has a collection of exercises based on each key and each string. (example #125 “Finger Patterns in A Major”).

For more advanced students, you might assign a solo that contains a variety of finger patterns. Check out, Sound Innovations Soloist,  a new series from Alfred Music which includes solos for all instruments along with preparatory exercises for each piece. Lauren Bernofksy’s Serenata (available for violin, viola, cello, and bass) is a great example of a piece that focuses on different finger patterns

You could also quiz the students by coming up with a SmartMusic playlist of examples in different keys and ask them what finger pattern or hand shape they will need to use for that exercise. Here’s a playlist I’ve curated that you could use as sight reading practice or just a written quiz.

Open the Playlist

Once the students have obtained the background knowledge of note reading, the chromatic scale and finger patterns, I find that they can tackle any future key signature or scale that may come their way, making them much more successful in sight reading and performance for the rest of the year. Of course, along the way we also must consider posture and all of the other aspects of playing, but with this solidified understanding of fingerboard geography, students will have a great foundation and framework for future study.

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Element #1: Breathing

Correct breathing must be taught and practiced. Band is probably the only class where students have to be intentional about breathing. We need to guide our students to breathe deeply and correctly continually so that it becomes second nature to them. Why do breathing? Here are 4 reasons:

1. Helps maximize lung capacity, thereby increasing airflow.
2. More air means more vibration, thereby, more sound (sound = air + vibration).
3. Helps remove tension, which is tone’s worst enemy.
4. Creates a focused and quiet environment in which to make music. (classroom management by-product!).

Encourage students to think about breathing down to the bottom of their stomach and/or their chair. Try having them inhale whispering the word “how” and exhale whispering the word “too,” or try the exercise below:

Element #2: Tone

Tone is the medium by which we communicate; GREAT tone is how we communicate effectively. Tone drives, otherwise known as long tones, are the best way to have students focus on and develop optimum characteristic tone quality. Using a SING – BUZZ – PLAY approach, have the students default to a 2-count inhale from Element #1, but have them sustain for 12 counts at mm=96. Gradually, slow down the tempo for longer sustains. You can vary the number of counts on the exhale, as well.

SING—Have students sing on a unified vowel such as “dAH,” “dOH,” or “dOO.” You might try humming first: Mmm… MAW… dAH.

BUZZ—While brass players buzz a note, have woodwinds play it. When the brass players are buzzing rather than playing, it allows woodwinds to hear themselves a little more easily, and for the brass players, it helps focus their embouchures and increase vibration, which clears up the tone quality.

PLAY—The approach to tone drives should be prioritized as follows: BBI = Balance, Blend, Intonation

• Priority 1: Balance = Volume (translates to air speed)
• Priority 2: Blend = Characteristic Tone Quality—“Describe your tone quality at all times!”
• Priority 3: Intonation = Most effective after priority 1 and 2 are achieved

Element #3: InTONEation

Students must be taught how to listen. What does “in tune” sound like? Eliminating the waves between 2 players (one could be a tone generator like the Harmony Director) is a good starting point. The singing from Element #2 helps develop internal audiation (hear it before you play it) and pitch discernment (ability to hear intonation discrepancies). Encourage them to listen to the lowest octave of their note within the ensemble.

You must be consistent and persistent, especially at the beginning. The students have to hear what “right” sounds like to be able to recreate it, and in fact, want to recreate it!

Recharge, Rebuild, and Reinvigorate with More Power Up Blogs

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Holiday Pops

Familiar popular songs are always a hit for the holidays, and arrangers continually create fresh settings for these classic tunes. Explore the creative arrangements that make them feel like a brand new piece!

Concert Band Jazz Ensemble Orchestra Choir

Carol Arrangements

Many people enjoy hearing carols at holiday concerts, whether it’s an audience sing-along or an elaborate concert setting. 

Concert Band Jazz Ensemble Orchestra Choir

Hanukkah

Celebrate the Festival of Lights with an original song or an arrangement of traditional Hebrew folk songs.

Concert Band Jazz Ensemble Orchestra Choir

Holiday & Winter Originals

Include some original music on your December performances to balance the familiar holiday tunes. 

Concert Band Orchestra Choir

Novelty

Give your students a chance to show a little personality! Novelty songs can provide a lighthearted moment in contrast to your program’s heavier, more serious parts. 

Concert Band Jazz Ensemble Orchestra Choir

The post Music for the Holidays appeared first on SmartMusic.

The first step to managing and teaching intonation to young musicians is in the development of the students’ fundamental pitch and tonal center. Spending regular time focusing on these skills over a long period of time (not just at the beginning of the year) will build the long-term skills that students need to have in order to have a secure fundamental pitch on their instrument. Examples of a fundamental pitch for some instruments are as follows:

• Oboe: Reed Crow should sound a C
• B-flat Clarinet: F# on mouthpiece and barrel
• Bass Clarinet: F# on mouthpiece alone
• Alto Sax: G# on mouthpiece and neck
• Tenor Sax: E on mouthpiece and neck
• Baritone Sax: D on mouthpiece and neck

Once students can produce fundamental pitches consistently on smaller parts of their instruments, they are better able to manage the more intricate details of intonation. I often tell my students “you must be in tune with yourself before you can be in tune with the band.” This statement is a reminder that when a student plays the interval of a Perfect Fifth, did they truly play a P5? The ability of a student to recognize and adjust comes from regular and consistent repetitions on understanding their instrument’s intonation tendencies. One of the ways in which students can discover these tendencies is through an Intonation Inventory.

The Intonation Inventory is an activity that can be assigned multiple times throughout the year for students to track their personal intonation tendencies and adjustments. After a full warmup and doing a fundamental tuning of the instrument, students first make predictions to several questions.

1. Which notes are the “bad notes” on your instrument?
2. Which notes always give you intonation problems?
3. Are those notes usually flat or sharp?
4. Which notes seem to be nearly always in tune?

Using the tuner on SmartMusic or a personal tuner, students will team up with a friend to fill out the intonation table with how many cents flat, sharp, or in tune they are for each note throughout their current entire range (it does not make sense to have students attempt to gauge the intonation for notes that they do not currently play with control). In the far-left column, they will star notes that are extremely out of tune. Students can also access SmartMusic’s LoFi Long Tones exercises by first practicing with the  accompaniment, then practicing without it while having the SmartMusic tuner on (in separate tab/window) so they can continuously check their intonation tendencies.

After completing the chromatic intonation evaluation with their partner, the student can respond to the following questions.

1. What number of predictions did you get accurate?
2. Did you notice any patterns that proved your predictions?
3. What were they?
4. What did you notice that surprised you?
5. What will you do with this information?

Of course, the Intonation Inventory is just one of many techniques to teach and reinforce intonation tendencies with individual players in the ensemble. Students should also be reminded of the role of breath support, posture, reed selection, dynamics, pad/key adjustments, room temperature, and playing position when completing their Intonation Inventory.

The quest for well developed intonation in our ensemble is never over and using as many tools to help our students to firmly grasp this often-nebulous concept is crucial to the success of every ensemble. Using the SmartMusic tuner and an Intonation Inventory might be a tool and activity to add to your toolbelt this school year:

Download the free PDF activity

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Highlights include the new PerformancePlus+ series, an interactive rehearsal and performance series for choir, concert band, and orchestra; Suzuki Violin School, Volumes 4–6 recorded by Augustin Hadelich and Kuang-Hao Huang; The Art IN Sight-reading by David Morrison and Judy Morrison; 20 Trios for Any Instrumentation (Book 1) by Brian Franco; and ensemble works composed or arranged by Tyler Acari, Andy Beck, Kris Berg, Chris M. Bernotas, Susan H. Day, JaRod Hall, Mark Hayes, Soon Hee Newbold, Randall D. Standridge, and many more!

Click here to view all of this month’s new Interactive method books and ensemble pieces as a PDF, or one of the shareable playlists below.

New Ensemble Repertoire Includes:

• 33 new choir titles
• 26 new concert band titles
• 15 new titles for string orchestra
• 7 new titles for jazz ensemble
• 4 new method books
• 2 new titles for full orchestra
• 1 new collection for small ensembles

SmartMusic is home to the largest interactive and digital sheet music libraries available, with tens of thousands of titles spanning every instrument, ensemble type, skill level, and genre. Each subscription provides access to every title in our unrivaled repertoire library of music from more than 130 different publishers. Get started by generating a quote.

The post SmartMusic September 2022 Repertoire Update appeared first on SmartMusic.

At the Edge of the Sea by Kirk Vogel (Alfred, Gr. 2.5)

Open in SmartMusic

The motion of birds along the coastline is characterized via moving eighth notes, larger intervals, accents and some mixed meter. All instruments contribute to the melodic content and every instrument group combines with percussion at varying times throughout the piece to provide rhythmic drive. Commissioned for the Everitt Middle School and Wheat Ridge High School Bands (Wheat Ridge, CO).

South Shore Soliloquy by Robert Sheldon (Alfred, Gr. 2.5)

Open in SmartMusic

A heartfelt elegy written to honor the legacy of director Dr. Gary Corcoran (Plymouth State University, NH). From start to finish every satisfying phrase, tender sigh and euphonious climax in this beautiful, sonorous work is pure Robert Sheldon.

Beyond Reach by Adrian Sims (Alfred, Gr. 3)

Open in SmartMusic

Informed by the rhythms, scoring, and harmonies of today’s film music, this compelling piece – which portrays an action-filled journey towards an unseen opposition – include fresh, inventive harmonies, punctuated ostinatos rhythms in the low instruments, and percussion pitted against broad, lyric strokes of the melody in the middle voices. Premiered “virtually” by the 2021 Georgia Music Educators Association District V Honor Band.

Golden Celebration Overture by Chris Bernotas (Alfred, Gr. 3)

Open in SmartMusic

This overture, written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Parsippany Hills High School (NJ), takes the listener on a journey of contrasting styles, opening with a fanfare, then reflective/reverent wrapping up with energetic, sometimes playful material drives to an exhilarating close. The scoring – timbrally inventive and presenting many textures – offers interest for those who play and hear! 

Light Up the Sky by Scott Watson (Alfred, Gr. 3)

Open in SmartMusic

I wrote this bright piece for the South Hunterdon Regional High School Concert Band (Lambertville, NJ) to depict the dazzling excitement of the fireworks display their town produces on summer nights over the adjacent Delaware River. Contributing to the excitement are lively syncopated rhythms; driving mixed meter and energetic, colorful (and at times explosive!) percussion in this work inspired by Hande’s “Water Music” and “Royal Fireworks Music”!

Steel Valley Transformation by Michael Kamuf (Belwin, Gr. 3.5)

Open in SmartMusic

This piece celebrates the grit and resolve of Ohio’s Mahoning Valley community over the past century with three sections depicting different eras. It was commissioned for and dedicated to the OMEA District 5 High School Honor Band (Youngstown, OH). Kamuf’s writing – a synthesis of traditional concert art and pop/jazz influences – produces music that connects with players/audiences on many levels.

Vanishing Point by Randall Standridge (Randall Standridge Music, Gr. 4)

Open in SmartMusic

The beautiful vistas of the Great Lakes region – home to the Sturgeon Bay High School Band (Wisconsin), commissioner’s of the piece – served as the inspiration for this impressive and sweeping work. Minimalistic rhythms, lush harmonies and colorful orchestration abound to portray various impressions of the water. The piece includes a SFX track (free download from RSM site) with nature sounds meant to be played as the piece opens/closes.

Conclusion

Of course, these seven, medium difficulty pieces are just a sampling. There are so many talented composers producing aesthetically compelling and pedagogically helpful music at all levels for school bands! I promise that if you take a closer look at ALL the new band music created/released back in 2020 you are sure to find the perfect piece for YOUR ensemble…one which otherwise may have been “lost to the pandemic.”

The post Lost, Now Found! Rediscovering Concert Band Titles from the Pandemic appeared first on SmartMusic.