Travis J. Weller

I am pleased to announce that two new pieces are available for preview at FJH Music.  The first is a piece for middle school/junior high band entitled “Tales of A Medieval Warrior”.  It is a three movement work full of brash fanfares, opportunities for small chamber groups within the ensemble, and a thundering conclusion portraying a joust!  The second piece is a transcription of a piece I originally wrote for the River City Youth Brass Band.  “A Frontier Fought and A City Found” chronicles the final capture of “The Point” in Pittsburgh by British Forces during the Seven Years War.  On the FJH Site you are able to preview the score while listening to the recordings by The Washington Winds.  As always, thank you for your support of this music, and I hope it can a wonderful musical experience for directors, students, and audiences alike!

Within today’s middle school band programs around the country, there are many directors that must develop their student’s technical performance skills within the ensemble setting.  Although not an ideal situation, it is the only viable option for keeping students involved in a band program.  Add into the mix a tight music budget, and the option to purchase ensemble method books to address some of this burden may not be available either.  The pressure of the next concert, next contest, or trip forces many directors to teach executive skills through the study of ensemble literature, and for that reason choosing literature that will nurture the growth of student musicians becomes of paramount importance. Read more…

This week I began researching interpretation and feeling as part of my work at Kent State.  At first glance, they seemed unrelated. However, the more I began reading perspectives of different composers and conductors, my conclusion is that great interpretation does not just recreate the composer’s intent but rather conveys feelings that the composer intended. The sources abounded including Mark Camphouse’s series Composers on Composing for Band, and a great text edited by John Williamson Rehearsing the Band – both of which I recommend for great insight into score study, interpretation, and enhancing your podium perspective. Read more…

Ironically enough my readings this past week at Kent State, a Facebook discussion thread, and  Valentine’s Day collided at spawned this post. Pushing students to achieve levels of tonal and rhythmic accuracy is important – it is all part of getting them to a point where they have the technical proficiency they need to execute the big fundamental structure of a piece of music.  Tone quality and intonation awareness are two other dimensions that if mastered, start to create degrees of separation in the quality of the ensembles we hear.  When we can educate the individual musician (the musician inside their head) they can use the instrument as a vehicle of communication to as they display phrasing, dynamic contrast, and stylistic interpretation.  These are all worthwhile and important goals of instrumental music education – but if a trophy on the wall is more important than guiding students towards a meaningful life-long relationship with music…

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Nope sorry. No Dr. Jones here. Even a little far yet from being Dr. Weller.  But my search is beginning to intensify, and I am starting to see some light in an area of instrumental music that I am deeply concerned about.  I promise there will be no fire at the high school or the middle school, but I do expect to turn up the heat…it is January in the Northeast, after all.

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