While it is our job to teach instrumental music, we as a profession must take time to consider these student musicians and ultimately where there career path might lead.  Not every student in our program may become a professional musician or a music educator, but we do want them to leave with a positive connection to music that they can tangibly see in their lives.  We must also choose music that allows us as directors to connect the academic music of the school ensemble with the outside world in which the student live, and that music must contribute to and enrich the community in which the school ensemble is situated.  While high school bands have enjoyed list upon list in book after article of best music for study and performance, I am somewhat disheartened by the lack of attention paid to Middle School and Junior High Ensembles.  It is though because this music is studied and performed by amateur musicians it is somehow not serious literature, and is of little importance or no consequence – I whole heartedly disagree with that line of thinking.  I have previously tried to get the FIRE started for discussion about Middle School Band Literature.  My goal here today is to discuss aspects for choosing literature for Middle School/High School, and then present a list for consideration.

There is a wealth of traditional literature that needs to be part of the “core” repertoire of young musicians as it allows them to develop certain techniques.  Ballads, which can be used to develop legato tonguing and musical expression, and marches, which can be used to develop marcato style, contrasting dynamics and articulation, and understanding of form, are two such types of traditional literature appropriate for study and performance.  There are also a number of writers expanding the sound canvas and providing excellent contemporary literature that present opportunities to explore musical concepts once reserved for more advanced pieces played by advanced groups.  Aleatoric episodes, vocalization, body percussion, different textures, elements of other music styles, and experimental timbres are such concepts that students may experience (Wilborn, 2001).

While contemporary literature offers one kind of experience into a different sound canvas for young musicians, another source to consider in selecting literature is multi-cultural pieces.  Many “multi-cultural” pieces performed by ensembles are arrangements or compositions by a Western-trained musician and are typically written for a standard Western instrumental ensemble.  Goetze’s view is that stylistic practices of some culture’s music cannot be adequately recreated using Western instruments or Western harmonic structure and that the experience gained by student is a Western art musical experience rather than a multi-cultural one (Goetze, 2000).  Goetze doesn’t suggest that this music should be avoided, and suggests through study of the culture, seeking out authentic performances (live ones work best), and providing insight into the music’s use within its native culture can inform our choices and our teaching.

Another aspect to consider in selecting literature with regard to developing student’s technical skills is having a long-term vision for what you hope the students can accomplish as musicians.  A number of articles and chapters in text (i.e. Miles, 1997) have been devoted to the high school ensemble curriculum devised so that students make progress over the course of several school years.  Middle school becomes a unique situation in that some directors see their students only 1 year, others 2 to 3 years, and others continue to see them as they are the only instrumental teacher in grades 7-12!  In the case of students that move on to another teacher, a open and professional line of communication should exist so the high school and middle school director(s) can frame their expectations for student development through the study of instrumental music.  In the case of being “master of your own destiny”, a director should be able to build a logical repertoire curriculum for his own students.

Because repertoire can serve as the source for a long-term plan, it is very important that teachers at all levels have a repertoire list he or she believes that all students should perform over a period of several years (Geraldi, 2008). Geraldi offers the following considerations for inclusion on “core repertoire list”:

• Work should have formal, rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic creativity.
• Work should convey the composer’s imagination.
• Work should be well-orchestrated.
• Balance between tutti sections and thinner texture sections.
• Work should convey emotional or expressive depth.

Speaking to that last point made by Geraldi, we should give our students the opportunity to hear the emotion in the music.  Through this process of recognizing and exploring emotional moments in music,  it causes students to become aware of their own emotions (Whitwell, 2009).  As long we choose music that is authentic, the students (and the eventual audience!) cannot fail to perceive the generalized form of the emotion.  So in our selection and programming of literature, we need to be sure that our students become aware of the emotional depth of the music, begin to explore and understand what that emotion conveys, how the composer expresses it in the music, and they must find a means of expressing their own personal emotions through performance, self-reflection, or discussion within the ensemble.

Composers, conductors, and educators alike all discuss the need for variety in programming and repertoire selection.  Selecting literature of diverse style and origin provides much needed variety for the director, students, and audience.  Even such simple concepts as balancing different textures, contrasting tempos, and balancing major, minor, and modal tonalities are ways in which variety in programming can be achieved.  Other considerations when programming literature include having the required instrumentation and equipment, instructional time to teach the work effectively and efficiently, and the enjoyment that can be gained from rehearsing and the performance of the piece for the director, students, and audience.

With all of this in mind, I offer some suggestions (from the past 15 years of teaching) for pieces for middle school/junior high band I believe a) are worthwhile for students to study, b) provide variety in style, c) have aesthetic/artistic appeal to all parties involved, and d) allow students to draw out their own meaning and emotions.  The list is where I am in 2010 as an educator, and is subject to revision as my perspective, experience, and knowledge grows.  I would be interested in hearing about a list for your ensemble.

1) Air for Band – Frank Erickson

2) Wagon Trail – Julie Giroux

3) Suspended Animation – Patrick J. Burns

4) Kentucky 1800 – Clare Grundman

5) A Childhood Hymn – David Holsinger

6) Grant County Celebration – Mark Williams

7) Unraveling – Andrew Boysen, Jr.

The Forge of Vulcan – Michael Sweeney

9) Bashana Haba’ Ah – Lloyd Conley

10) Basin Street Blues – Mark Higgins

11) Carpathian Sketches – Robert Jager

12) Marching Song – Holst/John Moss

13) Cloud Gate – Timothy Loest

14) Our Kingsland Spring – Sam Hazo

15) Canto – W. Francis McBeth

16) Kilaeua – Brian Balmages

17) Crusin’ – Willie Owens

18) Ghosts in the Graveyard – Scott Watson

19) Highlights from the Music Man – Johnnie Vinson

20) Appomattox – James Hosay

Enjoy the list, good luck with your spring concerts, and don’t forget to add to the conversation!

Geraldi, K. M. (2008). Planned programming pays dividends. Music Educators Journal 95 (2), 75-79.

Goetze, M. (2000). Challenges of performing diverse cultural music. Music Educators Journal, 87 (1), 23 -25, 48.

Miles, R. (1997). Teaching music through performance in band. Chicago: GIA Publications.

Whitwell, D. (2009). Music education of the future: Two paramount new purposes. NBA Journal, 50 (2), 43-60.

Wilborn, D. F. (2001). Spicing up band with contemporary literature. Teaching Music,8 (5), 36-40.

This post has been brewing for some time now, and it has taken a few days off from slinging a stick and writing passes to get there.  The Midwest 2009 experience was a big reminder of where our profession is in relation to the music that is made available for school ensembles to study, rehearse and perform.  Studies in English lead us to the pinnacle as evidenced in the works of Shakespeare, Melville, and Milton.  Studies in band lead us to the pinnacle as evidenced in the works Holst, Grainger, Vaughan Williams. But are there not other authors, and likewise are there not other composers?  The names are familiar and many great works are conjured up by a simple mention – Francis McBeth, Clifton Williams, Alfred Reed, Robert Jager, Claude T. Smith, and  Ron Nelson.  Chant and Jubilo, Symphonic Dance No. 3, The Hounds of Spring,  Esprit de Corps, God of Our Fathers, and Rocky Point Holiday (though for me, Mvt. 2 of A Medieval Suite…check it out, seriously).

This is by no means a comprehensive list that follows – but it represents a selection of composers and their pieces that are regarded by many as significant and worthwhile endeavors for ensembles to study and rehearse.  There are names left off – I mean no disrespect.  These are humble opinions and evaluations.  Even the composers listed might feel the piece below is not their best work.  They are all perhaps a tier or two down from pieces by those listed above as of the last day in 2009.  But in another 25 to 30 years, we might find them regarded quite differently.

I have no doubt that Ride, by Samuel Hazo, will one day be a standard measuring stick for ensembles technical facility.  Ghost Train, by Eric Whitacre, will stretch the limits of musicianship by an ensemble.  Bands will come to know new depths of patriotic emotional connection to music by experiencing Julie Giroux’s No Finer Calling.  Movement for Rosa and Watchmen Tell Us Of The Night, by Mark Camphouse, are musical gems with significant social consciousness.  There are a number of pieces by Ticheli which have garnered some deserved attention (and on a personal note,  I think the fact his piece followed mine in the Vandercook performance at Midwest caused me more anxiety than the performance of my piece!).  Even Puszta, by Jan Van Der Roost, has opened our ears to depth and quality of music being written by musicians from other parts of the world.  To my ears, James Barnes’ The Trail of Tears transcends the idea that great music is hard music, and his work reveals our capacity for writing music that transfers well to the medium and is culturally sensitive.

These are but a few pieces regarded as serious literature for mature ensembles.  The process of selecting them and the reasons for doing so are often give less scrutiny as the name of the composer, the “prestige” of the piece, its appearance on state festival lists, or reviews in magazines often provide the impetus for its programming.  Much will be written about these kinds of pieces, much attention will be given to their interpretation, and little will be considered before it is selected.  From my perspective, the opposite holds true in regard to literature for elementary and middle school bands.  There will be little written, little regard to interpretation (as these are “non-serious” musicians), and a lot will be considered (like whether or not it is easy enough to earn a top rating at contest!).

I applaud the efforts of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, as it has done a lot to identify significant pieces at both the elementary and junior high ability/grade level that are regarded as “serious” literature.  There are a number of fantastic composers who are writing absolute masterpieces at this ability/grade level, yet their work is not regarded as significant because it is played by non-serious musicians.  We could spend days going through the history of music citing pieces that are masterpieces, but yet were intended for use by teachers to raise the musical ability of their students.  There are people within our profession that would look upon some of this literature as not worthy of creating a meaningful musical experience.  There are some outside the profession that decry its quality and have made verbal and literary attacks on composers for writing music that has no connection to the performers, or the intended audience.  I reside somewhere in the middle truth be known – while the music written for the American Wind Band to me is the most exciting and interesting written today, it is incumbent upon educators to make informed educated choices in the selection of music for study and find ways in which to make meaningful connections to our students.

At an elementary and middle school level, there are many factors that play in to our decision to select a piece for study that include but are not limited to: balance of our instrumentation, fitting the need of the ensemble, rehearsal time, balancing musical expectations of the administration, community, and students, and the difficulty of the piece versus the ability of the ensemble.  All are areas that must be weighed and considered before we make that selection.  There are two significant qualities I look for in a piece – but I usually cannot get a complete read on them until after I have started working on it: 1) Does it get the students excited about music and point them towards a more meaningful and personal relationship with music, and 2) Does it provide a worthwhile experience whereby the student, director, and ensemble experience growth intellectually, musically, and socially?  If both of those questions come back in the affirmative, it is hard for me to dismiss a piece as not being significant.  Whether it is programmatic, multi-cultural, or an extension of the American Wind Band heritage, I think it is important to weigh it against those two qualities alongside the pre-selection criteria that is utilized.

My question to all of you at middle school or elementary levels (current or future), what criteria do you use in the selection of music for your ensemble and how do you rank them in order of their importance?  Let’s start the new year with a good discussion, and sharpen up our skills as we search for greatness in elementary and middle school band literature.

Similar to the first assignment, they were given very specific guidelines to govern the creative process.  As they are writing 2 parts for their instrument, there were a couple of minor changes that would hopefully assist them. For example, the assignment due during tomorrow’s rehearsal used the following guidelines:

1) B-flat concert and Common Time
2) 8 measures in length.
3) Assigned notes per measure (notes listed in concert pitch)

m.1                        m.2                        m.3                        m.4
(B^b, D, F)             (E^b, G, B^b)            (C, E^b, G)                  (F,A,C)

m.5                        m.6                        m.7                        m.8
(G,B^b,D)            (C, E^b, G)             (F,A,C)                   (B^b, D, F)

The one thing I discovered is that I had to remind them frequently that there note choices for the harmony line were the same as the melody line.  In a couple of instances, we had some definite tension in the sound between the lines, but nothing that Stravinsky would say “wouldn’t work”.  In addition to the notes listed above, they may choose to use one beat of non-assigned notes per measure (For example, in measure 1 they could utilize an E^b or G as long as it does not exceed one and a half beats within the measure).

4) The Winds may use any of the following note values so long as it equals four beats:

The percussion may use any of the following note values for the snare drum part as long as it equals four beats:

After the winds finished composing, they would sit down with a partner and perform the duet for a percussionist.  After hearing the composition a couple of time, the percussionist would begin constructing a percussion part consisting of two different instruments.  While most used snare and bass, a couple of students chose to use triangle, tambourine, and woodblock to accompany the winds to which they were assigned.

Again though it was optional, students were encouraged to begin including expressive elements within their melody including varying dynamic levels (piano through forte), accents, slurs, and also make use of crescendos and decrescendos.

My rule of “If you write it, you better be able to play it” definitely clicked with a couple of students.  After playing through their initial melody sketch two different students looked at me and said “That’s not what I wanted at all.”  A couple more didn’t realize the awkwardness of what they wrote until they tried performing it – one clarinet in particular has new appreciation for going over the break!

One of the big concerns is evaluating each composition.  My biggest concern is not to pass artistic judgment, but find a way to evaluate their music.  There are some objective items that can be assessed, but also a number of subject ideas that may not fit so neatly into the assessment process.  For that reason, I am using a rating scale to show the students where they are standing with the assignment.

Tuesday will be a mini-recital during band periods with the students.  I am in the process of developing a check list so they can do peer critique of the compositions they hear. Our next assignment on which we will embark will be asking the students to compose in 12 bar blues form.