Elementary Band In-ServiceSeptember 16, 2009

3:00 – 4:00 pmJohnson Elementary Music Room

Presenter: Janel Huyett, Band Specialist

Elementary Band Concerts

Question:

1.Why do beginning orchestra concerts sound better than beginning band concerts?

1. Open Strings – intonation can be controlled by teacher

2. Piano accompaniment provides harmony and stability

3. Very simple melodies (2-5 notes)

4. Three groups (4,5,6 to fill time for a concert requiring each group to perform fewer selections)

5. More (different) instruments in band create different problems

6. Mixed instrumentation classes difficult to teach

7. Other?

Question: What can be done to address this concern?

1. Add piano accompaniment to most/all beginning band tunes to provide harmony and stability

2. Keep concert program simple - Don’t try to tackle too much

3. Focus on tone production and remember that you won’t

play in tune if you don’t play “in tone”!

4. Keep percussion to a minimum – if at all possible, keep percussionists on bells (melody instrument) or “color” instruments (triangle or sleigh bells) for the first concert. Nothing can ruin a performance faster than a snare/bass drummer with no concept of pulse.

5. Create variations of the simple tunes to create length in the program;

i. All playii. Repeat, featuring various sections of the bandiii. Repeat, featuring small mixed ensembles or soloistsiv. Repeat and have students sing one time through or sing

the “B section”. This works well with Jingle Bells. Students can sing, “Dashing through the snow”, then play the refrain.

• Perform selections in a round when appropriate (e.g., Are You Sleeping?)

6. Consider presenting band concerts/assemblies separately from orchestra concerts

7. Other ideas?

And the night shall be filled with music,

And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like

the Arabs And as silently steal away.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

And the night shall be filled with music,

And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like

the Arabs And as silently steal away.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done