Posted by Tom Mason on January 31, 2002 at 09:39:04:
In Reply to: Re: Re: orchestra players in marching band posted by Mike Solms on January 30, 2002 at 15:51:14:
I'm sorry I got to this late. Also sorry it is long.
Sightreading is a vital part of the gig scene. I wasn't tthe best sightreader in my college class untill I started viewing written music as more than notes on the sheet. Success came quickly when I was able to identify at sight various patterns, such as diatonic runs, blues patterns, triads, and interval patterns. As I teach students in the large ensemble, I try to ge them to look at music beyond one note at a time. In addition to the listed patterns, I also strive to teach rhythm patterns, automatic fingerings for notes in a given tonal center (key signature), and patterns in the composition of the music. (sonata form, march form, or overture form)
It is not successful with my students all of the time. I have to deal with whatever the student wishes to place priority at the time. (girlfriend/boyfriend, other classes, ballgame, ect...) My high school group is made up of 8th through 12th grade, so I have to also deal with a wider scope of playing abilities. We get/earn/receive II's and III's at concert band contests. Not spectacular, but we always have a band with good tonal concepts, playing the right notes and rhythms, and in the ball park in tuning and style.
When a student leaves my program, they will have been exposed to a wide variety of music in styles, history, and difficulty. This is acheived by not repeating our program within a year. In preface, my marching band does only parades, and no football shows. I change music after every parade except for Christmas, when I am playing 4 parades and a concert in 2 weeks time. I also change concert music after every concert.
To get us to a point of understanding, here is a common yeaar worth of performances:
1st semester:
September: 1 parade contest
October: District Marching Contest
change music
November: Veteran's Day parade and concert
change music
December: 4 Christmas parade contests and Christmas concert
change music
2nd semester:
January: Honor band audutions and work on concert band contest
February: continue contest music
March: contest and district solo/ensemble
change music
April: Spring concert and flag line/majorette auditions
May: Spring concert
Pep band gets thrown in after Veteran's day, and ends in February
In the course of 1 year, my students see and play 1 piece of music per parade, and 3 to 5 pieces of music per concert. The pep band folder contains 8 to 12 pieces, with 4 of them new each year. This adds up to between 15 to 18 pieces of music performed per year. Not just looked at and put aside, but actually used in public.
This does not allow me the opportunity to learn the snot out of one piece, but it allows the student to see a large number of selections over the course of 4 or 5 years. When I make sure that they see quality composers as well as wide range of style, I feel that my students are not caught off guard if they choose to perform after high school. We have alot of room to be better, but I dare say that we are out performing all of the time. And I will say that the pressure of performance in public adds as much to the ability of a student as the time spent in the band room or practice room, especially in the art of learning to sightread for pro gigs.
Tom Mason