More rock group

So at this point we practiced and performed for a small audience these pieces:

China Grove Doobie Brothers
Don't Misunderstand Me Rosington Collins Band
Dream On Aerosmith
Jet Airliner Steve Miller Band
Rhiannon Fleetwood Mac
Need You Now Lady Antebellum
Who Knew? Pink
Sober Pink

And I couldn't BELIEVE we played The Beatles' Birthday with no rehearsal at all. It was good! There are a bunch of songs we can ALMOST play right now, too.

Rock Group

Wow, they sound great (see last post). Singer is incredible (and plays keyboards well), guitarist is very well-rounded and really knows his stuff and the drummer is VERY solid. I think they would have sounded good with any bassist. It looks like I'm the one, at least right now. The guitarist and drummer sing backup as well as some leads, and I'll need to work on that too, I'd say. Still need to work on learning the basslines to the songs, too. It's a lot of music! Very exciting - we practiced several tunes, and then ate some food. People started showing up and then we played for like 25 people! What a great night!

BASS PLAYING

I've practiced with a dixieland group several times since football ended now. It's a lot of fun reading through the music. In general it's just playing a two feel and keeping the tempo up. Tempo is a challenge when the drummer isn't there, because I have to fight with the tuba player. With the drummer, however, it's no problem. The clarinet, trumpet, and trombone players are great and so much fun to listen to.

Today I'll be practicing with a "rock" group for the first time, also. They plan on playing maybe once a month at functions only. They've all done the bar scene and don't want that again. It's interesting to learn this many songs in just a few days (I got the list late Tuesday night, and today is Friday)! I know I won't have everything memorized, or even correct, but hopefully I can do well enough to get the gig! Most of the songs are fun to play, too, which is good.

Here's what I'm trying to learn:
Song Artist
After Midnight Clapton
Alright Now Free
Careless Whisper Seether
China Grove Doobie Brothers
Depending on You Petty
Don't Misunderstand Me Rosington Collins Band
Don't Stop Believin' Journey
Dream On Aerosmith
Everybody Wants You Squire
Goodbye to You Patti Smythe
Heartache Tonight Eagles
Hold On
Hot Blooded Foreigner
I Won't Back Down Petty
I'm the Only One Etheridge
Jet Airliner Steve Miller Band
Layla Clapton
Long Train Runnin' Doobie Brothers
Movin' On Bad Company
My Girl Temptations
Need You Now Lady Antebellum
Paralyzer Finger 11
Rhiannon Fleetwood Mac
Runnin' Down a Dream Petty
Separate Ways Journey
Slow Hand
Sober Pink
Stand By Me King
Sunshine of Your Love Cream
Sweet Emotion Aerosmith
White Room Cream
Who Knew? Pink
Won't Back Down Petty

BEHOLD, the TURTLE

So I have a ridiculous number of pieces unfinished. I'm looking forward to being able to sit down and work on them. Football season is all-consuming. Even on evenings when I don't have a practice to run, I'm so exhausted that it's difficult to focus, so ideas don't flow and my patience runs short. This morning I've been looking through the backlog while waiting for students to arrive. I've come to the conclusion that I really need to put myself out there as soon as possible.

• FINISH compositions


• Post compositions, or at least parts, on my wiki.


• Contact band directors to see if they'll play them


• Contact orchestras / ensembles

Speaking of compositions, here's where I'm at:

Behold, the Turtle - full orchestra
"He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out." Great A-section with these big swells and full chords. Nice long notes in the melody. The harmony uses the same dotted qtr/8th rhythm that I always use.

68Idea - Basically string quartet right now.
Lots of different little sections, in changing time signatures. It just needs to be filled out and maybe each little section should be expanded.

Band Idea 4-27-10 - Full band
Nice chords & melody, with a nicely harmonized melody too. Percussion needs to be added, and then it needs a better B-section or something.

Diminishing Returns - Full Band (easy high school level or jr high probably)
Done, except for articulations, dynamics, creating parts. Writing the percussion part out better would be a good idea, too. Once again - dotted 1/4 & 1/8ths.

Easy March or March 2010 - Full Band (elementary level)
Create parts and maybe add more articulations.

Eminor - Rock piece
This is really done. I need to record it, somehow. Perhaps using Audacity & getting Chandler to play drums with me.

Jazzy Stuff - for elementary Jazz Ensemble
Also basically done. My groups are going to play it this year, hopefully.

March Maybe -Full band or orchestra
Nice idea but I don't know where to go with it.

new -Full band
This is really a great idea. A & B sections are there. I think it needs development, and perhaps the orchestration needs to be filled out.

Rock Piece 2010 -Rock group
Could be done, or a 3rd section could be added, and/or space for a solo. Needs to be recorded somehow, also.

Swing Tune -Jazz group, large or small
Middle section piano part needs to be added. This could be orchestrated for different sizes of groups, like a "stage band."

Syncopation Proclomation -Full band or brass ensemble
Great melody that needs to be developed and have more sections added.

Untitled Ostinato -Jazz/Rock group
This is really like my own style of writing, where I don't worry about the style or instruments, I just add what I want. Makes it tough to get others to perform it. This piece could be done, or the B-section could be modified - it's a little hokey.

Fishing for the Five-Fingered Funkosaur -Full band
This is an arrangement for band of a piece I wrote for rock band. After the intro, when the band kicks in, it's so full. But the piece needs a lot of work. The idea itself is very short, and needs to be arranged correctly, with more added but the fullness intact.

March Arrangement (Metal March) -Full band
Needs another section - LOTS of potential here.

Qtet + cl + fl -sextet
Needs a lot more work

Gm Jazzy -Jazz band
Very playable piece.

Sadness -String quartet or orchestra
Only the start of an idea from the summer of 2010. Long melody, needs development.

Strings & xylo -Quintet
Mostly finished, needs touch-ups.

Tender Melody -
Develop the A & B parts and it'll be done.

Tuplet Arrangement -
Really tricky piece that needs arranging and recapitulation.

Also, I need to start practicing instruments again. My basses are SO neglected. In the past six weeks I think I've played ukelele twice and guitar once. It's just unacceptable. I need to really play with others too.

• Practice bass, guitar, trombone, baritone


• Play with the dixieland band Wednesday nights


• Contact local musicians & let them know I'm ready

FALL MUSIC

Unbelievably busy. I need to organize my thoughts and actually update this blog. Have not been able to practice any instruments or compose. Did manage to play with a dixieland group, but only once. Will be glad when my football coaching season is done - I'll have time to breathe again. I need to blog about

• dixieland
• the biggest beginning band I've ever had
• advanced band issues
• inservice notes
  

Summer Band 2010

Summer Band 2010

Summer Band has been great! We're playing music that everyone can play, although there may be a few wrong notes here or there, depending on the level of the band member. The group is really varied, with an adult borrowing an instrument (he hadn't played in 20+ years), some kids just finishing up their 1st year, others playing for four or five years. The sousaphonist is really a drummer! They're sounding really good, though. I only wish I'd taken a picture when everyone was there- we were missing a trumpet, a clarinet, two flutes, an oboe, and three drummers in the picture.

• 
  

A Classical Canon

Minor Rock

A Little Bit of Latin

Manhattan Beach March

The Marching Machine

Basses are Aces


Conversation for Band

America, the Beautiful


The Big Rock

Geology: The Study of Rock


Rock & Roll Part II (The Hey Song)


• 
  

New England Band Director's Institute 2010

Here is an outline of NEBDI learning that occured. These conductors/teachers were great. I plan on attending every year now, and if I get my paperwork completed correctly, I'll even get credit!

The Warebrook Institute for the Advancement of Modern Music 2010

The Warebrook Institute for the Advancement of Modern Music
2010 notes:

String Writing (Darry Dolezai & Susan Jenson)
BOWING & EXTENDED TECHNIQUES: Violin, Viola, Cello

• Double Stops - fast repeated dblstops are difficult - 5th high on fingerboard on violin are BAD, but 6ths are great anywhere - 5th on cello are good anywhere
• key - often there is a key at the beginning of a piece to tell the performer what the composer wants, similar to a percussion key
• legato - more sustained
• detache - less sustained ("separate bow movement")
• marcato - accented but with bow staying on string
• spicato - bouncing bow (fast 16ths will be spicato unless marked otherwise)
• staccato - spaces on end of notes, bow stays on string
• jete - dropping the bow on to the string 3x, like a ricochet, in same direction - can be measured or unmeasured - something like three 16ths with staccato marking but tied....?
• colegno battuta - hit with the wood of the bow
• straight colegno - bow with the wood of the bow (!)
• mute - does not quiet the instrument much, more makes the tone "mellower" (?)
• loure - wild vibrato
• portato - pulsating slightly, separate notes - like 8th notes marked tenuto and tied
• ponticello - play on bridge - lack of real notes
• portamento - actual slide
• gliss - actual notes during a slide (cellist demonstrated a gliss as sort of wiggle his finger on the way down)
• pizzicato - generally done with one finger
• snap pizzicato - written as a circle with a stem above a note - i don't recall what this was, though
• harmonics - these made perfect sense when they explained it but now are a bit confusing. It seems that a note written with a regular head and a diamond-shaped head a fourth higher would sound the regular-head two octaves higher
• "whip" bowing- for example, 1/2 note tied to 1/4 note with a dramatic crescendo
• microtonal music - 1/4tones are "easy"
• Website with some of these bowings listed & explained: http://cnx.org/content/m13316/latest/

Woodwind Writing (Sarah Brady & Mark Margolies)
EXTENDED TECHNIQUES: Flute

• Robert Dick's book is an excellent resource for modern flute-writing (Ian Clark also)
  Tone Development Through Extended Techniques
  Modern Guide to Fingerings for the Flute
  
• 16ths at 168bpm ok
• fluttertonguing works with short AND long notes
• harmonics- play lowest note and overblow to get the various harmonics
• key clicks- use low octave keys - very quiet
  
• multiphonics- difficult to play - need space before and after playing them
• singing a different note is really pretty easy
• pitch bends - small only/ 2nds are pretty safe
• microtones - there are fingerings for them (quartertones I believe)
• Tongue-stops - mouth covers the hole completely, and the tongue slaps the tone hole percussively - write this like percussion, but use a key - must have space before & after
• Jet whistle - ?
  
• Air sounds - I believe this is when the flutists blows through the flute without making a tone - very soft sound - great with string harmonics
• Timbral trills - ?
  

EXTENDED TECHNIQUES: Clarinet

• Clarinetists generally prefer to not play higher than their highest G
• 16ths at 120bpm are usually ok, 140bpm for short periods - easier lower
• bends up or down a 4th or 5th
• key clicks can be notated - use a key at the beginning of the piece
• vibrato - type should be notated
• multiphonics - better with soft dynamics - write the fingerings RIGHT IN THE MUSIC
• Eb clarinet written the same as the Bb, but has different tone (hard to describe)
• Bass Clarinet - key clicks are great, slap tongue, growl, fluttertongue, sing a different tone
• Saxes - limited range compared to clarinets

Private Composition Coaching (Allen Anderson)
with input from the strings, clarinetist, guitarist, and conductor (Paul Brust)
Scene Change

• Courtesy accidentals should definitely be added. Remember, even when musicians are ridiculously good they still need that sort of thing to sight-read.
• Very high clarinet & 1st violin playing in unison was very difficult to play and didn't sound as good as when they were harmonized or in counterpoint.
• When articulations are repeated a lot and then change, it needs to be noted (for example, 4m of qtr notes staccatto, then something else, then more qtr notes- if I don't want them to be staccatto it better be marked.)
• Beaming is very important- is it 4+3 or 3+4 or 2+2+3 or 5+2.....?
• Different sections become more interesting with shifts in timbre or register
• Remember to put in measure numbers
  

BASICALLY, the parts need to be viewed one by one, through the performers eyes. Leave

nothing to assumption.

2nd Movement / Piece for Guitar & String Quartet

• Find a little something in the 1st movement that's good but not really important
• Keep a "scratch pad" to use for each piece. As I work on them, write down interesting chords (and scales) that would be good to work into the piece.
• When working on the melody, sing the part
• Composing w/o and instrument assures that I won't play stuff with which I'm already comfortable or have already played.
• It's still good to have instruments nearby, though, to assure that it's playable (esp guitar)

My pieces: http://ff.im/nLE31


OTHER Music to listen to:

• Warnen Quartet
• other woodwind quintets
  

2009 notes: http://mrprue.blogspot.com/2009/07/composition-notes.html

SUMMER

School in-service has been done for about a week, and I'm starting to get into the swing of summer again. The cold I had certainly slowed me down, but today I went back to school and got Summer Band music together. Eleven songs or so, and they'll be fun. I also grabbed books so my summer private lessons can play duets. I think they'll like that, and duets are really good to play. Kids have to listen to the other part and keep track of their own part, too. Lessons start tomorrow, and Summer Band begins next week.

GRADING SEASON

End of the year grades are upon me. They take up a lot of time, and there's other paperwork that must be done too. This is when I really wonder, "does anyone even LOOK at these?" I hope so.... My grading reports are pretty detailed, and take up TIME.

Why am I wasting time writing this when I could be grading? Writing out all these reports gets REALLY OLD. Back to the grind.....

PARADE SEASON... continued

So our first parade of the season was cancelled, but there’s another one! Our 2nd parade will be Monday, May 31, on Main St. in Newport. It will begin at 10:00.

This is a fun parade because there's a BIG audience, and we get to play the song ("Stars & Stripes") a lot. We start up near the Family Dollar and march down to the Causeway bridge near Gardner Park. We don't march into the park, though, and we don't take part in the ceremonies there. I always hope that my more mature students will stay for them, but I don't force them to stay. There's one sharp corner, right at the beginning, but other than that it's a real easy route, too. After that, I walk back up to get my car. It's usually a really good day, and hopefully it doesn't rain - we don't march in the rain!

PARADE SEASON!

First parade of the season today! And it rained..... Parade cancelled. On the up side, though, kids were very disappointed. They really wanted to march. Love to see the enthusiasm. I'm not sure we were really ready for it, but at least the kids would have known what it was like and what they needed to work on (though it's pretty obvious, they need to memorize the music!)

CONCERTS

This was the first time in my career that 100% of my healthy students attended both concerts at my schools!  Kids were right into the concerts, and were really ready.

In Derby the Advanced Band had some trouble during the dress rehearsal- we actually had to stop briefly during Manchester March and regroup.  The Beginning Band had a student drop their instrument, and although it was still playable he was understandably upset.  In the evening, everyone from both groups really watched me well.  I missed a cue for the Jazz Band when I started enjoying playing my bass a bit too much!

In Newport we had a strange day that began with no dress rehearsal.  I do wish I had another chance to conduct the concert.  I missed several cues, and didn’t exaggerate the dynamics as I would have liked.  I felt like my head wasn’t in it 100%.

Next year I think I’d like both concerts to be before April vacation.  The Newport kids have one week to have Stars & Stripes memorized.  Of course, they’ve had the music for quite a while but very few have worked on memorizing.  Next year we should also play Stars & Stripes WAY WAY earlier.

SUPPORT!

I am so lucky to have the support of the teachers and the administrations at my schools. When there was an interruption to the regular schedule, teachers went out of their way to get me a band rehearsal, and even suggested an extra one, since the concert is next week. What a great bunch of people!

There is at least one nearby school that allows NO rehearsal time for the band. They have lessons, but cannot play together. And yet, the administration there wonders why they have a hard time with band concerts! Needless to say, that teacher is now looking for a position elsewhere. The system is just fostering failure.

At least partly because of their support, I really feel like this was one of the best concerts ever. The kids had some mistakes during the afternoon assembly, but they fixed them in the evening. Good stuff.

Music Furniture

I'm hoping to get some new & very useful music furniture at school next year! This stand will hold my music keyboard, laptop, and speakers. This way I can more easily use playalong CD's with students, as well as letting them hear themselves on recordings more easily.This whiteboard will be really handy too, because I can use it in lessons and completely prepare for Band, wheeling it out to the band room when it's time for band.
Hopefully I'll have these in the fall!

Music Festival 2010

The NEK Elementary Music Festival was a great success again this year. Mr McRae conducted the band, and I was very impressed with his work. I've only ever seen him working with older students, so I wasn't sure what this would be like. Very successful. Mr Hughes conducted the chorus, and they were successful too. In fact, the chorus received the first standing ovation I've ever seen at the festival!

It was interesting for me, because I had some stomach problems- I felt like I'd been punched in the gut, and I just wanted to roll up in a ball and sleep. BUT I got through it, with some good pictures & good stuff learned from Marty. He had the kids clap a lot more than I do, and it seems like it really helped with the tough rhythms. He sometimes had one group count constant eighth notes while another group clapped their rhythms. Also, at one point everyone counted the snare drum part so the winds would lock in with them. It was very cool when he had the trombones stand in one section because they couldn't be heard, even though they had the melody. They stood up and could be heard!

HONORS BAND
Marty McRae—Director

March of the Aliens– Barry Gott
Üsküdar– arr. Michael Story & Robert W. Smith
Colonel John– Fred Weber & Frank Erickson
Smoke on the Water– Deep Purple, arr. Paul Murtha

HONORS CHORUS
Wendell Hughes—Director
Sara Doncaster—Accompanist

Somos el Barro– Lorre Wyatt, arr. Estaire Godinez
Catch a Falling Star– Paul Vance & Lee Pockriss
Like an Eagle– Carl Strommen
Shenandoah– arr.Teresa Jennings
What Can One Little Person Do?- Sally Rogers
Turn the Beat Around– P. Jackson, G. Jackson

Band Quitting Season is OPEN!

So here is goes. Kids are too busy. They want recess. Basketball is cutting into band. Give me a break! Get this: mom buys a brand new, beautiful-looking blue trumpet for her kid (I was a bit worried about the trumpet falling apart, because it's Chinese-made, but that's irrelevant). This kid forgets to bring it for at least four weeks in a row. Then a note appears in my box from the parent saying the kid is quitting! Unbelievable! The kid forgets enough, so quitting is apparently the only option! I'm telling the kids about "Band Quitting Season" today, and that Band will still be here even if there's only four of them left! I think I'm going to be down to two percussionists soon, even though I started with eight! And so it continues....

Last.FM

So IMEEM is gone as we know it. But it was recommended that I try Last.fm (as in www.last.fm) I punched in a few artists I like, but don't know very well. It played some great music, and then created a whole playlist of recommended music. Very cool. And THEN, I found that the histories behind the groups are well written-out and interesting. It's inspired me to blog some more about prog. Try Last.fm, and I think you'll like it.