Music Literature For Limited Instrumentation
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Finding literature that Works for You and Your Band.The truth is that you cannot control the instrumentation you get every year. You may have ten saxophones but only three clarinets, possibly ten trumpets but no low brass, or no flutes. Does this sound familiar? Obviously as a director we do what we can to create ballance in our ensembles. Chances are you are encouraging kids to take over the missing instrumentation. We all know however that you deal with what instrumentation you have established. Perhaps there is a need for recruitment or you live in a small community. Below are some simple tricks to help your situation what ever it may be to help make literature work for you and your band.
Situation #1 No FlutesI know for some this may sound crazy to have no flutes but I have had this happen to me. One year I had five and the next zero. One great solution is to transpose the flute part up a major second, add two sharps to the key signature and you now have a part that works on clarinet. This works on any C part you would like to have clarinet or trumpet play since they are Bb instruments.
Situation # 2 No ClarinetsWell this is an easier fix than most but this also works also if you are missing trumpets. If there are no clarinets have a trumpet player play the part and visa versa the clarinetist can cover the trumpet part when you are missing trumpets. The beauty is there is no need to transpose the parts.
Situation #3 No Trombones or BassoonsThis is also an easier fix than others as long as you have a bari-sax player. So what you do is give the sax player the trombone or bassoon part and tell them to pretend it is treble clef and add three sharps to the existing key signature. You could also have alto sax do this but the ranges obviously wont be correct unless it is an upper register bassoon part.
Situation #4 No Low end InstrumentsGet a synthesizer with a great tuba sound and have students switch out playing the tuba part on the keyboard. Chances are you have a few in the class that play the piano and if you don't here's an opportunity for one of them to learn.
Situation #5 No OboeUse the same transposition for flute to clarinet found in situation #1 and have the part played on soprano sax. This is an istrument that can closely mimic the timbre of the oboe. If you don't have a soprano sax a trumpet with a straight mute or a David Hickman Sotto Voce mute can help mimic the same timbre. Link to David Hickmans Sotto Voce Mute.
Situation #6 No Baratone Or EuphoniumTake out those treble clef baritone/euphonium parts and give them to a tenor sax or trumpet student in your class. If you have a valved trombone a trumpet player can have a lot of fun with this.
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Situation #7 No French HornUsually the alto saxophones or trumpets have cues in their music to cover some of the more vital parts but if not have them transpose the parts. Playing horn parts on Bb flugelhorn sounds nice.
*obviously with changing instrumentation to other parts there is going to be some noticeable differences in how the piece was originally intended to sound. Try to match instruments and ranges to appropriate instruments and timbres. Also, when you are in situations with judges, put notes in the score as to what you have changed.
Other Tips and ConsiderationsHere are a few suggestions that can make learning literature in a limited setting fun in your classroom and help with recruitment.
1.) Teach your kids to transpose. Have a chart on the wall of the different transpositions. This is good for your jazzers too. 2.) Have and Everybody's a drummer day. Have your kids play the percussion parts. You may find some students that can step in and fill those missing parts easier. Plus it is a fun opportunity for your kids. 3.) Recruitment suggestions. Combine your Junior and Senior High bands for part or all of your spring concert. Usually a movie theme or pops type concert helps. There are some fun and simplified versions of pieces like Transformers or Revenge of the Sith that are fun and very doable. Take your bands or choirs down to the elementary and perform for younger musicians. Have your jazz band play for breakfast or lunch in the school cafeteria. Invite younger students to participate with the high school pep band. Take star pupils down to the elementary to talk to students about band and to give lessons to some of your beginning band or middle school students. 4.) Look up the flex instrumentation pieces on jwpepper . They have over a hundred and fifty flexible band charts on their web site. These are pieces that have fewer parts that are covered by several instruments and you can choose who covers what. Link to JWPepper. There are also a few pieces that have one instrument per part and limited part division. Examples include Robert W. Smith's Into the Storm, The Maelstrom and Where the Blackhawk Soars. Also Trank Tickeli's Cajun Folk Songs I & II and Shendoah are also great examples. Last but not least included in this list is David Holsinger's Hymnsong Series. 5.) Make sure your students understand the concept of making a piece of music work by covering parts and doing whatever it takes to make a piece workable. *a special thanks to Shawn Bowman of Asotin High School who gave a fantastic clinic on this information at the All Northwest NAFME conference in February of 2013. I used his information and made my own version of it here and it has helped me a ton. |
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