Views From the Back Row

Tip: Go to conventions and go to sessions.

Feature Segment: Warming Up - Types of Activities both individually and for an ensemble

• What is the purpose of a warm-up?
• Review of Individual Warm-Up Basics (from Episode 004)
  • Breathing
  • Mouthpiece Buzzing
  • Long Tones
  • Lip Slurs - Slow/Fast
  • Tonguing Exercises
  • Melodic Playing
• Warm-Up Exercises for An Ensemble
  • Purpose to is to get everybody on the same page mentally and physically.
  • Ideally, something that includes all exercises from the individual warm-up.
    • Don’t forget breathing!
    • Jeremy uses “Intonation Motivation” by Roland Barrett to start all of his band’s rehearsals
  • Scales
    • Use major, minor, and chromatic
    • Able to work on anything (articulation, intonation, dynamics, intervals, etc.)
    • The only restriction is your imagination
  • Rhythmic Ideas
    • Make sure all types of rhythm are covered: easier, harder, different time signatures, etc.
    • Play on pitches, sing, wind pattern, clap, play in scales, etc.
    • Don’t forget about easy rhythms!
  • Chorales
    • Any slow, expressive music works as a chorale.
    • They put everything together.
      • Balance, Blend, Tone, Intonation, Key Signatures, Articulations, etc.
    • Chorales let the students “throw out their ears” and listen.
    • Great for mental focus! Don’t space out because its “easy”.

Resource: Breathing Gym Daily Workouts DVD: available on http://www.breathinggym.com

Tune at End: Achieved is the Glorious Work - Sotto Voce (Album: Consequences)

Next Episode’s Topic: Marching Band Student Leadership

Quote: “A teacher must flex with the student’s needs. The idea is to get each student to realize more of their potential.” - Wes Jacobs

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Top three orchestra pieces to conduct, play, and listen to.

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Practice Tip: Separate the musical from the technical.

Brass Tip: Try out different lacquers.

Feature Segment: Orchestra Repertoire Top 3’s: Conduct, Play, and Listen To

Jeremy’s Top 3 to Conduct

1. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
2. Barber’s Adagio for Strings
3. Mahler’s Symphony No. 1

Paul’s Top 3 to Conduct

1. Mozart’s Requiem
2. Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony
3. The Planets - Gustav Holst

Jeremy’s Top 3 to Play

1. Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis
2. Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5
3. Reveultas Sensemaya

Paul’s Top 3 to Play

1. 1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky
2. Mahler’s 3rd Symphony
3. Carmina Burana - Carl Orff

Jeremy’s Top 3 to Listen To

1. Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
2. Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
3. Dvorak’s New World Symphony  

Paul’s Top 3 to Listen To 

1. West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein
2. Howard Hanson’s 2nd Symphony (Romantic Symphony)
3. L’Arlesienne Suite - Georges Bizet

“Honorable Mentions”

1. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture
2. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique
3. Wagner

Resource: BrassCast (www.brasscast.com)

Tune at End: Introduction to Act 3 of “Lohengrin” - by Richard Wagner performed by the Royal Promenade Orchestra under the direction of Alfred Gerhardt

Next Episode’s Topic: Score Study

Quote: “We should most always play what we hear and not what we see. Not to say that we should ignore the conductor. My goal was to have the conductor have to say nothing to me.” - Toby Hanks

Featuring “Santa Wants a Tuba for Christmas” by the Tubashop Quartet and “Silent Night” performed by Richard Cheese.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the inaugural Twelve Days of Brassmas! Happy Holidays!

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Featuring “Russian Christmas Music” performed by the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America.

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Featuring “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Harry Connick, Jr.

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Featuring “Short Fantasy on a Catalan Carol” by the Canadian Brass with George Romero.

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Featuring “A Christmas Carnival” from A Cool Brassy Night at the North Pole.

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Practice Tip: Set big goals.

Brass Tip: Always make your mental image clearer.

Feature Segment: The History of the Tuba

• The lowest pitched and biggest of all brass instruments.
• Replaced the ophicleide which replaced the serpent.
• Patented in Prussia on September 12, 1835
• Developed at the same time as the Adolphe Sax Saxhorn family
• Originally a bass horn, bigger and lower pitched ones developed (contrabass)
• Different Types of Tubas
• What Type of Tuba to Start On
• Traditional roles in orchestras and bands
• First Concerto
• Chamber Music
• Changing Roles Today?

Resource: Woodwind and Brasswind

Tune at End:  “Carnival of Venice” from the album Bill Bell and his Tuba

Next Episode’s Topic: Orchestra Top 3’s: Listen To, Conduct,  and Play

Quote: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson