Musical Awarness

musicteach

musicteach

New member
Good morning! So, with my students I try to expose them to new and different music that maybe they've never heard before. I thought, heck, why can't I do the same thing here? So, I'm going to try and update this (hopefully) every couple of days, but at the very least once a week. I'll give you some music, and all ya got to do is take a listen, reply if you like, that's fine too. It could be big band, marching band, concert band, strings, small group, etc etc you get the picture. Let's start off with a sound base, shall we?

First up, I really love, I mean love this group:
Mnozil Brass-William Tell Overture

Next:
Top Secret

This next one is really a two-for-one special. I have the original song:
Loch Lomond
And then the concert band version by Frank Ticheli:
Loch Lomand (concert band)

And last but probably not least, one of my personal favourites:
Fate of the Gods

Enjoy!


(Oh and I except a journal entry on each one! Kidding of course)
 
Corno Dolce

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Awesome posting - Thanx a trillion :tiphat::tiphat::tiphat::tiphat::tiphat::tiphat::tiphat:

Even teaching this ol' dawg new tricks...
 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
I saw "musical awarness" and thought it was about using super-loud heavy metal music as a weapon.

And it's still surprising the rest of the world gets into roamin'in Loch Lomond, even musically.
 
musicteach

musicteach

New member
John Watt said:
I saw "musical awarness" and thought it was about using super-loud heavy metal music as a weapon.

And it's still surprising the rest of the world gets into roamin'in Loch Lomond, even musically.
Click to expand...

I couldn't really think of a better title. I figured "Writing Prompt" wouldn't work, which is what I call it in class.

For today's update, I think we'll go with a little orchestral music:




I'd ask that you listen to As All the Heavens Were a Bell before you read this.


Jay Bocook wrote and dedicated this piece of music to the men and women who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York. It opens with a nice morning over the New York harbour, but the morning quickly slips into chaos. At the end, the piece goes into a very well known tune, that just about everybody should know. That's the short version, anyways.


EDIT:

We're thinking about this one for the spring comps we're going to. Although, we'll need to do a bit of arranging to make it work for our band. But what do you think, anyways?
Pirates by Gary P. Gilroy

 
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musicteach

musicteach

New member
John Watt

John Watt

Member
This is a very interesting thread, but I'm finding it hard to add anything.
I've caught a lot of marching band and colour guard action here in the Niagara Peninsula,
mostly American students doing convention work in Niagara Falls, back in the late 70's and 80's.
Other than seeing movies, that's it. Time to find musicteach's domain!
 
Corno Dolce

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
I like very much the selections that musicteach brings up...I remember now a music teacher who was a whizz at arranging the a capella choral music of Jakob Handl for Brass Ensembles.
 
musicteach

musicteach

New member
Corno Dolce said:
I like very much the selections that musicteach brings up...I remember now a music teacher who was a whizz at arranging the a capella choral music of Jakob Handl for Brass Ensembles.
Click to expand...

Wanna know how I find a lot of this stuff? (Especially some of the rock stuff) My students! In the band room, we have surround sound with speakers connected to the rafters and a stereo system. I use it mostly for writing prompts, and letting them hear music before we play. Since I live roughly an hour and half from my school, after school during marching band season, I always simply stay at school until after practice is over. So naturally I leave the band room door open. In order to get to the band room you have to walk right by my office. When I do this, I leave my office door open so I see who comes and goes. It's fairly common to have students in the band room after school during the marching band season, waiting for practice. I'm perfectly fine with this. They end up practicing, or working on homework or watching a movie, you get the idea. So quite often I'll wonder into the band room, and one of my students will be using the house stereo system to play music off their iPod/mp3 player. I'll ask them what it is, and they tell me. I go home and look it up, and find it on iTunes.

For today...let's go with....



And if you're a UMass Amherst Band Alumni member such as myself, and you were there while G.N.P. was, you will know "Eyes With Pride":
To band: How are your feet!
Band: Together!
To band: Stomach!
Band: In!
To band: Shoulders!
Band: Back!
To band: Elbows!
Band: Frozen!
To band: Chin!
Band: Up!
To band: How are your eyes!?
Band: With pride!
To band: HOW ARE YOUR EYES!!
Band: WITH PRIDE!
To Band: Who's got the best band anywhere!
Band: UMASS!
 
Corno Dolce

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Thankx for the tip! Did you know that Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble is quite the gang of tubists and euphoniumists?.
 
musicteach

musicteach

New member
Good morning! So I've been up for a bit (leg is hurting) and I've found some interesting vids on my own this time.




Also I have a slightly amusing story to tell you, which also explains why I've been up all night. Last night was the homecoming game for us, but in class, the drum line's cadence was all over the place. It was one of those rare days when it just was not happening. So half way through class I cut the band off and asked what was going on with the line. This is when I made the bet. The bet was that if for the rest of class, the line's cadence was exactly correct, not only would I go to the game in full uniform, I would play with the drum line during the national anthem and during stand songs. Basically everything that wasn't marching. And much to my pleasure, what I wanted to happen happened: from then on the cadence was perfect. Exact. So true to my word, when the band met before the game for warm-ups and the march down to the field, I was in full uniform. I even put on marching shoes which was a pain in the butt to change out and I was sporting a snare drum. I even had my shacko/plum hanging down from the drum like is typical. As they marched, I walked along side of the band. But after the national anthem had been played, and the band was filing into the stands, I got to meet the band director from the other school in the uniform. It was quite entertaining, and I earned myself at least 100 weird looks.
 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
A new bassist from a famous recording act didn't like the fact I could sing r'n'b better than him,
even if I wasn't singing lead onstage, harmonizing with him.
Needless to say, my lashing him with my guitar cord didn't seem like onstage fun for him either.
After a gig one night he came down to me or him with the owner, who offered him a ride with them in the new Cadillac.
Considering the difficulty of finding a bassist, I thought I was gone.
Nope.
I still have to refinish my headstock every once in a while,
to get rid of the dents from helping drummers hit their cymbals.

Putting peoples heads through is a big part of my lifestyle,
but I don't think I ever got 100 weird looks all at once.
Way to go!

Coming from a Scot Watt with a history before electricity, and the "English" language,
weird is wired you didn't see, you little weirdy.
 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
I was thinking about what you said about surroundsound speakers hanging from the rafters.
I'd take it a little further, and install a blue and red disco ball, spinning slow.
A little mood lighting can go a long way.
You are what you eat, or uh, what you eat affects your output,
and you are what you see.
 
musicteach

musicteach

New member
John Watt said:
I was thinking about what you said about surroundsound speakers hanging from the rafters.
I'd take it a little further, and install a blue and red disco ball, spinning slow.
A little mood lighting can go a long way.
You are what you eat, or uh, what you eat affects your output,
and you are what you see.
Click to expand...

I teach band...easily distracted by shiny objects. :p
 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
That's why using a disco ball makes more sense,
getting students used to the performance environment,
everything from lazer pointers and cell phone cameras,
to too many sequins sewn by loving, Elvis imitator girlfriends.
 
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