Full Year Curriculum
Young Band
Haley Conway
Program Goals:
1. Provide opportunities for musical and personal growth.
2. Perform a variety of music from different cultures and styles.
3. Develop a variety of ensemble opportunities.
4. Demonstrate proper performance etiquette, as a musician and performer.
5. Expose students to high quality ensembles and performances.
Course Objectives:
1. The students will perform quality band literature.
2. The students will identify and define standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics,
tempo, articulation, and expression.
3. The students will develop confidence in individual and ensemble playing.
4. The students will understand the historical context of all pieces performed and accurately
apply historical performance style.
5. The students will use an appropriate vocabulary of musical terms to analyze and describe
music.
Concert Events:
Fall Concert
Fanfare for a New Era
Jack Stamp
Air for Band
Frank Erickson
Alligator Alley
Michael Daugherty
American Riversongs
Pierre La Plante
Overture for Winds
Charles Carter
Rationale
These pieces fit together because I like have the contrasting styles and techniques that would be
needed to play each piece successfully.
Each one of pieces has a musical element that either contrasts or compliments the other pieces.
Fanfare for a New Era is an energetic and vibrant piece while Air for Bands is a beautiful ballade that
shows how fluid the students can play. This piece then contrasts with American Riversongs because
of its bright and spirited tempo. Then as a closure Overture for Winds has contrasting A and B
sections that work well with each other to finish up the concert.
With the technical elements of this concert, all the pieces have a specific challenge. In the opener,
Fanfare for a New Era, this piece constantly switches meter and the students will have to listen for
moving line that is being passed from each section are articulation. In Air for Band, this piece helps
develop the student’s ability to play a sustained line, to line for the moving parts, and to improve on
their intonation. American Riversongs main focus is on balance and precision and syncopated
rhythms. Matching style and articulation also occurs in Alligator Alley. And for Overture for Winds, the
students will have to go back and for worth from a repetitive, straightforward A section to a B section
that consist of straight eighths and triplet eighths.
This concert should apply to my course objectives 2 and 5 because of the musical and rhythmic
challenges that are in each of the pieces. Students will need to be able to compare and contrasts the
pieces to develop a better understanding of their style.
The concert set also addresses a few of the National Standards, such as standards 2, 5, 6, and 9. For
standard 2, the students will be performing on their instruments on the different styled pieces that are
in this concert set. In standard 5, the students reading the music during the preparation process can
show this. For standard 6, the students can listen to and compare and contrast the pieces for this
concert together. They can also look at a specific piece, such as Overture for Winds, and analyze the
different styles of the A and B sections.
Assessment
Since Air for Band is a piece that is based on the students developing a sustained line, listening for
moving parts, and development on their intonation skills, I would want to assess my students by
playing different sections of the piece with only the melody lines. This is a way to see if the students
understand their role within the music and to identify the melodic lines that need to be heard. Also this
helps assess the intonation within specific instrument groups. This strategy can also be used for
Fanfare of a New Era to help assess the rhythmic and meter accuracy.
Both Alligator Alley and American Riversongs, main focuses will be about maintaining a good
ensemble balance, articulation and rhythmic clarity. For the balance, students can discuss how to
create a good balance and experiment with both good and bad balance proportions. And I would use
daily rhythmic and articulation warm-ups that relate to the music, to assess their understanding of the
style.
For Overture for Winds, an assessment tool I could use is for the student to listen to a recording of the
piece and write their observations done in the music journal. Questions can be directed toward the
form and structure of this piece. This can also support National Standard 7.
Winter Concert
Legends and Heroes
Roger Cichy
A Childhood Hymn
David R. Holsinger
Chant and Jubilo
W. Francis McBeth
U.S.S. Hornet
Gary Fagan
Rationale
For this concert set, I believe that these would fit together because they are recognizable tunes that
everyone has heard about.
Out of this concert, A Childhood Hymn is the slow and expressive piece of literature. This piece is a
musical challenge the ensemble needs to be able to play with a sustained, legato style with a solid
breath support. Also compared to the other works, this piece is very emotional power when dynamics
and style are used correctly. One of the important musical keys to remember about this piece will be
to listen across the ensemble for the moving voices (this supports National Standard 6). For a
younger band, this piece would be challenging but a good practice. Another piece that has good
musical elements is the U.S.S Hornet March. This piece has contrasting legato sections with
syncopated march sections. Getting the ensemble to understand the section changes will improve
listening and playing and switch styles very quickly.
There are several different kinds of technical elements from all of these pieces. Legends and Heroes
consist of syncopated rhythms that can be a challenge to the students individual and as an ensemble.
Chant and Jubilo has interesting scales. In the Chant section, the tonal center is Dorian mode on D
and the D minor Scale. In the Jubilo section, the tonal center is Mixolydian mode in F and F Major
scale. This piece is good to get your ensemble to each other, especially when they switch sections.
Also within Chant and Jubilo, is a piece that historically refers to music, chants, and prayers that
would be similar to what was performed within the Catholic Church about 1500 years. This is
important because knowing the style of music from the past will help teach the students how to
perform more musically accurately. This can also relate to Standard 9.
Legends and Heroes is a great example for educational elements. This piece has recognizable tunes
derived from works that used for the thematic material. This can support Standard 7 because students
will need to be able to hear and relate to how their individual parts are similar to the different tunes.
The pieces are Patrick on the Railroad, Sweet Betsy, and Little David, Play on! Your Harp. This
collection of works can be an educational experience on when they were written, why and by whom.
This piece also supports the course objective #4, which is the students will understand the historical
context of all pieces performed and accurately apply historical performance style.
Assessment
For the piece, A Childhood Hymn, it is important to assess the air support, which is needed for the
sustained and legato melodic lines that are within the piece. I would do this by teaching the students
about air support and exercises that can be done at the beginning of class to make the students
aware of the air support they need. I would be able to assess the before and after playing the students
do.
In Legends and Heroes, I would have a friendly “competition” with different sections of the piece
between instrument groups. I would then assess the rhythmic challenges that sections are having
difficulty with. This will be able to help me see better what different challenges that the students could
be having. This could also be an opportunity for students to assess each other with a rubric on what
they hear.
Spring Concert
Two Fanfares
Jay Gilbert
With Quiet Courage
Larry Daehn
Voices of the Sky
Samuel R. Hazo
Cajun Folk Songs
Frank Ticheli
Dedicatory Overture
Clifton Williams
Rationale
With Quiet Courage and Voices of the Sky are two good pieces that use a legato style. Both of these
pieces will challenge the ensemble to listen as a section and to the whole group for the moving part.
Two Fanfares on the other hand represent a contrast in tempos and styles that will make the
ensemble listen to each other and balancing.
In the Dedicatory Overture, the ensemble will have the challenge of the syncopated entrances and
reverse of the traditional emphasis in a four measure, which means beats two and four are
emphasized rather than beats one and three. This will make the ensemble a new musical style that
they do not come across in a regular piece. National Standard 6 would be good for this piece because
students will need to analyze the emphasis with beats two and four and discuss the importance of this
difference. In Voices of the Sky, there are a variety of mixed meters and the juxtaposition of
consecutive dotted quarter notes against the three even quarter notes of the three-four meter. Just
like with the legato style pieces, it will be vital for the ensemble to be listening within the section and
ensemble.
Cajun Folk Songs, is a great piece that has two contrasting movements, La Belle et Capitaine and
Belle. One of the biggest focuses of this piece will be each student’s awareness of their own on part
and the parts around them. There are important melodic lines that will need to be addressed, such as
that the first movement has 3 statements of the melody while the second movement has 11
incomplete statements of the melody and 9 statements that are of the original melody. The
instruments parts in Cajun Folk Songs are written so that the students can listen across the ensemble
but need to be confident with counting and playing their own parts. This helps support my course
objective #3.
This concert set will give students different technical styles of playing and listening. It ranges from
slow and expressive style to contrast tempo and meter. Both kinds of musical express will help the
ensemble to listen in different ways, such as intonation, style, and articulation.
Assessment
In Dedicatory Overture, there is a challenge with the syncopated rhythms. So I would assess the
students by having them clap and count different sections of the piece.
For Cajun Folk Songs, an assessment I will do is to emphasize the melodic line. I would do this by
having the students only play the melodic line as an mf and non-melodic line parts down as a piano. I
would be able to assess then if the students understand if they know when they have the melodic
lines or fragments and if they know who they are receiving that line from and who they are giving it off
too.
Festival
As Summer was just Beginning
Larry D. Daehn
Chorale and Shaker Dance
John Zdechlik
Rationale
As Summer was just Beginning is apiece dedicated to James Dean, who was an actor who died in a
car crash in 1955. This piece is an excellent work that is in a folksong style that is filled with engaging
countermelodies and rhythmically active accompaniment. This is beneficial to the students to develop
individual, section, and ensemble independence (Standard 2). This piece has many expressive
qualities such as long crescendos and diminuendos, delicate writing, and needing to have the primary
tune to be heard throughout the whole piece. Historically this piece is based from old British Isles
Folksongs, which have also been inspirations to other famous composers like Gustav Holst, Ralph
Vaughan Williams, Gordon Jacob, and Haydn Woods. In a classroom, the students could have the
opportunity to learn about a different musical style and successful composers (Standard 9).
Chorale and Shaker Dance is another high quality piece that bands should have a chance to play.
This piece has a lot of historical, stylistic and technical information that is beneficial to both the
students and the teacher. This piece is drawn from the Shaker hymn, “Tis a Gift to be Simple.”
Stylistically this piece needs to be aware of balance within the ensemble. There are opportunities for
soloist that needs to address there parts with care and light articulation. This piece can challenge an
ensemble to think of individual and ensemble blending.
Assessment
I would assess As Summer was just Beginning with exercises that expand the dynamic range and
breath support of the ensemble. This piece is extremely sensitive to how the quiet the ensemble can
play and building up to a forte dynamic climax. Developing a dynamic number system for my specific
ensemble can do this. This gives me a prospective on how my ensemble plays each dynamic and the
students a rating scale to reference when playing their individual parts (Class objectives 5).
In Chorale and Shaker Dance, I would assess by having my students listen to the Shaker hymn, “Tis a
Gift to be Simple”. Since Chorale and Shaker Dance is referenced to that hymn, students can
compare and contrast the two pieces. I can see this being a small group or even individual activity to
get the students to connect to another piece (Standard 6).