Topic: Pedagogy - Instrumental Tempo
Modern band method books didn’t mention anything faster than allegro because most young musicians didn’t yet have the necessary tonguing abilities and coordination needed to play quickly.
Arnold Gesell and Frances Ilg found "most of the organization" of a child’s neuromuscular system "takes place in the first ten years of life, and proceeds with an orderly sequence." [1] It wasn’t until they were about nine-years-old that their "eyes and hands are now well differentiated. The two hands can generally be used quite independently. Their fingers also show new differentiation." [2]
The comments on Amazon for Bruce Pearson’s Standard of Excellence suggested it was used in fifth grade, just a year after children had acquired the necessary coordination. One woman believed it still "was a little too advanced" for her ten-year-old grandson, [3] while another said it was "easy for my 10 year old to follow." [4]
Up until the early 1980s, some band books introduced the relativity of tempo with discussions of cut time. Four-four with a quarter note getting the count was often indicated with a large "C." When a slash was drawn across that "C" like a cent symbol (¢), it became two-two with a half note getting the count, and thus twice as fast.
Alle breve was essentially a convention used by march composers to show successions of quick notes on the small, 6.75" x 5.25" scores used by bands. Several book editors used the "Army March" as their example. [5] Harry Haines told students:
"A really great way to review fundamentals and practice playing cut time (at the same time) is to go back through this book playing all of the 4/4 lines (that do not include 8th notes) twice as fast." [6]
Don Schaeffer used "Kumbaya" to introduce cut time and marked the score 4/4 or 2/2 in an arrangement for a young band. He also indicated it should be played allegretto. [7]
In addition to limitations imposed by the age of would-be music students, band books may have eliminated 2/2 time in response to the growing view, mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018, that music programs needed to justify their budgets by teaching music with a capital "M." Charles Leonhard, who edited a series of singing texts for public schools, [8] told Florida teachers in 1981 that concerts and other performances, especially those by marching bands, confused means and ends:
"The solution, he said, was for ‘band, orchestral, and choral rehearsals [to] become music laboratories in which students study and understand the music they play.’ The music program should include such experiences for children, but only as a part of the total music curriculum, ‘sequentially organized from grade to grade and level to level, moving inexorably toward the attainment of valid musical objectives’." [9]
Fast tempi weren’t the only problem for grade school musicians. As mentioned in the post for 25 July 2018, they also had problems with speeds of 60 beats per minute. That was the upper range of largo, which was the prescribed pace for "Kumbaya" in Accent of Achievement, Standard of Excellence, and Yamaha Advantage. The two Essential Elements editions used moderato, while Band Folio specified andante. [10]
Several individuals posted videos of young boys playing "Kumbaya" that attracted comments from other young musicians who probably were being drilled on timing. One person wrote: "umm ur going to fast at the eigth notes." [11] On another video, someone commented on Gabe Sheets’ playing:
"I like playing this on the trumpet too! Just saying, either you or I have the tempo wrong. Because the sheet music I have, and the potentially wrong way I’m reading it, says you are going slightly too fast." [12]
Problems with the slow pace of largo may have been the reason Alfred Publishing dropped the tempo and "Kumbaya" when it reissued Bruce Pearson Standard of Excellence [13] in 2010. Instead, Tradition of Excellence introduced "maestoso," which it defined as "majestically" for Jeremiah Clarke’s "Trumpet Voluntary" [14] and Handel’s "See, the Conquering Hero Comes" from Judas Maccabaeus. [15] When a fuller arrangement of the "Voluntary" appeared at the end as the final concert arrangement, it was marked moderato. [16]
Beside each selection, Pearson and his co-editor, Ryan Nowlin, provided cultural history. They said Handel’s "piece commemorated the title character’s victorious return from battle," [17] without mentioning his importance to the celebration Hanukkah. [18] They noted Clarke’s work was known as Prince of Denmark’s March and was originally composed for harpsichord" [19] during the Baroque period. [20]
Alfred also issued supplements to Pearson’s Standard of Excellence that diluted Pearson’s original emphasis on performance with the national standards mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018. Chuck Elledge led a team that added a Music Theory & History Workbook [21] to the series. The conductor’s version contained
"objectives for every line of music, director tips, extended reference articles, duplicable worksheets and quizzes, and theory, listening, composing, improvisation, geography, foreign language, history, and other interdisciplinary Activities for Excellence." [22]
Performers
Gabe Sheets and unidentified trumpet player
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: B-flat trumpet
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
None given
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Gabe Sheets
Pronunciation: When he introduced the song he said KUM by yah, with more emphasis on yah than by.
Notes on Music
Gabe Sheets
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: slow
Basic Structure: played melody through one time; at the end, played one note an octave higher
Unidentified trumpet player
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: played melody through once
Notes on Performance
Gabe Sheets
Location: in his home
Microphones: none
Clothing: light blue, short-sleeved polo shirt
Unidentified trumpet player
Location: in his bedroom
Microphones: none
Clothing: plain white, short-sleeved tee shirt
Notes on Movement
Gabe Sheets
He looked like he was seated, looked straight ahead, and held his trumpet more or less horizontal with his left hand.
Unidentified trumpet player
He was standing, looked down, and held the trumpet at about 45-degrees with his left hand.
Notes on Performers
Sheets was in the Augusta County, Virginia, Middle School Honor Band in 2014 where in played French Horn. [23] Last year, 2017, he was working on the Eagle Scout rank. One of his projects was building a "building a bass xylophone cabinet" for a nearby elementary school in the Shenandoah Valley. [24] He said:
"I have been involved in the music programs in elementary, middle, and high schools. Choir and band always make my school day better and make me want to go to school every day. Music is such a big part of my life that I am choosing to make it my career." [25]
Karen Reeves’ video only showed the unidentified trumpet player from the shoulders to the hips. Since the walls of the bedroom and the bedspread were blue, one assumes the player was a boy.
Availability
Gabe Sheets
YouTube: "kumbaya solo on the trumpet." Uploaded by Gabe Sheets on 28 January 2015.
Unidentified trumpet player
YouTube: "Kum Ba Yah for trumpet." Uploaded by karenreeeves on 22 May 2010.
End Notes
1. Arnold Gesell and Frances L. Ilg. The Child from Five to Ten. New York: Harper and Row, 1946. 225.
2. Gesell. 197-198.
3. Dee. Comment posted to Amazon website for Standard of Excellence, Book 1. Trumpet on 7 November 2015.
4. Amazon Customer. Comment posted to Amazon website for Standard of Excellence, Book 1. Trumpet on 9 September 2014.
5. John Kinyon. Basic Training Course. Book 1, Cornet. New York: Alfred Music Company, 1970. 21.
Arthur C. Jenson. Learning Unlimited. Level 1. Trumpet/Cornet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, 1973. 44.
6. Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1, Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. This appeared on page 26 of 32. Eight notes were excluded because they became sixteenth-notes in 2/2.
7. Don Schaeffer. "Kum Ba Yah." Oskaloosa, Iowa: C. L. Barnhouse Company, 1987. I found no versions of this on YouTube or Amazon. Allegretto was very similar to moderato, 112-120 beats per minute versus 108-120 bpm. (Wikipedia. "Tempo.")
8. Leonhard’s series was discussed in the post for 8 July 2018.
9. Charles Leonhard. "Music and Ends in Music Education." Florida Band Director 35:10-11:December 1981. Quotation from George N. Heller. Charles Leonhard. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1995. 145-146. Elision in Heller.
10. Publishing details for band books containing "Kumbaya" were provided in the post for 27 June 2018.
11. hannah0782. YouTube video posted by Karen Reeves. Comment added 2013.
12. Angel Dove1. YouTube video of Gabe Sheets. Comment added July 2017. They may not have had the same band books.
13. Pearson’s Standard of Excellence was discussed in the post 29 July 2018.
14. Bruce Pearson and Ryan Nowlin. Tradition of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Music Company, 2919. 27.
15. Pearson. 34.
16. Pearson. 36.
17. Pearson. 34. According to Wikipedia, "The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (‘Dedication’) commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC, after Judah Maccabeus removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses." ("Judas Maccabeus.")
18. The Book of Maccabees appeared in the Roman Catholic, but not the Protestant Bible. Such cultural differences were beyond the scope of music texts, which had enough problems respecting the conflicting religious sensitivities of the many groups who purchased their books. (Wikipedia. "1 Maccabees.")
19. Pearson. 27.
20. Pearson. 36.
21. Chuck Elledge, Jane Yarbrough, and Bruce Pearson. Music Theory & History Workbook. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Music, 1993.
22. "Standard of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method." Bruce Pearson Music website.
23. Notes for "2014 Augusta County Middle School Honor Band." Uploaded to YouTube by FDHSFineArts on 19 January 2014.
24. "Gabe’s Eagle Scout Project." Go Fund Me website. 6 June 2017.
25. Go Fund Me.
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