Topic: Pedagogy - Instrumental Rhythm
High school marching bands used bass and snare drums. Neither was a melodic instrument. [1] Both had one head that was struck and another that was vibrated by the sound waves from the first that amplified the sound. Bass drums were muffled by placing a hand on the vibrating surface. Snare drums had wire strings across the bottom that give them their characteristic sound. When the snares were disengaged, the drums sounded more like tom-toms. Both types of drums were beaten on the rims by marching bands when they were not playing.
Since school drums were not melodic, young percussionists did not need to learn tones. Instead, they learned standardized beating patterns called rudiments. The band method books showed the beats or rudiment patterns on five-line staves without clef symbols.
The melodies for "Kumbaya" included in five method books had the same intervals and durations, but were in different key and tempos. The bass drum part was similar in all and congruent with the expectation that it set the beat. For the first full measure in the three lines that supported "yah my Lord," Band Folio [2] and Yamaha Advantage mirrored the melody’s dotted-quarter-eighth-note pattern. Essential Elements and Standard of Excellence began with a half note.
Elements and Evans echoed the melody’s use of a half note. Standard and Yamaha finished the measure with two quarter notes. Standard’s tympani part was like Yamaha
Elements, Standard and Yamaha used nearly identical patterns for the snare drums, but Elements and Standard had the wires released. They began with an eighth and two sixteenths, followed by two eight notes. Yamaha continued the eighth notes on the third and fourth beats, while Standard specified two quarter notes. Elements concluded with four sixteenth notes and two quarters.
Band Folio’s arrangement for the first phrase was more challenging. The first three beats were single eighth notes followed by two sixteenth notes. The last beat reversed the pattern with two sixteenths and an eighth note. [3]
Accent on Achievement was more inventive. John O’Reilly used a wooden block instead of a bass drum and had the snares off. The block sounded on the first, third, and fourth beats. The snare/tom-tom began with a dotted-quarter and an eighth that sounded when the block was silent. The third beat was a quarter note and the last a nine-stroke roll. [4] The last had been defined a few pages earlier as using "alternate single strokes, beginning with either hand" to play sixteenth notes rapidly. [5]
Some used other methods to accent the beat. Elements specified a triangle on the first and third beats. Yamaha had the snare drummer emphasize the taps that coincided with the beginning of syllables in the melody.
Several of the band books that included "Kumbaya" also included directions on how to play instruments struck by mallets like marimbas or bells, but none showed the glockenspiel held upright as was done by marching bands. The directions for playing drums were on the left hand page and the melodic ones on the right, so young musicians were exposed to the same information.
The only editors to go beyond those two instrument classes were Standard, which had a separate book for tympani and "auxiliary percussion," [6] and Accent. O’Reilly included triangles, tambourines, suspended cymbals, and crash cymbals. The photographs of mallet instruments included a vibraphone, xylophone, and chimes. Accent suggested these other instruments at strategic points in the book, like the use of the block with "Kumbaya."
Elements only provided instructions on how to play the snare drum, although it used the bass drum from the beginning. In the opening pages it had a list of percussion instruments that it included for specific songs without comment. [7] Keyboard percussion was introduced at the very end.
Few schools had many of the more exotic instruments, and their teachers were probably like David Wright at Hilltop Christian who was trained on flute, not drums. [8] Jason Currin was the exception at Fayette Middle School, located less than twenty-five miles from downtown Atlanta. [9] He’d studied percussion at Berklee College, [10] and had several adults or older students help him when the middle school’s world percussion ensemble played "Kumbaya" in 2007.
Currin’s arrangement began with a cowbell playing a rhythm. He was joined by a man playing a floor drum, then by one playing a goblet drum with paddles. The three adults set a three-layered rhythm for the students who joined them with a djembé, floor drums, and shakers.
After twenty seconds of percussion, the marimbas begin alternating between two notes. The multiple rhythms continued for a full minute. Then, the marimbas played the melody of "Kumbaya."
Shakers took over after the verse was completed. The man with the goblet drum had a solo with a small drum held under his arm and played with both a hammer and a hand that was accompanied by only the drums. They stop while the marimbas played the melody alone. The piece concluded with the drums joining the melodic instruments.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Solo: marimba family, [11] small drum held under the arm
Rhythm Accompaniment: floor drums, djembé, shakers, cowbell
Credits
Traditional, arr. Currin
Notes on Lyrics
There were none.
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: alternated rhythm sections with solo or melodic ones
Rhythm Style: African, with layers of repeating, but offset patterns of strong and weak beats that were kept together by one instrument that set the cadence.
Notes on Performance
Occasion: concert, 21 April 2007
Location: stage; Jason Currin’s Ultra Terrific Udu Xylorimba Tom Tom Gong-a-Thon
Microphones: one on the small drum held under the arm
Clothing: casual clothes
Notes on Movement
The drummers were seated in a semicircle in front. The marimbas were arrayed behind with shakers and possibly other percussion instruments behind them. The second and third rows stood. Currin stood behind the drummers and played the cowbell.
Notes on Audience
Some in the audience started to applaud when the music got soft before the final section. They all clapped at the end.
Audience Perceptions
One boy wrote: "I got to that school and we’re know for it!" [12]
Notes on Performers
Fayette County grew cotton before the Civil War. Its schools served both the town of Fayetteville and the county. [13] Fayette Middle School was closed in 2014. It had served about 720 students in grades 6 to 8. [14]
Availability
Band Books
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 30 in Accent on Achievement. Book 1 Combined Percussion. Edited by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1998.
Book: "Kum Bah Yah." 19-B in Essential Elements. Book 1. Percussion. Edited by Tom C. Rhodes, Donald Bierschenk, and Tim Lautzenheiser. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1991.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 35 in Standard of Excellence. Book 1. Drums and Mallet Percussion. Edited by Bruce Pearson. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Company, 1993.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 35 in Standard of Excellence. Book 1. Timpani and Auxiliary Percussion. Edited by Bruce Pearson. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Company, 1993.
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 32 in The Yamaha Advantage. Book 1. Combined Percussion. Edited by Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark. Paoli, Pennsylvania: Sandy Feldstein Music, 2001.
Fayette Middle School World Percussion Ensemble
YouTube: uploaded by Jason Currin on 17 October 2007.
End Notes
1. The lack of tonality in snare drums is a cultural value. When Haskell W. Harr wrote his manual on drumming in 1937, calf skin was used for the head that was "very susceptible to weather conditions." [page 4] A drummer had to adjust his heads accordingly. [page 5] He or she also had to strike the drum near the center, because "the pitch of the drumhead varies. The tone in the center of the head is dead, due to the strain applied by the tension rods pulling from all sides. The farther away from the center you play the higher the pitch of the tone. [. . .] By playing with each stick an equal distance from the center of the head you will have an even tone." [page 12] (Drum Method. Book 1. Chicago: Cole Publishing Company, 1937.)
Since he wrote, synthetic materials have been adapted for heads and method books have been written for younger musicians. Only one of the modern books I reviewed mentioned striking in the center (Elements, 2) and only one mentioned the need to tune. (Yamaha, 2) They assumed the band teacher would correct errors. It also was possible beginners did not, in fact, play on drums, but learned by using sticks on table tops. This was how drumming was taught when I was in elementary school in 1956.
2. For more on Evans’ Band Folio, see the post for band 27 June 2018.
3. This was the pattern reversal mentioned was for "Skip to My Lou" in the post for 26 August 2018.
4. Accent introduced the nine-stroke roll on page 27 as "a double bounce roll based on sticking for sixteenth notes." Harr told young snare drum players: "The NINE STROKE ROLL is played from hand to hand, the same as the five stroke. This roll has five primary strokes, the first four are bounced, the fifth stroke is single." [page 34] When he introduced rolls on page 31, he said "each stick strikes the drumhead and rebounces once." He also noted that the roll did not vary with tempo; when the pace changed, the number of strokes changed to fill the time.
5. Accent. 27.
6. The tympani part was like the bass drum of Yamaha Advantage. The auxiliary percussion included: crash and suspended cymbals, temple and wood blocks, triangle, tambourine, sleigh bells, maracas, and claves. It provided instructions when the instruments first were used.
7. These included: crash and suspended cymbals, wood block, triangle, tambourine, sleigh and cow bells, maracas and claves.
8. For more on Wright and Hilltop Christian, see the post for 1 July 2018.
9. Wikipedia. "Fayetteville, Georgia."
10. "About Jason Currin." Facebook.
11. I couldn’t see details of the instruments on the video.
12. Bob Marlin. YouTube comment, 2011.
13. Wikipedia. "Fayetteville, Georgia."
14. "Fayette Middle School." Public School Review website.
Showing posts with label O’Reilly John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label O’Reilly John. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Sunday, August 26, 2018
John O’Reilly - Kum Ba Yah
Topic: Pedagogy - Melodic Instrumental Rhythm
Rhythm need not be restricted to percussion instruments. Melodies may contain durations that are not binary divisions of one another. When a measure begins with a short note like a sixteenth, so a longer note begins a fraction later, it is considered syncopated. There’s no term for the opposite, the equally rhythmic longer note followed by a shorter one. [1]
Melodic rhythm assumes certain mental and physical skills. Merry Texter reviewed band method books published before 1973, and noticed "in most of the books published before 1940, the sixteenth note is the shortest unit of duration. After 1940, the eighth note is more frequently the shortest unit of duration." [2]
She added the elimination of the sixteenth note "affects the rhythmic complexity. Syncopation, triplets, and compound and complex rhythms are more common in books published before 1940." [3]
An eighth note, was as far as many of the modern instruction manuals I could purchase went. Accent on Achievement introduced them in series of four spelled by two quarter notes in "Bile Them Cabbage Down." [4] John O’Reilly and Mark Williams followed this with a theme from Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. Students played it through once with quarter notes, then repeated it with every other quarter note turned into two eighth notes. [5]
Using quarter notes to anchor series of eighth notes can easily become habitual. The Yamaha Band Student, edited by O’Reilly and Sandy Feldstein, broke up the mental pattern with a version of "Skip to My Lou" that changed from repetitions of a quarter and two eighths to repetitions of a quarter and four eighths and then to two eighths and a quarter (Xxx/Xxx to Xxx/xxX to xxX/Xxx). [6] This motif is common in drum books, but not brass or reed ones. Both editors were percussionists and used this exercise in their later books. [7].
The two Essential Elements books used the more familiar eighth notes leading to quarter notes pattern for the Southern dance song. [8] This kind of simplification was partly the result of lowering the beginning age for instrumental training. As mentioned in the post for 1 August 2018, there simply were things a twelve-year-old could do that an average nine-year-old could not. Harry Haines and John McEntyre introduced sixteenth notes in lesson 21 of 22 of their Division of the Beat. They included part of "Dixie" with the challenge: "This line is too difficult for this book. Can you play it?" [9]
Beginning band book editors introduced variations to a beat on every count slowly. The first alteration young musicians were taught was the "tied note," a half or quarter note that was sustained longer. Thus, a half-note tied to a quarter note took the time of three beats. A quarter-note tied to an eighth-note was the more radical one-and-one-half beats.
Without the sixteenth note, the dotted-quarter preceded or followed by an eighth note was as irregular as instrumental instruction books could be. Texter recorded the motif appeared in "every book published between 1907 and 1940" but was absent from "eighteen books published after 1940." [10] The combinations appeared in most of the manuals I looked at. Among the ones containing "Kumbaya," it only was missing from Yamaha Advantage.
Accenting notes by playing them stronger without altering dynamics appeared in many, but not all the method books I reviewed, but the use of staccato began disappearing in the early 1990s. The only "Kumbaya" band books to teach students to introduce irregularity into a string of notes of even duration by playing a "note 1/2 its normal length" were Accent and Band Folio.
Accent, along with all the other method books, converted "Kumbaya" from 3/4 to 4/4 time. As mentioned in the post for 29 July 2018, several slowed the tempo to largo. They kept the dotted-quarter/eighth notes at the beginnings of lines, but eliminated the syncopation of the final "Lord." They all turned the eighth/dotted-quarter-note figure into a quarter note/dotted half.
The elimination of melodic irregularities like syncopation coincided with changes in the repertoire. When folklorists complained many of the British folk songs like "Auld Lang Syne" weren’t really traditional, they were dropped by singing book editors in favor of international folk songs. The Irish reels had used quick patterns of notes, while ones by Robert Burns contained the Scottish snap that used the syncopated eighth/dotted-quarter pattern. [11]
Editors also began dropping songs by Stephen Foster and other tunes from nineteenth-century minstrel shows because they were associated, if not by text, by association, with negative stereotypes. Many of those with faster tempi happened to include African-American rhythms. Yamaha Advantage’s version of Foster’s "Camp Town Races included staccato notes followed by rests. [12] Rhythm Master’s arrangement used eighth notes followed by dotted quarters. [13] Accent used neither in an early exercise. [14]
The elimination of these folk and popular tunes marked the final triumph of the western European view that some instruments existed to play melody or harmony, and only drums played rhythm. Thus, the tunes with rhythmic melodies were not replaced with songs from African-American tradition. [15]
Some books had pieces labeled as "boogies" that used series of even eighth-notes ascending and descending the scale. [16] Band Expressions included works by Duke Ellington and George Gershwin that relied on quarter and eighth notes. "‘S Wonderful" had one dotted-quarter note followed by an eighth. [17] Robert and Susan Smith also included a number of more recent songs, only, by the time the book was published they either were passé or had been popular before fifth graders were born. [18]
Instead of finding other familiar songs with rhythmic melodies, band book editors used Latin songs with series of eighth notes. This was partly because their purpose was training instrumentalists, and there were few unique African-American concert band instruments. [19] Cuba had the conga and shakers and claves. The exercises then resembled Ginsberg’s arrangement of "Kumbaya," melodies with evenly divided notes played by the reeds and brass instruments against Latin percussion.
Accent used a Jamaican tune to illustrate tied notes. The insertion of two quarter notes into a string of half notes created a rhythmic melody that was hard not to change to a dotted-quarter and eighth note to fit the way "Mary Ann" was pronounced. [20]
The next Latin song, "Chiapanecas" used the same broken chord pattern as the Haydn theme from the Surprise Symphony found two pages earlier, but every note in the phrases was an eighth except the first and last, which were quarter notes. [21] "La Bamba," also from México, used series of eight notes introduced by quarter-notes (Xxx). [22]
O’Reilly and Williams were unique among the books containing "Kumbaya" in not completely abandoning the older rhythmic melodies and also were unique in introducing syncopation. The Scots "Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon" concluded with a measure that began with an eighth followed by a quarter note. It had been preceded by three instances of its opposite, a dotted quarter and an eighter. They arranged it as a duet with the second part starting the syncopated measure with a half note. [23]
"Bonnie Doon" was followed immediately by the Appalachian "Tom Dooley," which began a measure with a staccato eight note and rest before a dotted half note that coincided with the word "Dooley" (x X). [24] The next page had "Las Mañanitas," which reversed the syncopated pattern. That is, measures began with dotted quarter notes followed by three eighths (Xxxx). [25]
Numerically, the rhythmic permutations and syncopations were few in a songbook that regularized "Kumbaya" and "Camp Town Races." They could have been omitted by band directors who thought them too challenging for their students, for nothing required them to teach every exercise. However, the mere fact the tunes took more practice might have helped to instill the skills necessary to playing irregular melodies: quick tonguing and, more important, flexible thinking.
Performers
Accent on Achievement for B-flat trumpet
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: none
Instrumental Group: B-flat trumpets
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Accent on Achievement for B-flat trumpet
African Folk Song
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Accent on Achievement for B-flat trumpet
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: largo
Key Signature: one flat
Basic Structure: played melody through once
Unique Features: the trumpet part was conventional. The clarinet part, as mentioned in the post for 11 July 2018, was arranged to test player’s abilities to negotiate the break. The combined parts began with parallel octaves and ended in unison.
Audience Perceptions
The book was widely used by band teachers, and thus attracted a number of comments on Amazon. Most were laudatory or kvetches about bad copies shipped by third-party vendors. One person complained it had a "few wrong notes in some songs;" [26] they may in fact have been variations in the melody intended to give young musicians experience playing parts.
One young man testified:
"I’m not sure if all schools use this same book but my school was probably one of the best, probably because of this book and our instructor. This book is very simple to understand and includes pictures in color that make it more interesting. We used this book for learning, and for playing at concerts. In one year our class went from not knowing how to clean and put our instrument together, to playing intermediate songs." [27]
Notes on Performers
Accent on Achievement was produced by John O’Reilly, who was a percussionist, [28] and Mark Williams, who began playing clarinet. [29] Each had taught band, O’Reilly in East Meadow, New York, [30] and Williams in Spokane, Washington. [31]
When Alfred Music asked them to produce a new method book that was in compliance with the National Standards for Arts Education in 1994, [32] Williams "created elaborate flow charts to track what had been taught and then track where it was reinforced throughout the book. This careful review cycle was built into the method and it is one of the concepts that helped make Accent on Achievement so successful." [33]
O’Reilly’s earlier work for Alfred on Yamaha Band Student was discussed in the post for 11 July 2018.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 30 in Accent on Achievement. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Edited by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Music, 1997. It came with a CD. Books also were available for flute, oboe, various clarinets, various saxophones, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, baritone horn, trombone, tuba, electric bass, combined percussion, and piano.
End Notes
1. Syncopation was discussed in the post for 19 August 2018.
2. Merry Elizabeth Texter. "A Historical and Analytical Investigation of the Beginning Band Method Book." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1975. 105-106.
3. Texter. 109.
4. Accent. 12. "Cabbage" was a fiddle tune.
5. Accent. 12.
6. Sandy Feldstein and John O’Reilly. Yamaha Band Student. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1988. 12.
7. Accent, 13, Yamaha Advantage, 14. Publishing information on other method books containing "Kumbaya" was included in the post for 27 June 2018.
8. Essential Elements, 8, and Essential Elements 2000, 10. Both contained "Kumbaya."
9. Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1. Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. 26.
10. Texter. 109.
11. Willi Apel. "Dotted Notes." 242-243 in Harvard Dictionary of Music. Edited by Willi Apel. Cambridge: Belnap Press, 1969 edition. 243. Robert Burns used strathspeys for "Auld Lang Syne" and the closely related "Coming through the Rye." The strathspey was a dance characterized by the use of Scottish snaps. (Wikipedia. "Strathspey (Dance).")
12. Yamaha Advantage. 21.
13. J. R. McEntyre and Harry Haines. Rhythm Master. Book 1. Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1992. 25.
14. Accent. 15.
15. The only common African-American song was "When the Saints." Fred Weber used it in 1962 without syncopation. For more Weber’s use, see the post for 27 June 2018.
16. "Bottom Bass Boogie." 18 in Essential Elements and 21 in Essential Elements 2000.
"Band Boogie." 39 in Now Go Home and Practice! Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Edited by Jim Probasco, David Grable, and Dan Meeks. Dayton: Heritage Music Press, 1994.
"Boogie Blues." 24 in Tradition of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Edited by Bruce Pearson and Ryan Nowlin. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Music Company, 2010. This one used the scale in thirds and added accidentals.
17. Band Expressions. Book 1. Trumpet. Edited by Robert W. Smith and Susan L. Smith. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 2003. Gershwin, 36-37; Ellington 40-41.
18. For instance, Todd Rundgren’s "Bang the Drum All Day" was released in 1983 (page 15), while Perry Como recorded "Catch a Falling Star" in 1957 (page 17).
19. Banjos, guitars, and folk instruments like washboards weren’t concert or marching band instruments, except by the Mummers in Philadelphia. All the commercial band books included tambourines. Many of the Cuban instruments, in fact, were Afro-Cuban.
20. Accent. 10. "Mary Ann" was popularized by Harry Belafonte in 1958
21. Accent. 14. They titled the exercise "Mexican Jumping Beans."
22. Accent. 20. Ritchie Valens recorded "La Bamba" in 1958.
23. Accent. 32.
24. Accent. 32. "Tom Dooley" popularized by The Kingston Trio in 1958.
25. Accent. 33. It was a Mexican folk song.
26. Lion. Comment posted 17 December 2012. Amazon website for Accent on Achievement, Book 1, Percussion, 1 June 1997 paper edition.
27. Ruben. Comment posted 16 February 2013. Amazon website for Accent on Achievement, Book 1, Percussion, 1 June 1997 paper edition.
28. "Prolific Composer and Alfred Music Editor John O’Reilly Speaks to SUNY Potsdam Master’s Graduates." readMedia website. 9 May 2014.
29. "A Tribute: Mark Williams." Choral Director website. 11 March 2008.
30. readMedia.
31. Choral Director.
32. Tracy Lee Heavner emphasized the importance of the new standards in "An Analysis of Beginning Band Method Books for Principles of Comprehensive Musicianship." DMe diss. University of Northern Colorado, 1995. Cited by Brandon K. McDannald. "A Comparative Summary of Content and Integration of Technological Resources in Six Beginning Band Methods." MA thesis. University of Central Missouri, May 2012. 4.
33. O’Reilly. Quoted by Choral Director.
Rhythm need not be restricted to percussion instruments. Melodies may contain durations that are not binary divisions of one another. When a measure begins with a short note like a sixteenth, so a longer note begins a fraction later, it is considered syncopated. There’s no term for the opposite, the equally rhythmic longer note followed by a shorter one. [1]
Melodic rhythm assumes certain mental and physical skills. Merry Texter reviewed band method books published before 1973, and noticed "in most of the books published before 1940, the sixteenth note is the shortest unit of duration. After 1940, the eighth note is more frequently the shortest unit of duration." [2]
She added the elimination of the sixteenth note "affects the rhythmic complexity. Syncopation, triplets, and compound and complex rhythms are more common in books published before 1940." [3]
An eighth note, was as far as many of the modern instruction manuals I could purchase went. Accent on Achievement introduced them in series of four spelled by two quarter notes in "Bile Them Cabbage Down." [4] John O’Reilly and Mark Williams followed this with a theme from Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. Students played it through once with quarter notes, then repeated it with every other quarter note turned into two eighth notes. [5]
Using quarter notes to anchor series of eighth notes can easily become habitual. The Yamaha Band Student, edited by O’Reilly and Sandy Feldstein, broke up the mental pattern with a version of "Skip to My Lou" that changed from repetitions of a quarter and two eighths to repetitions of a quarter and four eighths and then to two eighths and a quarter (Xxx/Xxx to Xxx/xxX to xxX/Xxx). [6] This motif is common in drum books, but not brass or reed ones. Both editors were percussionists and used this exercise in their later books. [7].
The two Essential Elements books used the more familiar eighth notes leading to quarter notes pattern for the Southern dance song. [8] This kind of simplification was partly the result of lowering the beginning age for instrumental training. As mentioned in the post for 1 August 2018, there simply were things a twelve-year-old could do that an average nine-year-old could not. Harry Haines and John McEntyre introduced sixteenth notes in lesson 21 of 22 of their Division of the Beat. They included part of "Dixie" with the challenge: "This line is too difficult for this book. Can you play it?" [9]
Beginning band book editors introduced variations to a beat on every count slowly. The first alteration young musicians were taught was the "tied note," a half or quarter note that was sustained longer. Thus, a half-note tied to a quarter note took the time of three beats. A quarter-note tied to an eighth-note was the more radical one-and-one-half beats.
Without the sixteenth note, the dotted-quarter preceded or followed by an eighth note was as irregular as instrumental instruction books could be. Texter recorded the motif appeared in "every book published between 1907 and 1940" but was absent from "eighteen books published after 1940." [10] The combinations appeared in most of the manuals I looked at. Among the ones containing "Kumbaya," it only was missing from Yamaha Advantage.
Accenting notes by playing them stronger without altering dynamics appeared in many, but not all the method books I reviewed, but the use of staccato began disappearing in the early 1990s. The only "Kumbaya" band books to teach students to introduce irregularity into a string of notes of even duration by playing a "note 1/2 its normal length" were Accent and Band Folio.
Accent, along with all the other method books, converted "Kumbaya" from 3/4 to 4/4 time. As mentioned in the post for 29 July 2018, several slowed the tempo to largo. They kept the dotted-quarter/eighth notes at the beginnings of lines, but eliminated the syncopation of the final "Lord." They all turned the eighth/dotted-quarter-note figure into a quarter note/dotted half.
The elimination of melodic irregularities like syncopation coincided with changes in the repertoire. When folklorists complained many of the British folk songs like "Auld Lang Syne" weren’t really traditional, they were dropped by singing book editors in favor of international folk songs. The Irish reels had used quick patterns of notes, while ones by Robert Burns contained the Scottish snap that used the syncopated eighth/dotted-quarter pattern. [11]
Editors also began dropping songs by Stephen Foster and other tunes from nineteenth-century minstrel shows because they were associated, if not by text, by association, with negative stereotypes. Many of those with faster tempi happened to include African-American rhythms. Yamaha Advantage’s version of Foster’s "Camp Town Races included staccato notes followed by rests. [12] Rhythm Master’s arrangement used eighth notes followed by dotted quarters. [13] Accent used neither in an early exercise. [14]
The elimination of these folk and popular tunes marked the final triumph of the western European view that some instruments existed to play melody or harmony, and only drums played rhythm. Thus, the tunes with rhythmic melodies were not replaced with songs from African-American tradition. [15]
Some books had pieces labeled as "boogies" that used series of even eighth-notes ascending and descending the scale. [16] Band Expressions included works by Duke Ellington and George Gershwin that relied on quarter and eighth notes. "‘S Wonderful" had one dotted-quarter note followed by an eighth. [17] Robert and Susan Smith also included a number of more recent songs, only, by the time the book was published they either were passé or had been popular before fifth graders were born. [18]
Instead of finding other familiar songs with rhythmic melodies, band book editors used Latin songs with series of eighth notes. This was partly because their purpose was training instrumentalists, and there were few unique African-American concert band instruments. [19] Cuba had the conga and shakers and claves. The exercises then resembled Ginsberg’s arrangement of "Kumbaya," melodies with evenly divided notes played by the reeds and brass instruments against Latin percussion.
Accent used a Jamaican tune to illustrate tied notes. The insertion of two quarter notes into a string of half notes created a rhythmic melody that was hard not to change to a dotted-quarter and eighth note to fit the way "Mary Ann" was pronounced. [20]
The next Latin song, "Chiapanecas" used the same broken chord pattern as the Haydn theme from the Surprise Symphony found two pages earlier, but every note in the phrases was an eighth except the first and last, which were quarter notes. [21] "La Bamba," also from México, used series of eight notes introduced by quarter-notes (Xxx). [22]
O’Reilly and Williams were unique among the books containing "Kumbaya" in not completely abandoning the older rhythmic melodies and also were unique in introducing syncopation. The Scots "Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon" concluded with a measure that began with an eighth followed by a quarter note. It had been preceded by three instances of its opposite, a dotted quarter and an eighter. They arranged it as a duet with the second part starting the syncopated measure with a half note. [23]
"Bonnie Doon" was followed immediately by the Appalachian "Tom Dooley," which began a measure with a staccato eight note and rest before a dotted half note that coincided with the word "Dooley" (x X). [24] The next page had "Las Mañanitas," which reversed the syncopated pattern. That is, measures began with dotted quarter notes followed by three eighths (Xxxx). [25]
Numerically, the rhythmic permutations and syncopations were few in a songbook that regularized "Kumbaya" and "Camp Town Races." They could have been omitted by band directors who thought them too challenging for their students, for nothing required them to teach every exercise. However, the mere fact the tunes took more practice might have helped to instill the skills necessary to playing irregular melodies: quick tonguing and, more important, flexible thinking.
Performers
Accent on Achievement for B-flat trumpet
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: none
Instrumental Group: B-flat trumpets
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Accent on Achievement for B-flat trumpet
African Folk Song
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Accent on Achievement for B-flat trumpet
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: largo
Key Signature: one flat
Basic Structure: played melody through once
Unique Features: the trumpet part was conventional. The clarinet part, as mentioned in the post for 11 July 2018, was arranged to test player’s abilities to negotiate the break. The combined parts began with parallel octaves and ended in unison.
Audience Perceptions
The book was widely used by band teachers, and thus attracted a number of comments on Amazon. Most were laudatory or kvetches about bad copies shipped by third-party vendors. One person complained it had a "few wrong notes in some songs;" [26] they may in fact have been variations in the melody intended to give young musicians experience playing parts.
One young man testified:
"I’m not sure if all schools use this same book but my school was probably one of the best, probably because of this book and our instructor. This book is very simple to understand and includes pictures in color that make it more interesting. We used this book for learning, and for playing at concerts. In one year our class went from not knowing how to clean and put our instrument together, to playing intermediate songs." [27]
Notes on Performers
Accent on Achievement was produced by John O’Reilly, who was a percussionist, [28] and Mark Williams, who began playing clarinet. [29] Each had taught band, O’Reilly in East Meadow, New York, [30] and Williams in Spokane, Washington. [31]
When Alfred Music asked them to produce a new method book that was in compliance with the National Standards for Arts Education in 1994, [32] Williams "created elaborate flow charts to track what had been taught and then track where it was reinforced throughout the book. This careful review cycle was built into the method and it is one of the concepts that helped make Accent on Achievement so successful." [33]
O’Reilly’s earlier work for Alfred on Yamaha Band Student was discussed in the post for 11 July 2018.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 30 in Accent on Achievement. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Edited by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Music, 1997. It came with a CD. Books also were available for flute, oboe, various clarinets, various saxophones, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, baritone horn, trombone, tuba, electric bass, combined percussion, and piano.
End Notes
1. Syncopation was discussed in the post for 19 August 2018.
2. Merry Elizabeth Texter. "A Historical and Analytical Investigation of the Beginning Band Method Book." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1975. 105-106.
3. Texter. 109.
4. Accent. 12. "Cabbage" was a fiddle tune.
5. Accent. 12.
6. Sandy Feldstein and John O’Reilly. Yamaha Band Student. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1988. 12.
7. Accent, 13, Yamaha Advantage, 14. Publishing information on other method books containing "Kumbaya" was included in the post for 27 June 2018.
8. Essential Elements, 8, and Essential Elements 2000, 10. Both contained "Kumbaya."
9. Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1. Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. 26.
10. Texter. 109.
11. Willi Apel. "Dotted Notes." 242-243 in Harvard Dictionary of Music. Edited by Willi Apel. Cambridge: Belnap Press, 1969 edition. 243. Robert Burns used strathspeys for "Auld Lang Syne" and the closely related "Coming through the Rye." The strathspey was a dance characterized by the use of Scottish snaps. (Wikipedia. "Strathspey (Dance).")
12. Yamaha Advantage. 21.
13. J. R. McEntyre and Harry Haines. Rhythm Master. Book 1. Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1992. 25.
14. Accent. 15.
15. The only common African-American song was "When the Saints." Fred Weber used it in 1962 without syncopation. For more Weber’s use, see the post for 27 June 2018.
16. "Bottom Bass Boogie." 18 in Essential Elements and 21 in Essential Elements 2000.
"Band Boogie." 39 in Now Go Home and Practice! Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Edited by Jim Probasco, David Grable, and Dan Meeks. Dayton: Heritage Music Press, 1994.
"Boogie Blues." 24 in Tradition of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Edited by Bruce Pearson and Ryan Nowlin. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Music Company, 2010. This one used the scale in thirds and added accidentals.
17. Band Expressions. Book 1. Trumpet. Edited by Robert W. Smith and Susan L. Smith. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 2003. Gershwin, 36-37; Ellington 40-41.
18. For instance, Todd Rundgren’s "Bang the Drum All Day" was released in 1983 (page 15), while Perry Como recorded "Catch a Falling Star" in 1957 (page 17).
19. Banjos, guitars, and folk instruments like washboards weren’t concert or marching band instruments, except by the Mummers in Philadelphia. All the commercial band books included tambourines. Many of the Cuban instruments, in fact, were Afro-Cuban.
20. Accent. 10. "Mary Ann" was popularized by Harry Belafonte in 1958
21. Accent. 14. They titled the exercise "Mexican Jumping Beans."
22. Accent. 20. Ritchie Valens recorded "La Bamba" in 1958.
23. Accent. 32.
24. Accent. 32. "Tom Dooley" popularized by The Kingston Trio in 1958.
25. Accent. 33. It was a Mexican folk song.
26. Lion. Comment posted 17 December 2012. Amazon website for Accent on Achievement, Book 1, Percussion, 1 June 1997 paper edition.
27. Ruben. Comment posted 16 February 2013. Amazon website for Accent on Achievement, Book 1, Percussion, 1 June 1997 paper edition.
28. "Prolific Composer and Alfred Music Editor John O’Reilly Speaks to SUNY Potsdam Master’s Graduates." readMedia website. 9 May 2014.
29. "A Tribute: Mark Williams." Choral Director website. 11 March 2008.
30. readMedia.
31. Choral Director.
32. Tracy Lee Heavner emphasized the importance of the new standards in "An Analysis of Beginning Band Method Books for Principles of Comprehensive Musicianship." DMe diss. University of Northern Colorado, 1995. Cited by Brandon K. McDannald. "A Comparative Summary of Content and Integration of Technological Resources in Six Beginning Band Methods." MA thesis. University of Central Missouri, May 2012. 4.
33. O’Reilly. Quoted by Choral Director.
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Gabe Sheets - kumbaya
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.
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.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Robby - Kumbahyah
Topic: Pedagogy - Instrumental Tone
Learning how to produce proper vocal tones is a matter of maturation and what Oren Gould called "learning how it feels to sing." [1] The same is true for brass and wind instrument players.
Most band books devoted their opening pages to exercises that forced students to play sustained tones. [2] John Kinyon’s team told beginners "when you can play the G with a full tone and in a relaxed manner, you are ready to proceed with lesson one," [3] which introduced two new tones, whole notes on the music staff, and marks indicating when to breathe. [4]
Similarly, Howard Rusch told young trumpeters "when you have acquired a ‘feel’ for your instrument and can readily play and recognize the preparatory tones, you are ready for the first group tones." [5] He then associated those tones with the scale, and introduced exercises that held tones for different lengths of time. [6]
Neither method book returned to tone production. One editor included later reminders that were the sort that were easy to ignore: "don’t puff the chin - point it" [7] and "listen and ask yourself - ‘does it sound good?’" [8] Another reminded students to "keep a steady air pressure" on page 19. [9]
For the most part, editors recognized that discussing sound production required language and concepts that were alien to youngsters. Satis Coleman had observed, in a 1922 book widely known in music-education circles, that playing any "breath-blown instrument well, requires breath control which means conscious or unconscious control of the diaphragm, intercostal muscles, and other muscles of the trunk and chest cavity." [10] All the band books I’ve seen mentioned taking in air at the corners of the mouth, rather than storing it in the cheeks, but only one mentioned deep breathing. [11]
Jeffrey Reynolds was more specific in Trumpet for Dummies aimed at adult beginners. Although he knew it was difficult to relax when trying to solve a problem, he told his readers:
"Tension causes tight muscles, so they breathe with less freedom, actually restricting the amount that they can inhale. And they tend to push the air out, instead of letting it go naturally. So, the air passing between the lips is under pressure and inconsistent. The lips respond to the air going through them, and with low-quality air, they vibrate weakly." [12]
The one problem editors did address was the relationship between volume and tone. Arthur Jenson told young musicians to "be careful not to blow too hard or ‘blast" your tones’," [13] while Reynolds told his reachers "don’t play too loudly — think of wind flow not force." [14] He added, "if you play too loudly, your tone will sound forced and you’ll probably play sharp. [15]
Most editors addressed this problem more subtly by delaying their discussions of dynamics, usually until at least the half-way point in their books. A third did not mention them at all, especially in the early years. [16] A couple introduced the musical concept in the 1960s, but such treatments did not become common until the 1970s. [17]
About half who included dynamics mentioned the common sound levels - soft (pianissimo), medium (mezzo forte), and loud (forte) - often in a single comment. A few included the fourth level, medium soft (mezzo piano).
The others began with the common concepts of loud and soft, before mentioning the intermediate levels, usually as part of discussion of changing levels with crescendos and decrescendos. Only two began with the normal mp and mf decibel levels, although that in fact was what most band directors used. [18]
Two of the method books that contained "Kumbaya" were marked medium soft, [19] and one was marked soft. [20] The other two began medium loud, and ended softer. [21] Accent on Achievement used the song as an exercise in decrescendo.
Chris Obst uploaded a video of a young boy just learning to play "Kumbaya." I don’t know if Robby was using the version that began on middle C or the one that started on F, but suspect it was the latter. He had no problems with the first three notes, but had difficulties with the other tones. The facial muscles used in creating a tone, the embouchure, like all muscles, take time to train, and he looked to be younger than the usual beginning trumpet player.
His biggest problem wasn’t knowing how to form the tones, but how much air to expel to produce them. One’s instinct was to blow harder to reach the higher tones like the D above middle C. That causes overtones to dominate, and makes trumpets sound brassy. When those higher tones were introduced one band book advised "higher notes are easier when you use a full air stream," [22] while another told trumpeters to "tighten the sides of your embouchure as you go higher." [23]
For the rest, the best advice came from an Odessa, Texas, secondary school band director. John McEntyre advised aspiring musicians that producing a "characteristic sound" required
"much repetition. Every person learns to play an instrument by the ‘trial and error’ method. One of the essential aspects of success is to ‘try’ enough times to give the method a chance for learning to occur." [24]
Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: Robby
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
None given
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: played melody through once
Notes on Performance
Location: at home
Microphones: none
Clothing: short-sleeved khaki shirt and maroon slacks
Notes on Movement
He stood, but looked down. No music was visible, but it may have been on a low table in front on him.
Audience Perceptions
Chris Obst recognized the boy was just beginning when he wrote: "Robby is getting better."
Other parents were more forthright on Amazon. One warned: "fourth grade band is not for the faint of heart." [25] Another admitted his or her son’s trumpet playing is currently at the level of a dying cow." [26]
Notes on Performers
The man who uploaded the video lived in New Berlin, Wisconsin, where he had three children. [27] Christopher Obst’s grandparents were German Catholics in Milwaukee. His father ran an insurance agency in Brookfield, Wisconsin, which Christopher continued when the older man retired. [28]
Both Christopher and his father were active in Boy Scouts and water sports on Wisconsin lakes. Robby presumably was Christopher’s son, and may have been exposed to trumpet through the older men’s activities.
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Chris Obst in 14 February 2013.
End Notes
1. Oren Gould. Developing Specialized Programs for Singing in the Elementary School. Macomb: Western Illinois University, 1968. Cited by Marilyn Pflederer Zimmerman. Musical Characteristics of Children. Washington: Music Educators National Conference, 1971. 25.
2. Merry Elizabeth Texter noted, before 1973, "tone production is discussed in only a few books, and it is usually referred to in the context of embouchure and breathing. Position is discussed in several books, and many books have photographs of correct playing position. Few books have full discussion of breathing and tonguing; however, these fundamentals are sometimes briefly referred to on music pages. They are also sometimes discussed on rudiment pages." ("A Historical and Analytical Investigation of the Beginning Band Method Book." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1975. 130.)
3. John Kinyon, Richard Berg, and George Frederick McKay. The Band-Booster. Book 1. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). New York: Remick Music Corporation, 1960. 5.
4. Kinyon, Booster. 6.
5. Howard W. Rusch. Hal Leonard Elementary Band Method. Bb Cornet or Trumpet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Music, 1961. 3.
6. Rusch. 4.
7. Charles S. Peters. Master Method for Band. Bb Cornet-Trumpet. Park Ridge, Illinois: Neil A. Kjos Music Company, 1958. 8.
8. Peters. 19.
9. John Kinyon. Basic Training Course. Book 1. Cornet. New York: Alfred Music Company, 1970. 19.
10. Satis N. Coleman. Creative Music for Children. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, April 1922. 164-165. When one of the children in her experimental school wanted to play trumpet, the group experimented with breathing and turned the ability to sustain a tone into an informal endurance contest. 54.
11. Peters. 3. "Don’t pinch your tones - take a deep breath and blow."
12. Jeffrey Reynolds. Trumpet for Dummies. Mississauga, Canada: John Wiley and Sons Canada, Ltd, 2011. 31.
13. Arthur C. Jenson. Learning Unlimited. Level One. Trumpet/Cornet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, 1973. 7.
14. Reynolds. 94.
15. Reynolds. 95.
16. Nine of 26 method books did not mention dynamics. For more information on my sources, see the "Note on Samples" in the post for 27 June 2018.
17. The two books from the 1960s that mentioned dynamics were Kinyon, Booster, and Vernon Leidig and Lennie Niehaus. Visual Band Method. Book 1. Bb Trumpet (Cornet). Norwalk, California: Highland Etling Publishing, 1964.
18. Reynolds suggested mezzo forte was "a good place to start when developing a good sound. 95.
19. Band Folio and Yamaha Advantage. Publishing details for band books containing "Kumbaya" were provided in the post for 27 June 2017.
20. Standard of Excellence.
21. Accent on Achievement and the two editions of Essential Elements.
22. Essential Elements, first edition. 20.
23. Kinyon, Basic. 20.
24. J. R. McEntyre and Harry Haines. Rhythm Master. Book 1. Eb Alto/Baritone Saxophone. San Antonio: Southern Music Corporation, 1992. 4. I have the book for alto saxophone, but the advice would have been the same for all instruments. The second author, Haines, was chairman of the music department at West Texas State University in Canyon.
25. Sad Songs and Waltzes Aren’t Selling this Year. Comment posted to Amazon website for Essential Elements 2000, Book 1, B Flat Trumpet Book on 14 February 2017.
26. LL. Comment posted to Amazon website for Standard of Excellence, Book 1, Trumpet on 16 January 2014.
27. "Christopher Obst Agent." American Family Insurance website.
28. Obituary for Robert J. Obst who died 28 May 2017. Bradley Funeral Home, Antigo, Wisconsin, website.
Learning how to produce proper vocal tones is a matter of maturation and what Oren Gould called "learning how it feels to sing." [1] The same is true for brass and wind instrument players.
Most band books devoted their opening pages to exercises that forced students to play sustained tones. [2] John Kinyon’s team told beginners "when you can play the G with a full tone and in a relaxed manner, you are ready to proceed with lesson one," [3] which introduced two new tones, whole notes on the music staff, and marks indicating when to breathe. [4]
Similarly, Howard Rusch told young trumpeters "when you have acquired a ‘feel’ for your instrument and can readily play and recognize the preparatory tones, you are ready for the first group tones." [5] He then associated those tones with the scale, and introduced exercises that held tones for different lengths of time. [6]
Neither method book returned to tone production. One editor included later reminders that were the sort that were easy to ignore: "don’t puff the chin - point it" [7] and "listen and ask yourself - ‘does it sound good?’" [8] Another reminded students to "keep a steady air pressure" on page 19. [9]
For the most part, editors recognized that discussing sound production required language and concepts that were alien to youngsters. Satis Coleman had observed, in a 1922 book widely known in music-education circles, that playing any "breath-blown instrument well, requires breath control which means conscious or unconscious control of the diaphragm, intercostal muscles, and other muscles of the trunk and chest cavity." [10] All the band books I’ve seen mentioned taking in air at the corners of the mouth, rather than storing it in the cheeks, but only one mentioned deep breathing. [11]
Jeffrey Reynolds was more specific in Trumpet for Dummies aimed at adult beginners. Although he knew it was difficult to relax when trying to solve a problem, he told his readers:
"Tension causes tight muscles, so they breathe with less freedom, actually restricting the amount that they can inhale. And they tend to push the air out, instead of letting it go naturally. So, the air passing between the lips is under pressure and inconsistent. The lips respond to the air going through them, and with low-quality air, they vibrate weakly." [12]
The one problem editors did address was the relationship between volume and tone. Arthur Jenson told young musicians to "be careful not to blow too hard or ‘blast" your tones’," [13] while Reynolds told his reachers "don’t play too loudly — think of wind flow not force." [14] He added, "if you play too loudly, your tone will sound forced and you’ll probably play sharp. [15]
Most editors addressed this problem more subtly by delaying their discussions of dynamics, usually until at least the half-way point in their books. A third did not mention them at all, especially in the early years. [16] A couple introduced the musical concept in the 1960s, but such treatments did not become common until the 1970s. [17]
About half who included dynamics mentioned the common sound levels - soft (pianissimo), medium (mezzo forte), and loud (forte) - often in a single comment. A few included the fourth level, medium soft (mezzo piano).
The others began with the common concepts of loud and soft, before mentioning the intermediate levels, usually as part of discussion of changing levels with crescendos and decrescendos. Only two began with the normal mp and mf decibel levels, although that in fact was what most band directors used. [18]
Two of the method books that contained "Kumbaya" were marked medium soft, [19] and one was marked soft. [20] The other two began medium loud, and ended softer. [21] Accent on Achievement used the song as an exercise in decrescendo.
Chris Obst uploaded a video of a young boy just learning to play "Kumbaya." I don’t know if Robby was using the version that began on middle C or the one that started on F, but suspect it was the latter. He had no problems with the first three notes, but had difficulties with the other tones. The facial muscles used in creating a tone, the embouchure, like all muscles, take time to train, and he looked to be younger than the usual beginning trumpet player.
His biggest problem wasn’t knowing how to form the tones, but how much air to expel to produce them. One’s instinct was to blow harder to reach the higher tones like the D above middle C. That causes overtones to dominate, and makes trumpets sound brassy. When those higher tones were introduced one band book advised "higher notes are easier when you use a full air stream," [22] while another told trumpeters to "tighten the sides of your embouchure as you go higher." [23]
For the rest, the best advice came from an Odessa, Texas, secondary school band director. John McEntyre advised aspiring musicians that producing a "characteristic sound" required
"much repetition. Every person learns to play an instrument by the ‘trial and error’ method. One of the essential aspects of success is to ‘try’ enough times to give the method a chance for learning to occur." [24]
Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: Robby
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
None given
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: played melody through once
Notes on Performance
Location: at home
Microphones: none
Clothing: short-sleeved khaki shirt and maroon slacks
Notes on Movement
He stood, but looked down. No music was visible, but it may have been on a low table in front on him.
Audience Perceptions
Chris Obst recognized the boy was just beginning when he wrote: "Robby is getting better."
Other parents were more forthright on Amazon. One warned: "fourth grade band is not for the faint of heart." [25] Another admitted his or her son’s trumpet playing is currently at the level of a dying cow." [26]
Notes on Performers
The man who uploaded the video lived in New Berlin, Wisconsin, where he had three children. [27] Christopher Obst’s grandparents were German Catholics in Milwaukee. His father ran an insurance agency in Brookfield, Wisconsin, which Christopher continued when the older man retired. [28]
Both Christopher and his father were active in Boy Scouts and water sports on Wisconsin lakes. Robby presumably was Christopher’s son, and may have been exposed to trumpet through the older men’s activities.
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Chris Obst in 14 February 2013.
End Notes
1. Oren Gould. Developing Specialized Programs for Singing in the Elementary School. Macomb: Western Illinois University, 1968. Cited by Marilyn Pflederer Zimmerman. Musical Characteristics of Children. Washington: Music Educators National Conference, 1971. 25.
2. Merry Elizabeth Texter noted, before 1973, "tone production is discussed in only a few books, and it is usually referred to in the context of embouchure and breathing. Position is discussed in several books, and many books have photographs of correct playing position. Few books have full discussion of breathing and tonguing; however, these fundamentals are sometimes briefly referred to on music pages. They are also sometimes discussed on rudiment pages." ("A Historical and Analytical Investigation of the Beginning Band Method Book." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1975. 130.)
3. John Kinyon, Richard Berg, and George Frederick McKay. The Band-Booster. Book 1. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). New York: Remick Music Corporation, 1960. 5.
4. Kinyon, Booster. 6.
5. Howard W. Rusch. Hal Leonard Elementary Band Method. Bb Cornet or Trumpet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Music, 1961. 3.
6. Rusch. 4.
7. Charles S. Peters. Master Method for Band. Bb Cornet-Trumpet. Park Ridge, Illinois: Neil A. Kjos Music Company, 1958. 8.
8. Peters. 19.
9. John Kinyon. Basic Training Course. Book 1. Cornet. New York: Alfred Music Company, 1970. 19.
10. Satis N. Coleman. Creative Music for Children. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, April 1922. 164-165. When one of the children in her experimental school wanted to play trumpet, the group experimented with breathing and turned the ability to sustain a tone into an informal endurance contest. 54.
11. Peters. 3. "Don’t pinch your tones - take a deep breath and blow."
12. Jeffrey Reynolds. Trumpet for Dummies. Mississauga, Canada: John Wiley and Sons Canada, Ltd, 2011. 31.
13. Arthur C. Jenson. Learning Unlimited. Level One. Trumpet/Cornet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, 1973. 7.
14. Reynolds. 94.
15. Reynolds. 95.
16. Nine of 26 method books did not mention dynamics. For more information on my sources, see the "Note on Samples" in the post for 27 June 2018.
17. The two books from the 1960s that mentioned dynamics were Kinyon, Booster, and Vernon Leidig and Lennie Niehaus. Visual Band Method. Book 1. Bb Trumpet (Cornet). Norwalk, California: Highland Etling Publishing, 1964.
18. Reynolds suggested mezzo forte was "a good place to start when developing a good sound. 95.
19. Band Folio and Yamaha Advantage. Publishing details for band books containing "Kumbaya" were provided in the post for 27 June 2017.
20. Standard of Excellence.
21. Accent on Achievement and the two editions of Essential Elements.
22. Essential Elements, first edition. 20.
23. Kinyon, Basic. 20.
24. J. R. McEntyre and Harry Haines. Rhythm Master. Book 1. Eb Alto/Baritone Saxophone. San Antonio: Southern Music Corporation, 1992. 4. I have the book for alto saxophone, but the advice would have been the same for all instruments. The second author, Haines, was chairman of the music department at West Texas State University in Canyon.
25. Sad Songs and Waltzes Aren’t Selling this Year. Comment posted to Amazon website for Essential Elements 2000, Book 1, B Flat Trumpet Book on 14 February 2017.
26. LL. Comment posted to Amazon website for Standard of Excellence, Book 1, Trumpet on 16 January 2014.
27. "Christopher Obst Agent." American Family Insurance website.
28. Obituary for Robert J. Obst who died 28 May 2017. Bradley Funeral Home, Antigo, Wisconsin, website.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Kylie Sanders - Kumbaya
Topic: Pedagogy - Instrumental Range
Children may begin singing when they are toddlers, but they need to be taught to play musical instruments. It’s true the very young can imitate drums by beating on anything that resonates and can pick out tunes on a piano by trial and error. [1] However, there’s nothing intuitive about playing a trumpet or clarinet. Even the talented need direction: E. T. Mensah remembered a Scotsman taught him the correct way to play saxophone, [2] while Victor Uwaifo had to be shown the standard tuning for a guitar. [3]
Beginning band books devoted their first pages to instructions specific to each instrument on topics like assembling an instrument and posture. Most left it to the music teacher to help students make their initial sounds. Vernon Leidig and Lennie Niehaus were the first [4] to suggest novices begin by working with the mouthpiece alone. After telling trumpet players to
"Place lips together naturally one against the other -- formed the syllable ‘Dim’."
Then, while keeping the "corners of the lips firm and cheeks firmly against the teeth and gums," they were told to "produce a clear steady buzz with lips alone." Next, they were allowed to "set mouthpiece only, on the lips as close to the center as possible" and blow. [5]
Given the difficulty of putting the process into words, others copied their use of the word "buzz" and recommendation to begin with the mouthpiece. [6] Harry Haines and John McEntyre added the suggestion that after buzzing and before using the mouthpiece alone, one "practice pulsing." [7]
The next step was blowing into an instrument. John Kinyon’s team said students will produce one of three notes on a trumpet when no valve was pressed: middle C, G, or upper C. After the band director told them which was natural for them, the book gave instructions on how to adjust to play G. [8]
The selection of G wasn’t made for the comfort of trumpet players. Band instruction manuals began with three notes, either E-F-G, F-G-A, or C-D-E. Since the group had to play in unison, the choice probably was one that fit the largest number of players. Thus, while clarinets and cornets began with simple key signatures, trombones began with D-E flat-F. [9]
Band books came in several volumes, but band directors like the one I had in the 1950s changed to sheet music as quickly as possible. Music publishers, who sold arrangements to public schools, established a rough classification system that indicated which items were appropriate for which students. Works intended for beginning students mainly used quarter and half notes, within a limited range of pitches. [10]
"Kumbaya" was ideal for some of the same reasons it had been useful for vocal-music textbook editors. It was in the public domain, so cost nothing to reprint. As originally published, the melody used only six notes of the scale with no sharps or flats. While it had some eighth notes, most were quarter and half notes. Further, if one played it slowly, the eighth note became a quarter note. The only problem was the opening C-F-G pattern was not as easy for a beginner as a melody that moved one tone at a time.
One young girl who posted a video of herself playing clarinet wrote she was "using c,e,g,a,f,d." She was able to do so without looking at music.
Trumpets differed from clarinets because they only had three keys. As suggested above, the same fingering pattern was used for different notes, and the pitch was achieved by varying the size of the lip opening. For "Kumbaya," the C and G were both open (no keys pressed), and the E and G both used the first and second valves.
Clarinets repeated the fingering by register, so the same fingers were used for both middle C and upper C. Which sound was heard was determined by pressing a small key near the top. The change began with B, and moving from the orchestra A to B was called crossing the break.
Until young students developed the proper facial muscles, they had problems hitting notes on the trumpet, or, if hitting them, sustaining them. Clarinet reeds were less forgiving than brass mouthpieces: when a note wasn’t played properly, the reed squeaked. Lori Baruth said the noise usually was caused by clamping down on the mouthpiece, but also might come from leaving a key partly pressed or a reed in poor condition. [11] The first two were more likely to occur in the upper register.
Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark began Yamaha’s clarinet version of "Kumbaya" on F so it rose to high D. They had introduced the break earlier, and were using "Kumbaya" as a way to drill clarinet players. The simple opening chord of every phrase, F-A-upper C crossed the break. To emphasize the range, clarinets ended by playing the final kumbaya on the G and F below middle C.
John O’Reilly worked with Feldstein on an earlier Yamaha method book. For Accent of Achievement, he worked with a man who had played clarinet as a child. Their clarinet book started "Kumbaya" on low F while the trumpet book began on F. Half-way through the clarinet part changed and played in unison with the trumpet. The song was included on the page devoted to "crossing the break" because playing lines one and three, which were the same, in two octaves demonstrated the use of the register key. [12]
The two Essential Elements editions used the same F-A-upper C opening chord as Yamaha. Standard of Excellence and Jim Evans used the original middle C-E-G pattern and stayed below the break. [13]
Kylie Sanders posted a video of her version of "Kumbaya" on clarinet. She noted: "So many high notes!! I made it though!!" If the girl were using a book like Yamaha Advantage or Essential Elements, she had a hard time with the upper C, and squeaked the first time she descended from D to C at the end of the first line. She had no problems with the one interval descent from C to B flat to D to G in the second line. When she repeated the first line, she was more relaxed and did not squeak.
Performers
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: B-flat clarinet
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Kylie Sanders and unidentified clarinet player
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: B-flat clarinet
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
African Folk Song
Kylie Sanders and unidentified clarinet player
None given
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: largo
Key Signature: one flat
Kylie Sanders and unidentified clarinet player
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: slow
Basic Structure: played the melody through one time
Notes on Performance
Unidentified clarinet player
Location: played in her living room
Microphones: none
Clothing: navy blue school sweater
Kylie Sanders
Location: played in her living room
Microphones: none
Clothing: pink sleeveless top
Notes on Movement
Unidentified clarinet player
The young girl stood with her head bent down. One person observed she hadn’t yet mastered how to hold the instrument. [14]
Kylie Sanders
Sanders sat in a flat-bottomed chair, looked straight ahead at the music stand, and kept time with her right foot. She was still young enough that she needed to read the music and take a breath with each note.
Notes on Performers
Feldstein began playing drums when he was in elementary school and, by high school, was studying percussion in New York City. His music degrees were from the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he later taught, and Columbia University. After graduating, he worked as education director for Alfred Publishing. [15] He and John O’Reilly edited the first Yamaha band method book for them in 1988. [16] Feldstein then got involved with digital projects for Warner Brothers, and organized his own company, PlayinTime Productions. [17] In 1999, he was hired as president of Carl Fischer, the publisher of the current Yamaha method book. [18] PlayinTime’s website contained the digital files for Yamaha Advantage.
His co-editor, Larry Clark, was the son of a Florida band directory. He began playing trombone. After earning a music degree from Florida State University, Clark taught band in a Tampa middle school before going to James Madison University. Syracuse University hired him to direct its marching band. Warner Brothers then recruited him, and Feldstein took him to Carl Fischer where he became vice president. Clark continued to arrange music, including currently popular songs for high school band half time programs. In 2015 he did one for Bartow, Florida, High School that "transforms the football field into a pinball machine, and Clark’s musical arrangements include The Who’s ‘Pinball Wizard’ as well as themes from such video games as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘The Legend of Zelda’." [19]
When "Kumbaya" was recorded, Sanders was in sixth grade. The next year she was in the East Jackson Middle School band in Commerce, Georgia, and part of the district honor band. [20]
I could find nothing on the person who uploaded the other video.
Availability
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 32 in The Yamaha Advantage. Book 1. Clarinet. Edited by Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark. New York: Carl Fischer, 2001. Books also were available for flute, oboe, other clarinets, various saxophones, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, baritone horn, trombone, tuba, electric bass, and combined percussion.
Unidentified clarinet player
YouTube: "Kum ba yah clarinet." Uploaded by fa8le1 on 5 February 2013.
Kylie Sanders
YouTube: "Kum bah yah on clarinet!!" Uploaded by Kylie Sanders on 14 May 2017.
End Notes
1. Arnold Gesell and Frances L. Ilg. The Child from Five to Ten. New York: Harper and Row, 1946. 83.
2. For more on E. T. Mensah, see the post for 29 April 2018.
3. For more on Victor Uwaifo, see the post for 6 May 2018.
4. See Notes on Sample in post for 27 June 2018 for details on how I determined the "first" band book to do something.
5. Vernon Leidig and Lennie Niehaus. Visual Band Method. Book 1. Bb Trumpet (Cornet). Norwalk, California: Highland Etling Publishing, 1964. 3. Band books were careful to present the same material on the same page for every instrument.
6. For instance, Art C. Jenson used the same words in Learning Unlimited. Level One. Trumpet/Cornet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1973. 5.
7. Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1, Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. 4.
8. John Kinyon, Richard Berg, and George Frederick McKay. The Band-Booster. Book 1. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). New York: Remick Music Corporation, 1960. 5.
9. Ed Sueta. Band Method. Book 1. Trombone. Rockaway, New Jersey: Macie Publishing Company, 1974.
10. The Safe Music website said level 1 was characterized by "very basic rhythms with restricted ranges" ("Band Difficulty Gradings"). The Music44 site said, in level 1 "mainly quarter note values and longer are used, with eighth notes occasionally. Limited number of pitches used" ("What is the Grade Level on a Piece of Music?")
11. Lori Baruth said the squeak was "usually an unintended high partial." "No More Squeaks! How To Successfully Diagnose and Treat Issues on the Clarinet." Kentucky Music Educator’s Association Conference. 2013. She listed other reasons all related to embouchure, breathing, or fingering.
12. "Kum Ba Yah." 30 in Accent on Achievement. Book 1. Bb Clarinet. Edited by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Music, 1997. It came with a CD. Details on this version and Mark Williams appeared in the post for 26 August 2018.
13. Publishing details for band books containing "Kumbaya" were provided in the post for 27 June 2017.
14. Hadley Nichols wrote "that’s not even how to hold it." Comment posted to YouTube, 2017. People generally refrained from making critical comments on YouTube videos by children and young adolescents. The other comment by Emily Kristine was more typical: "Cute!" (Posted to You Tube, 2014)
15. Lauren Vogel Weiss. "Sandy Feldstein." Percussive Arts Society website.
16. Sandy Feldstein and John O’Reilly. Yamaha Band Student. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1988.
17. Weiss.
18. "Sandy Feldstein." PlayinTime Advantage website.
19. Gary White. "Lakeland Resident Is Prolific Composer, Arranger of Music for School Bands." The [Lakeland, Florida] Ledger website, 6 September 2015.
20. "Congratulations to Our 11 EJMs Students Who Made District Honor Band!!!" East Jackson Middle School Eagle Band website.
Children may begin singing when they are toddlers, but they need to be taught to play musical instruments. It’s true the very young can imitate drums by beating on anything that resonates and can pick out tunes on a piano by trial and error. [1] However, there’s nothing intuitive about playing a trumpet or clarinet. Even the talented need direction: E. T. Mensah remembered a Scotsman taught him the correct way to play saxophone, [2] while Victor Uwaifo had to be shown the standard tuning for a guitar. [3]
Beginning band books devoted their first pages to instructions specific to each instrument on topics like assembling an instrument and posture. Most left it to the music teacher to help students make their initial sounds. Vernon Leidig and Lennie Niehaus were the first [4] to suggest novices begin by working with the mouthpiece alone. After telling trumpet players to
"Place lips together naturally one against the other -- formed the syllable ‘Dim’."
Then, while keeping the "corners of the lips firm and cheeks firmly against the teeth and gums," they were told to "produce a clear steady buzz with lips alone." Next, they were allowed to "set mouthpiece only, on the lips as close to the center as possible" and blow. [5]
Given the difficulty of putting the process into words, others copied their use of the word "buzz" and recommendation to begin with the mouthpiece. [6] Harry Haines and John McEntyre added the suggestion that after buzzing and before using the mouthpiece alone, one "practice pulsing." [7]
The next step was blowing into an instrument. John Kinyon’s team said students will produce one of three notes on a trumpet when no valve was pressed: middle C, G, or upper C. After the band director told them which was natural for them, the book gave instructions on how to adjust to play G. [8]
The selection of G wasn’t made for the comfort of trumpet players. Band instruction manuals began with three notes, either E-F-G, F-G-A, or C-D-E. Since the group had to play in unison, the choice probably was one that fit the largest number of players. Thus, while clarinets and cornets began with simple key signatures, trombones began with D-E flat-F. [9]
Band books came in several volumes, but band directors like the one I had in the 1950s changed to sheet music as quickly as possible. Music publishers, who sold arrangements to public schools, established a rough classification system that indicated which items were appropriate for which students. Works intended for beginning students mainly used quarter and half notes, within a limited range of pitches. [10]
"Kumbaya" was ideal for some of the same reasons it had been useful for vocal-music textbook editors. It was in the public domain, so cost nothing to reprint. As originally published, the melody used only six notes of the scale with no sharps or flats. While it had some eighth notes, most were quarter and half notes. Further, if one played it slowly, the eighth note became a quarter note. The only problem was the opening C-F-G pattern was not as easy for a beginner as a melody that moved one tone at a time.
One young girl who posted a video of herself playing clarinet wrote she was "using c,e,g,a,f,d." She was able to do so without looking at music.
Trumpets differed from clarinets because they only had three keys. As suggested above, the same fingering pattern was used for different notes, and the pitch was achieved by varying the size of the lip opening. For "Kumbaya," the C and G were both open (no keys pressed), and the E and G both used the first and second valves.
Clarinets repeated the fingering by register, so the same fingers were used for both middle C and upper C. Which sound was heard was determined by pressing a small key near the top. The change began with B, and moving from the orchestra A to B was called crossing the break.
Until young students developed the proper facial muscles, they had problems hitting notes on the trumpet, or, if hitting them, sustaining them. Clarinet reeds were less forgiving than brass mouthpieces: when a note wasn’t played properly, the reed squeaked. Lori Baruth said the noise usually was caused by clamping down on the mouthpiece, but also might come from leaving a key partly pressed or a reed in poor condition. [11] The first two were more likely to occur in the upper register.
Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark began Yamaha’s clarinet version of "Kumbaya" on F so it rose to high D. They had introduced the break earlier, and were using "Kumbaya" as a way to drill clarinet players. The simple opening chord of every phrase, F-A-upper C crossed the break. To emphasize the range, clarinets ended by playing the final kumbaya on the G and F below middle C.
John O’Reilly worked with Feldstein on an earlier Yamaha method book. For Accent of Achievement, he worked with a man who had played clarinet as a child. Their clarinet book started "Kumbaya" on low F while the trumpet book began on F. Half-way through the clarinet part changed and played in unison with the trumpet. The song was included on the page devoted to "crossing the break" because playing lines one and three, which were the same, in two octaves demonstrated the use of the register key. [12]
The two Essential Elements editions used the same F-A-upper C opening chord as Yamaha. Standard of Excellence and Jim Evans used the original middle C-E-G pattern and stayed below the break. [13]
Kylie Sanders posted a video of her version of "Kumbaya" on clarinet. She noted: "So many high notes!! I made it though!!" If the girl were using a book like Yamaha Advantage or Essential Elements, she had a hard time with the upper C, and squeaked the first time she descended from D to C at the end of the first line. She had no problems with the one interval descent from C to B flat to D to G in the second line. When she repeated the first line, she was more relaxed and did not squeak.
Performers
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: B-flat clarinet
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Kylie Sanders and unidentified clarinet player
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: B-flat clarinet
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
African Folk Song
Kylie Sanders and unidentified clarinet player
None given
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: largo
Key Signature: one flat
Kylie Sanders and unidentified clarinet player
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: slow
Basic Structure: played the melody through one time
Notes on Performance
Unidentified clarinet player
Location: played in her living room
Microphones: none
Clothing: navy blue school sweater
Kylie Sanders
Location: played in her living room
Microphones: none
Clothing: pink sleeveless top
Notes on Movement
Unidentified clarinet player
The young girl stood with her head bent down. One person observed she hadn’t yet mastered how to hold the instrument. [14]
Kylie Sanders
Sanders sat in a flat-bottomed chair, looked straight ahead at the music stand, and kept time with her right foot. She was still young enough that she needed to read the music and take a breath with each note.
Notes on Performers
Feldstein began playing drums when he was in elementary school and, by high school, was studying percussion in New York City. His music degrees were from the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he later taught, and Columbia University. After graduating, he worked as education director for Alfred Publishing. [15] He and John O’Reilly edited the first Yamaha band method book for them in 1988. [16] Feldstein then got involved with digital projects for Warner Brothers, and organized his own company, PlayinTime Productions. [17] In 1999, he was hired as president of Carl Fischer, the publisher of the current Yamaha method book. [18] PlayinTime’s website contained the digital files for Yamaha Advantage.
His co-editor, Larry Clark, was the son of a Florida band directory. He began playing trombone. After earning a music degree from Florida State University, Clark taught band in a Tampa middle school before going to James Madison University. Syracuse University hired him to direct its marching band. Warner Brothers then recruited him, and Feldstein took him to Carl Fischer where he became vice president. Clark continued to arrange music, including currently popular songs for high school band half time programs. In 2015 he did one for Bartow, Florida, High School that "transforms the football field into a pinball machine, and Clark’s musical arrangements include The Who’s ‘Pinball Wizard’ as well as themes from such video games as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘The Legend of Zelda’." [19]
When "Kumbaya" was recorded, Sanders was in sixth grade. The next year she was in the East Jackson Middle School band in Commerce, Georgia, and part of the district honor band. [20]
I could find nothing on the person who uploaded the other video.
Availability
Yamaha Advantage for B-flat clarinet
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." 32 in The Yamaha Advantage. Book 1. Clarinet. Edited by Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark. New York: Carl Fischer, 2001. Books also were available for flute, oboe, other clarinets, various saxophones, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, baritone horn, trombone, tuba, electric bass, and combined percussion.
Unidentified clarinet player
YouTube: "Kum ba yah clarinet." Uploaded by fa8le1 on 5 February 2013.
Kylie Sanders
YouTube: "Kum bah yah on clarinet!!" Uploaded by Kylie Sanders on 14 May 2017.
End Notes
1. Arnold Gesell and Frances L. Ilg. The Child from Five to Ten. New York: Harper and Row, 1946. 83.
2. For more on E. T. Mensah, see the post for 29 April 2018.
3. For more on Victor Uwaifo, see the post for 6 May 2018.
4. See Notes on Sample in post for 27 June 2018 for details on how I determined the "first" band book to do something.
5. Vernon Leidig and Lennie Niehaus. Visual Band Method. Book 1. Bb Trumpet (Cornet). Norwalk, California: Highland Etling Publishing, 1964. 3. Band books were careful to present the same material on the same page for every instrument.
6. For instance, Art C. Jenson used the same words in Learning Unlimited. Level One. Trumpet/Cornet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1973. 5.
7. Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1, Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. 4.
8. John Kinyon, Richard Berg, and George Frederick McKay. The Band-Booster. Book 1. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). New York: Remick Music Corporation, 1960. 5.
9. Ed Sueta. Band Method. Book 1. Trombone. Rockaway, New Jersey: Macie Publishing Company, 1974.
10. The Safe Music website said level 1 was characterized by "very basic rhythms with restricted ranges" ("Band Difficulty Gradings"). The Music44 site said, in level 1 "mainly quarter note values and longer are used, with eighth notes occasionally. Limited number of pitches used" ("What is the Grade Level on a Piece of Music?")
11. Lori Baruth said the squeak was "usually an unintended high partial." "No More Squeaks! How To Successfully Diagnose and Treat Issues on the Clarinet." Kentucky Music Educator’s Association Conference. 2013. She listed other reasons all related to embouchure, breathing, or fingering.
12. "Kum Ba Yah." 30 in Accent on Achievement. Book 1. Bb Clarinet. Edited by John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Music, 1997. It came with a CD. Details on this version and Mark Williams appeared in the post for 26 August 2018.
13. Publishing details for band books containing "Kumbaya" were provided in the post for 27 June 2017.
14. Hadley Nichols wrote "that’s not even how to hold it." Comment posted to YouTube, 2017. People generally refrained from making critical comments on YouTube videos by children and young adolescents. The other comment by Emily Kristine was more typical: "Cute!" (Posted to You Tube, 2014)
15. Lauren Vogel Weiss. "Sandy Feldstein." Percussive Arts Society website.
16. Sandy Feldstein and John O’Reilly. Yamaha Band Student. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1988.
17. Weiss.
18. "Sandy Feldstein." PlayinTime Advantage website.
19. Gary White. "Lakeland Resident Is Prolific Composer, Arranger of Music for School Bands." The [Lakeland, Florida] Ledger website, 6 September 2015.
20. "Congratulations to Our 11 EJMs Students Who Made District Honor Band!!!" East Jackson Middle School Eagle Band website.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Band Books
Topic: Pedagogy - Public Schools
Brass bands, as mentioned in the post for 13 September 2017, developed as a tool for improving the Prussian army in the 1830s. By the late nineteenth century, many towns had amateur groups. In at least some cases, they were introduced by German-speaking migrants. [1]
Merry Texter [2] suggested how-to-play books originally were written for adults. One of the very first from a hundred years before brass bands included what would become the most basic element of all subsequent books: a chart showing the keys used to produce each note of the scale.
The author, Peter Prelleur, believed individuals should learn "the entire range of the instrument" before they attempted to play tunes. [3] This was partly because he had no concept of instructional music. Instead he included "minuets, marches, rigaudons, and opera airs ‘By Mr. Handel and other Eminent Masters’." [4]
By the time Samuel Holyoke produced his Instrumental Assistant around 1800, [5] singing schools had been introduced in this country. Texter believed he used their format when he added a section on musical notation to the fingering charts. [6] He began with tunes that were "relatively simple in key, meter, and rhythm patterns," before introducing currently popular songs. [7]
Most of these early books were produced for orchestral instruments. Prelleur wrote for recorder, transverse flute, oboe, violin, and harpsichord. [8] Holyoke added the clarinet and bass-viol, but dropped the recorder and harpsichord. [9] When brass instruments appeared in this country, nothing was available.
In 1829 Ezekiel Goodale observed chaos because "the books now in general use are designed to afford a knowledge of some one particular instrument, but offer no rules to assist the learner on other instruments, or to direct him in his practice with other performers." [10]
Goodale suggested uniform collections "adapted to every instrument." [11] Arthur Clappé issued the first such set in 1888 with an introductory section on notation, fingering charts, scales and exercises. He adopted the idea of progressively more difficult lessons [12] introduced by Lowell Mason, [13] with instructions before each exercise. The popular tunes came after 27 exercises.
Brass bands grew in popularity with John Philip Sousa. He led the U. S. Marine Band on tours in 1891 and 1892, then retired to organize his own group that toured the country annually. He served a brief stint with the Navy Band in Chicago in World War I. [14]
Sousa’s initial popularity coincided with the rise of football rivalries. The Big Ten conference was organized as the Western Conference in 1895. [15] The University of Michigan fight song was written in 1898. [16]
The ones we played in my Michigan high school band around 1960 were all adopted just before World War I: "On Wisconsin" and the "Minnesota Rouser" were from 1909, Ohio State’s "Across the Field" and the Michigan State fight song were composed in 1915. [17]
Instrumental music training entered the public schools in the wake of World War I, according to Edward Birge. [18] These also were the years when high schools were modeling themselves on colleges with local football conferences. Joseph Maddy "became the first regular supervisor of instrumental music in the United States" in Rochester, New York, in 1918. [19]
With that change came the need to create books for adolescents rather than adults. A musical instrument manufacturer sponsored the first by Maddy and Thaddeus Giddings. The Universal Teacher [20] dispensed with the rudiments, scales, and drills. The two recognized:
"a pupil is impelled by many motives of which the principal one is the desire to make music on his instrument as soon as possible. Actual experience has proved that the music he wishes to bring forth from his instrument is the song that is familiar to him, the song his friends and neighbors know and like to hear. Certain songs have a universal appeal and are almost universally heard. These have been selected as the material in the Universal Teacher. This choice follows the child’s natural desire and in consequence he learns rapidly. Grown people sometimes have the mistaken impression that if the pupil plays certain exercises instead of tunes or songs, he will learn to play his instrument more quickly, but the child thinks differently and without his interest it is very difficult to get him to do anything." [21]
Songs were selected and sometimes simplified to become exercises. They were a combination of familiar melodies from classical music and songs included in community songbooks that began to be published during the war. [22]
Several other method books mentioned by Texter, which were issued in 1920s, were sponsored by text book publishers: C. C. Birchard offered one in 1926 [23] and Osbourne McConathy edited some for Oliver Ditson in 1929. [24] Most of the others were printed by small companies.
Apparently, text book publishers didn’t find the market for band training manuals remunerative. It may have been their normal hardcover volumes didn’t fit easily on music stands. Also, books tended to be selected by band directors and purchased by students, rather than by school boards. This meant companies had to keep prices low for sales that were spread over years, rather than bulk sales coordinated with institutional purchasing cycles.
The publishing industry began assuming its modern form in 1930 when Carl Fischer entered the market. [25] Texter noted the decade saw a rapid increase in the number of public school bands. In response, "seventeen method books were published, and at least eight privately-printed and miscellaneous method books were also published." [26]
The immediate stimulus may have been the popularity of dance bands like those of Paul Whitman and Benny Goodman. By the late 1930s, even boys in conservative small towns in the upper Midwest were forming ensembles. Harold and Everett Leonard Edstrom called their band Hal Leonard, because they feared their father would be offended if they used his surname. [27]
The most influential songbook from this period was Maurice Taylor’s Easy Steps to the Band. [28] He had a small band in Montrose, Pennsylvania, before he graduated from high school in 1924, then taught privately. Once he was hired by the local high school, he realized traditional methods simply didn’t work with the number of students he had.
Taylor created his own exercises, [29] and drew upon the community songster repertoire for tunes like "Polly Wolly Doodle." He also used some American folk songs like "Home on the Range" and Blow the Man Down," as well as children’s melodies like "Old MacDonald" and rounds like "Are You Sleeping."
Fewer books were published during World War II, but Mills Music issued Fred Weber’s first method book in 1945. [30] He taught music in a Michigan City, Indiana, junior high school. [31] His largest contribution was format. Each page was designed as a single lesson composed of up to ten lines of music that introduced a new note along with some aspect of music like dynamics or tempo, and some element of notation. The only changes made since by others have been the location of the comments: his were by the music; most placed them at the top of the page.
The brothers who had formed the Hal Leonard band entered the instrumental method market in 1961 [32] with one edited by a Wisconsin secondary school band teacher. [33] The Elementary Band Method recognized instrumental music was being introduced to children who had different physical abilities than adolescents. Harold Rusch used familiar nursery songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Hot Cross Buns."
This was the period when editors began offering two books, with the first designed for beginners. The first series mentioned by Texter was published by Carl Fischer in 1957; [34] the first I found was issued by Neil Kjos in 1958. [35] The form became the standard after Weber released his First Division Band Method in 1962. [36]
Hal Leonard introduced the next round of innovations in 1990 with its Essential Elements. [37] By then the brothers had retired and sold the company to an employee. [38] Keith Mardak exploited the new copyright law to amass a large catalog of titles by buying other companies. Elements was produced to capitalize on digital technology and meet the new music education standards mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018. It added notes on "theory" and "history" by lines of music.
Elements also differed in its editorial bias. Instead of drawing upon the experience of a single, talented, high-school band teacher, it was produced by a committee drawn from university music faculties. Tom Rhodes began teaching in Texas high schools, before being hired by the University of Texas. He and Donald Bierschenk published a method book for Southern Music [39] which led to the commission from Hal Leonard. [40] The third editor, Tim Lautzenheiser, taught at Northern Michigan University. [41]
Band method books lagged behind the elementary school singing books in responding to the demands for relevance in the 1960s. Weber had introduced "When the Saints Go Marching In" in a 1962 manual, [42] but no other African-American piece was added to the common repertoire after that.
Elements followed the trend in public school music books mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018 to utilize international material. It introduced the Japanese "Sakura," the Jamaican "Banana Boat Song," [43] the Mexican "La Cucaracha," and the national anthems of Canada and Israel.
It was the first to publish "Kumbaya" as an international song from Africa. [44] The tune appeared in five other method books I’ve seen, including Bruce Pearson’s Standard of Excellence in 1993. [45] "Kumbaya" wasn’t universally accepted, and Pearson dropped it from his Tradition of Excellence in 2010. [46]
Notes on Samples
In the late 1970s, I went through all the school-music text books in the collection of the University of Michigan Music Library looking for camp songs. I recently located copies of the books that contained "Kumbaya," although I was not always able to find teacher’s editions. I do not know what happened after that date, and would be interested to hear from people who were in elementary school after 1980.
Texter compiled a list of all the commercially published band method books from catalogs, and searched to find them. Her collection went through 1973, and was as complete as she could make it.
I purchased copies of all the books that appeared in Amazon for the search criteria "band method." They usually were for cornet or trumpet, [47] but I ordered what was available when that instrument’s book was not available.
I believe my collection is fairly complete for the current century, but books published in the late 1970s and 1980s may have fallen out of print. Any comments I make about the first instance is based on what I have, and may overlook something. Please correct my errors.
I do not know the relative sales figures for different books. Texter found:
"Music publishers are loathe to divulge information regarding numbers of method books that are sold. A representative of a major method book publisher stated in an interview (March 31, 1973) that no book is kept in print by his company unless it sells at least ‘from 2,000 to 5,000 copies’ per book (i.e., per individual instrument volume) per year. His company has numerous titles in print, with some dating from 1939." [48]
When I describe a book as influential, I mean it introduced songs that were subsequently reprinted by other editors or it pioneered ways of teaching music that were copied by other publishers.
End Notes
1. This is my assertion based on the research I did on the history of May Festivals for Camp Songs. 484.
2. Merry Elizabeth Texter. "A Historical and Analytical Investigation of the Beginning Band Method Book." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1975.
3. Peter Prelleur. The Modern Musick-Master. London: Printing-office in Bow Church Yard, 1731. Quotation from Texter. 41.
4. Prelleur. Quoted by Texter. 41.
5. Samuel Holyoke. The Instrumental Assistant. Exeter, New Hampshire: H. Ranlet, 1800.
6. Texter. 43.
7. Texter. 44.
8. Texter. 40. The first three originally were described as flute, German flute, and hautboy.
9. Texter. 44. They originally were described as German flute, clarionett, and hautboy.
10. Ezekiel Goodale. The Instrumental Director. Hallowell, Maine: Glazier, Masters and Company, 1829. 6. Quoted by Texter. 46.
11. Goodale. 6. Quoted by Texter. 46. She labeled the volumes he was proposing heterogeneous method books, meaning single "books that can be used for simultaneous instruction of brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments." 8-9.
12. Arthur A. Clappé. The Band Teacher’s Assistant. New York: Carl Fischer, 1888. Described by Texter: on notation, 60, fingering charts, 61; scales, 62; progression, 61-62. The cover page said it was "a series of progressive lessons."
13. Lowell Mason was mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018.
14. Wikipedia. "John Philip Sousa."
15. Wikipedia. "History of American Football."
16. Louis Elbel. "The Victors." Wikipedia said "the song was first played publicly by John Philip Sousa and his band." (Wikipedia. "The Victors.")
17. William T. Purdy and Carl Beck. "On Wisconsin" for the University of Wisconsin. Hazel McGrath claimed Sousa called it one of "the finest of college marching songs." (McGrath. "Songs to Thee, Wisconsin!" Wisconsin Alumnus 49:16-17:March 1948. 17. Cited by Wikipedia. "On, Wisconsin!")
Floyd Hutsell. "Minnesota Rouser" for the University of Minnesota. (Wikipedia. "Minnesota Rouser.")
William Andrew Dougherty, Junior. "Across the Field" for Ohio State University. (Wikipedia. "Across the Field.")
Francis Irving Lankey and Arthur Sayles. Michigan State fight song, now called "Victory for MSU." (Wikipedia. "Victory for MSU.")
18. Edward Bailey Birge. History of Public School Music in the United States. Washington: Music Educators National Conference, 1928. 201-202. Cited by Texter. 18.
19. Texter. 17. This is the same Maddy who founded the Interlochen music camp.
20. Joseph E. Maddy and Thaddeus P. Giddings. Universal Teacher. Cornet or Trumpet. Elkhart, Indiana: C. G. Conn, Ltd., 1923.
21. Joseph E. Maddy and Thaddeus P. Giddings. Instrumental Class Teaching. Cincinnati: The Willis Music Company, 1928. 5. Quoted by Texter. 79.
22. For more on community songbooks, see the post for 24 June 2018.
23. Louis M. Gordon. Band Training Series. Boston: C. C. Birchard, 1926. Cited by Texter. 195.
24. Osbourne McConathy, Russell V. Morgan, and Harry F. Clark. The Ditson School and Community Band Series. Boston: Oliver Ditson Company, 1929. Cited by Texter. 196. McConathy was mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018.
25. Mayhew Lake. Lake’s Elementary Band Method. New York: Carl Fischer, 1930. Cited by Texter. 196. Fischer had published Clappé’s manual.
26. Texter. 88.
27. "Corporate History and Profile." Hal Leonard website. Their parents, Ernest Julius Edstrom and Lesla A. Edstrom, apparently were members of the Church of the Brethren that descended from the pietist Dunkers who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania, before the Revolution. (NCHS. "Ernest Julius Edstrom" and "Lelsa A. Edstrom." Find a Grave website. 25 December 2015.)
28. Maurice D. Taylor. Easy Steps to the Band. Bb Cornet. New York: Mills Music, Inc., 1939. This stayed in print and my copy was reprinted by Belwin after it had been taken over by Alfred Publishing Company.
29. "Maurice D. Taylor of Montrose." Montrose, Pennsylvania, Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains website.
30. Fred Weber. Belwin Elementary Band Method. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). Melville, New York: Belwin, Inc., 1945.
31. George Butler. "Fred Weber." International Horn Society website. 1 April 2016. Confirmed by Google notices of his work as a judge and clinician.
32. Harold W. Rusch. Hal Leonard Elementary Band Method. Bb Cornet or Trumpet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Music, Inc., 1961.
33. Dutch Wikipedia. "Harold W. Rusch."
34. C. Paul Herfurth and Hugh M. Stuart. Our Band Class Book. Book 1. New York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1957. Cited by Texter. 195.
35. Charles Peters. Neil Kjos in 1958.
36. Fred Weber. First Division Band Method. Part One. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). First Division Publishing Company, 1962. It was kept in print by Belwin.
37. Tom C. Rhodes, Donald Bierschenk, and Tim Lautzenheiser. Essential Elements. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1991. This version was discussed in the post for 16 August 2018.
38. Hal Leonard, History. They sold the company in 1985.
39. This may have been Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1. Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. Rhodes was listed as a contributing editor.
40. "Tom Rhodes - Class of 2003." Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame, Phi Meta Mu, Alpha chapter website. This also had information on Donald Bierschenk
41. "About Tim Lautzenheiser." Attitude Concepts website.
42. Weber, First Division. 25.
43. "Banana Boat Song" was popularized by Harry Belafonte in 1956.
44. This version is discussed in the post for 29 July 2018.
45. The other books that contained "Kumbaya" were Bruce Pearson. Standard of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Company, 1993. This version was discussed in the post for 29 July 2018.
John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Accent on Achievement. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1997. This version was discussed in the post for 29 July 2018.
Tim Lautzenheiser, et al. Essential Elements 2000. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999. This version was discussed in the post for 16 August 2018.
Jim Evans. Band Folio. Band Method. Book 1. 2000. Available free on-line. This version was discussed in the post for 9 August 2018.
Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark. The Yamaha Advantage. Book 1. Clarinet. New York: Carl Fischer, 2001.
46. Bruce Pearson and Ryan Nowlin. Tradition of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Company, 2010.
47. Cornets and trumpets were essentially the same: they had the same lengths of tubing coiled in different ways. Cornets were used by military and brass bands, while trumpets were used by orchestras and symphonies. Louis Armstrong changed from cornet to trumpet in the early 1920s because trumpets were preferred by jazz bands. The change from cornet to trumpet as the primary label for method books lagged behind popular music taste. The first to use trumpet was Art Jenson in 1970. [49] After The Yamaha Band Student in 1988, [50] it became the standard.
48. Texter. 1.
49. Art C. Jenson. Learning Unlimited. Level One. Trumpet/Cornet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1973.
50. Sandy Feldstein and John O’Reilly. Yamaha Band Student. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1988.
Brass bands, as mentioned in the post for 13 September 2017, developed as a tool for improving the Prussian army in the 1830s. By the late nineteenth century, many towns had amateur groups. In at least some cases, they were introduced by German-speaking migrants. [1]
Merry Texter [2] suggested how-to-play books originally were written for adults. One of the very first from a hundred years before brass bands included what would become the most basic element of all subsequent books: a chart showing the keys used to produce each note of the scale.
The author, Peter Prelleur, believed individuals should learn "the entire range of the instrument" before they attempted to play tunes. [3] This was partly because he had no concept of instructional music. Instead he included "minuets, marches, rigaudons, and opera airs ‘By Mr. Handel and other Eminent Masters’." [4]
By the time Samuel Holyoke produced his Instrumental Assistant around 1800, [5] singing schools had been introduced in this country. Texter believed he used their format when he added a section on musical notation to the fingering charts. [6] He began with tunes that were "relatively simple in key, meter, and rhythm patterns," before introducing currently popular songs. [7]
Most of these early books were produced for orchestral instruments. Prelleur wrote for recorder, transverse flute, oboe, violin, and harpsichord. [8] Holyoke added the clarinet and bass-viol, but dropped the recorder and harpsichord. [9] When brass instruments appeared in this country, nothing was available.
In 1829 Ezekiel Goodale observed chaos because "the books now in general use are designed to afford a knowledge of some one particular instrument, but offer no rules to assist the learner on other instruments, or to direct him in his practice with other performers." [10]
Goodale suggested uniform collections "adapted to every instrument." [11] Arthur Clappé issued the first such set in 1888 with an introductory section on notation, fingering charts, scales and exercises. He adopted the idea of progressively more difficult lessons [12] introduced by Lowell Mason, [13] with instructions before each exercise. The popular tunes came after 27 exercises.
Brass bands grew in popularity with John Philip Sousa. He led the U. S. Marine Band on tours in 1891 and 1892, then retired to organize his own group that toured the country annually. He served a brief stint with the Navy Band in Chicago in World War I. [14]
Sousa’s initial popularity coincided with the rise of football rivalries. The Big Ten conference was organized as the Western Conference in 1895. [15] The University of Michigan fight song was written in 1898. [16]
The ones we played in my Michigan high school band around 1960 were all adopted just before World War I: "On Wisconsin" and the "Minnesota Rouser" were from 1909, Ohio State’s "Across the Field" and the Michigan State fight song were composed in 1915. [17]
Instrumental music training entered the public schools in the wake of World War I, according to Edward Birge. [18] These also were the years when high schools were modeling themselves on colleges with local football conferences. Joseph Maddy "became the first regular supervisor of instrumental music in the United States" in Rochester, New York, in 1918. [19]
With that change came the need to create books for adolescents rather than adults. A musical instrument manufacturer sponsored the first by Maddy and Thaddeus Giddings. The Universal Teacher [20] dispensed with the rudiments, scales, and drills. The two recognized:
"a pupil is impelled by many motives of which the principal one is the desire to make music on his instrument as soon as possible. Actual experience has proved that the music he wishes to bring forth from his instrument is the song that is familiar to him, the song his friends and neighbors know and like to hear. Certain songs have a universal appeal and are almost universally heard. These have been selected as the material in the Universal Teacher. This choice follows the child’s natural desire and in consequence he learns rapidly. Grown people sometimes have the mistaken impression that if the pupil plays certain exercises instead of tunes or songs, he will learn to play his instrument more quickly, but the child thinks differently and without his interest it is very difficult to get him to do anything." [21]
Songs were selected and sometimes simplified to become exercises. They were a combination of familiar melodies from classical music and songs included in community songbooks that began to be published during the war. [22]
Several other method books mentioned by Texter, which were issued in 1920s, were sponsored by text book publishers: C. C. Birchard offered one in 1926 [23] and Osbourne McConathy edited some for Oliver Ditson in 1929. [24] Most of the others were printed by small companies.
Apparently, text book publishers didn’t find the market for band training manuals remunerative. It may have been their normal hardcover volumes didn’t fit easily on music stands. Also, books tended to be selected by band directors and purchased by students, rather than by school boards. This meant companies had to keep prices low for sales that were spread over years, rather than bulk sales coordinated with institutional purchasing cycles.
The publishing industry began assuming its modern form in 1930 when Carl Fischer entered the market. [25] Texter noted the decade saw a rapid increase in the number of public school bands. In response, "seventeen method books were published, and at least eight privately-printed and miscellaneous method books were also published." [26]
The immediate stimulus may have been the popularity of dance bands like those of Paul Whitman and Benny Goodman. By the late 1930s, even boys in conservative small towns in the upper Midwest were forming ensembles. Harold and Everett Leonard Edstrom called their band Hal Leonard, because they feared their father would be offended if they used his surname. [27]
The most influential songbook from this period was Maurice Taylor’s Easy Steps to the Band. [28] He had a small band in Montrose, Pennsylvania, before he graduated from high school in 1924, then taught privately. Once he was hired by the local high school, he realized traditional methods simply didn’t work with the number of students he had.
Taylor created his own exercises, [29] and drew upon the community songster repertoire for tunes like "Polly Wolly Doodle." He also used some American folk songs like "Home on the Range" and Blow the Man Down," as well as children’s melodies like "Old MacDonald" and rounds like "Are You Sleeping."
Fewer books were published during World War II, but Mills Music issued Fred Weber’s first method book in 1945. [30] He taught music in a Michigan City, Indiana, junior high school. [31] His largest contribution was format. Each page was designed as a single lesson composed of up to ten lines of music that introduced a new note along with some aspect of music like dynamics or tempo, and some element of notation. The only changes made since by others have been the location of the comments: his were by the music; most placed them at the top of the page.
The brothers who had formed the Hal Leonard band entered the instrumental method market in 1961 [32] with one edited by a Wisconsin secondary school band teacher. [33] The Elementary Band Method recognized instrumental music was being introduced to children who had different physical abilities than adolescents. Harold Rusch used familiar nursery songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Hot Cross Buns."
This was the period when editors began offering two books, with the first designed for beginners. The first series mentioned by Texter was published by Carl Fischer in 1957; [34] the first I found was issued by Neil Kjos in 1958. [35] The form became the standard after Weber released his First Division Band Method in 1962. [36]
Hal Leonard introduced the next round of innovations in 1990 with its Essential Elements. [37] By then the brothers had retired and sold the company to an employee. [38] Keith Mardak exploited the new copyright law to amass a large catalog of titles by buying other companies. Elements was produced to capitalize on digital technology and meet the new music education standards mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018. It added notes on "theory" and "history" by lines of music.
Elements also differed in its editorial bias. Instead of drawing upon the experience of a single, talented, high-school band teacher, it was produced by a committee drawn from university music faculties. Tom Rhodes began teaching in Texas high schools, before being hired by the University of Texas. He and Donald Bierschenk published a method book for Southern Music [39] which led to the commission from Hal Leonard. [40] The third editor, Tim Lautzenheiser, taught at Northern Michigan University. [41]
Band method books lagged behind the elementary school singing books in responding to the demands for relevance in the 1960s. Weber had introduced "When the Saints Go Marching In" in a 1962 manual, [42] but no other African-American piece was added to the common repertoire after that.
Elements followed the trend in public school music books mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018 to utilize international material. It introduced the Japanese "Sakura," the Jamaican "Banana Boat Song," [43] the Mexican "La Cucaracha," and the national anthems of Canada and Israel.
It was the first to publish "Kumbaya" as an international song from Africa. [44] The tune appeared in five other method books I’ve seen, including Bruce Pearson’s Standard of Excellence in 1993. [45] "Kumbaya" wasn’t universally accepted, and Pearson dropped it from his Tradition of Excellence in 2010. [46]
Notes on Samples
In the late 1970s, I went through all the school-music text books in the collection of the University of Michigan Music Library looking for camp songs. I recently located copies of the books that contained "Kumbaya," although I was not always able to find teacher’s editions. I do not know what happened after that date, and would be interested to hear from people who were in elementary school after 1980.
Texter compiled a list of all the commercially published band method books from catalogs, and searched to find them. Her collection went through 1973, and was as complete as she could make it.
I purchased copies of all the books that appeared in Amazon for the search criteria "band method." They usually were for cornet or trumpet, [47] but I ordered what was available when that instrument’s book was not available.
I believe my collection is fairly complete for the current century, but books published in the late 1970s and 1980s may have fallen out of print. Any comments I make about the first instance is based on what I have, and may overlook something. Please correct my errors.
I do not know the relative sales figures for different books. Texter found:
"Music publishers are loathe to divulge information regarding numbers of method books that are sold. A representative of a major method book publisher stated in an interview (March 31, 1973) that no book is kept in print by his company unless it sells at least ‘from 2,000 to 5,000 copies’ per book (i.e., per individual instrument volume) per year. His company has numerous titles in print, with some dating from 1939." [48]
When I describe a book as influential, I mean it introduced songs that were subsequently reprinted by other editors or it pioneered ways of teaching music that were copied by other publishers.
End Notes
1. This is my assertion based on the research I did on the history of May Festivals for Camp Songs. 484.
2. Merry Elizabeth Texter. "A Historical and Analytical Investigation of the Beginning Band Method Book." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1975.
3. Peter Prelleur. The Modern Musick-Master. London: Printing-office in Bow Church Yard, 1731. Quotation from Texter. 41.
4. Prelleur. Quoted by Texter. 41.
5. Samuel Holyoke. The Instrumental Assistant. Exeter, New Hampshire: H. Ranlet, 1800.
6. Texter. 43.
7. Texter. 44.
8. Texter. 40. The first three originally were described as flute, German flute, and hautboy.
9. Texter. 44. They originally were described as German flute, clarionett, and hautboy.
10. Ezekiel Goodale. The Instrumental Director. Hallowell, Maine: Glazier, Masters and Company, 1829. 6. Quoted by Texter. 46.
11. Goodale. 6. Quoted by Texter. 46. She labeled the volumes he was proposing heterogeneous method books, meaning single "books that can be used for simultaneous instruction of brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments." 8-9.
12. Arthur A. Clappé. The Band Teacher’s Assistant. New York: Carl Fischer, 1888. Described by Texter: on notation, 60, fingering charts, 61; scales, 62; progression, 61-62. The cover page said it was "a series of progressive lessons."
13. Lowell Mason was mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018.
14. Wikipedia. "John Philip Sousa."
15. Wikipedia. "History of American Football."
16. Louis Elbel. "The Victors." Wikipedia said "the song was first played publicly by John Philip Sousa and his band." (Wikipedia. "The Victors.")
17. William T. Purdy and Carl Beck. "On Wisconsin" for the University of Wisconsin. Hazel McGrath claimed Sousa called it one of "the finest of college marching songs." (McGrath. "Songs to Thee, Wisconsin!" Wisconsin Alumnus 49:16-17:March 1948. 17. Cited by Wikipedia. "On, Wisconsin!")
Floyd Hutsell. "Minnesota Rouser" for the University of Minnesota. (Wikipedia. "Minnesota Rouser.")
William Andrew Dougherty, Junior. "Across the Field" for Ohio State University. (Wikipedia. "Across the Field.")
Francis Irving Lankey and Arthur Sayles. Michigan State fight song, now called "Victory for MSU." (Wikipedia. "Victory for MSU.")
18. Edward Bailey Birge. History of Public School Music in the United States. Washington: Music Educators National Conference, 1928. 201-202. Cited by Texter. 18.
19. Texter. 17. This is the same Maddy who founded the Interlochen music camp.
20. Joseph E. Maddy and Thaddeus P. Giddings. Universal Teacher. Cornet or Trumpet. Elkhart, Indiana: C. G. Conn, Ltd., 1923.
21. Joseph E. Maddy and Thaddeus P. Giddings. Instrumental Class Teaching. Cincinnati: The Willis Music Company, 1928. 5. Quoted by Texter. 79.
22. For more on community songbooks, see the post for 24 June 2018.
23. Louis M. Gordon. Band Training Series. Boston: C. C. Birchard, 1926. Cited by Texter. 195.
24. Osbourne McConathy, Russell V. Morgan, and Harry F. Clark. The Ditson School and Community Band Series. Boston: Oliver Ditson Company, 1929. Cited by Texter. 196. McConathy was mentioned in the post for 24 June 2018.
25. Mayhew Lake. Lake’s Elementary Band Method. New York: Carl Fischer, 1930. Cited by Texter. 196. Fischer had published Clappé’s manual.
26. Texter. 88.
27. "Corporate History and Profile." Hal Leonard website. Their parents, Ernest Julius Edstrom and Lesla A. Edstrom, apparently were members of the Church of the Brethren that descended from the pietist Dunkers who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania, before the Revolution. (NCHS. "Ernest Julius Edstrom" and "Lelsa A. Edstrom." Find a Grave website. 25 December 2015.)
28. Maurice D. Taylor. Easy Steps to the Band. Bb Cornet. New York: Mills Music, Inc., 1939. This stayed in print and my copy was reprinted by Belwin after it had been taken over by Alfred Publishing Company.
29. "Maurice D. Taylor of Montrose." Montrose, Pennsylvania, Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains website.
30. Fred Weber. Belwin Elementary Band Method. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). Melville, New York: Belwin, Inc., 1945.
31. George Butler. "Fred Weber." International Horn Society website. 1 April 2016. Confirmed by Google notices of his work as a judge and clinician.
32. Harold W. Rusch. Hal Leonard Elementary Band Method. Bb Cornet or Trumpet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Music, Inc., 1961.
33. Dutch Wikipedia. "Harold W. Rusch."
34. C. Paul Herfurth and Hugh M. Stuart. Our Band Class Book. Book 1. New York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1957. Cited by Texter. 195.
35. Charles Peters. Neil Kjos in 1958.
36. Fred Weber. First Division Band Method. Part One. Bb Cornet (Trumpet). First Division Publishing Company, 1962. It was kept in print by Belwin.
37. Tom C. Rhodes, Donald Bierschenk, and Tim Lautzenheiser. Essential Elements. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1991. This version was discussed in the post for 16 August 2018.
38. Hal Leonard, History. They sold the company in 1985.
39. This may have been Harry H. Haines and J. R. McEntyre. Division of Beat. Book 1. Cornet/Trumpet, Baritone TC. San Antonio: Southern Music Company, 1980. Rhodes was listed as a contributing editor.
40. "Tom Rhodes - Class of 2003." Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame, Phi Meta Mu, Alpha chapter website. This also had information on Donald Bierschenk
41. "About Tim Lautzenheiser." Attitude Concepts website.
42. Weber, First Division. 25.
43. "Banana Boat Song" was popularized by Harry Belafonte in 1956.
44. This version is discussed in the post for 29 July 2018.
45. The other books that contained "Kumbaya" were Bruce Pearson. Standard of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Company, 1993. This version was discussed in the post for 29 July 2018.
John O’Reilly and Mark Williams. Accent on Achievement. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1997. This version was discussed in the post for 29 July 2018.
Tim Lautzenheiser, et al. Essential Elements 2000. Book 1. Bb Trumpet. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999. This version was discussed in the post for 16 August 2018.
Jim Evans. Band Folio. Band Method. Book 1. 2000. Available free on-line. This version was discussed in the post for 9 August 2018.
Sandy Feldstein and Larry Clark. The Yamaha Advantage. Book 1. Clarinet. New York: Carl Fischer, 2001.
46. Bruce Pearson and Ryan Nowlin. Tradition of Excellence. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. San Diego: Neil A. Kjos Company, 2010.
47. Cornets and trumpets were essentially the same: they had the same lengths of tubing coiled in different ways. Cornets were used by military and brass bands, while trumpets were used by orchestras and symphonies. Louis Armstrong changed from cornet to trumpet in the early 1920s because trumpets were preferred by jazz bands. The change from cornet to trumpet as the primary label for method books lagged behind popular music taste. The first to use trumpet was Art Jenson in 1970. [49] After The Yamaha Band Student in 1988, [50] it became the standard.
48. Texter. 1.
49. Art C. Jenson. Learning Unlimited. Level One. Trumpet/Cornet. Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1973.
50. Sandy Feldstein and John O’Reilly. Yamaha Band Student. Book 1. Bb Trumpet/Cornet. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Company, 1988.
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