Cat No.JM43269 Price
£3.75 Composer / arranger: by Al Vervaet Category: Books
A book for all bandsmen. Outlines various ways to become a more useful member of your band including tips on home practice.This tutor is not a beginner's "teach yourself" manual; but a maintenance course for the more advanced player.
INTRODUCTION
Of the many time-warn sayings concerning the attraction music has for humans, “Music hath charm”, “Music soothes the savage breast”, and “Music is the universal language” are among the most popular. These adages are proven valid by the fact that martial music can stir patriotic feelings and emotions, romantic music can quicken the pulse of lovers, lullabys are used to soothe babies, and farmers have even been known to use music at milking time to increase production! As for its universality, what could be better proof than an orchestra made up of men and women from several nations and races, being conducted by a person of yet another nation or race, playing music by a composer of still different national origin, getting a standing ovation from an audience three or four thousand miles from the orchestra’s home base?
Another attraction or “pull” of music, is its power to invite active participation. When one considers all those who play an instrument, sing, or even whistle for their own enjoyment, it becomes quite obvious that more people throughout the world are actively involved in music-making than probably any other “non-essential” life activity. In fact, one can see that music really IS an essential life activity! At any rate, it is safe to unequivocally state that people do like to make music in one form or another.
More sophisticated musical participation than casual whistling, “strumming”, or “tootling”, can be experienced by playing in instrumental ensembles. These groups range in size from two individuals, to large bands and orchestras of seventy or eighty players. For singers, there are choral groups which sometimes number in the hundreds. While some people who take part in these organizations are paid professionals, it is for the vast majority of those who play or sing simply for the enjoyment of it, that this manual is intended. . . those who take part for that most powerful attraction of all, the LOVE OF MUSIC.
One of the most significant and increasingly popular vehicles for amateur music- making is the Community Band, using the full range of brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Varying labels are attached to these organizations (according to nation, locale, instrumentation, or the desire of the conductor or founder), but among the more commonly used titles are: Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, or Symphonic Band. The standard instrumentation used by these groups is modelled more or less on the old military band, although recent compositions sometimes use string bass, harp, and almost always include parts for the entire clarinet choir, including the contra-bass clarinet.
It was while working as Associate Guest Conductor with the Hatfield (Hertfordshire) Concert Band, where players ranged in age from fourteenyears to about sixty-five (and possessed equally divergent levels of musical ability!) that I perceived a real need for a manual such as this. I have attempted to deal with “nuts and bolts” subjects, and to approach them from an “I wish my players could. .
viewpoint on the part of the conductor. The manual is NOT intended to be an instrumental tutor or method book, and some of the material is sufficiently complex that the reader might need some help (especially the material in the Appendix). I sincerely believe that readers who follow the advice given herein will reach a higher level of performance, and through increased effectiveness, become more valuable members of their organizations. Conductors should welcome its printing, for it stands to reason that a band staffed by more effective players will make their task easier.
Though written with the average community band player in mind, the manual can also be used effectively by school musicians, brass band players, or (with minor modification) by string players.
Finally, the reader will note that frequent analogies to sports are made. This is quite appropriate, for playing in a band or orchestra is akin to the group effort required in team sports; it is no accident that the initial letter of the manual’s title forms the acronym, TEAM!
