The PAS Percussion Compendium
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The PAS Percussion Compendium Rebecca McDaniel and Dan McGuire, Editors Volume I, 2016 Table of Contents Part I Why I put this resource together Cultivating Culture How to prepare a score Part II A Ceiling Full of Stars Blake Tyson Alarm! Brian Blume Barnstormer Chris Crockarell Bread & Butter Andy Smith Catching Shadows Ivan Trevino Clapping Music Steve Reich Compound Autonomy Jim Casella Concerto for Vibraphone and Percussion Ensemble Ney Rosaruo Drumming Steve Reich Drums of Winter John Luther Adams Excalibur Chris Brooks 4/4 for Four Anthony Cirone Inuksuit John Luther Adams Ionisation Edgard Varèse Katie’s Bossa Chris Crockarell Ku-Ka-Ilimoku Christopher Rouse Marimba Spiritual Minoru Miki Metric Lips Bela Fleck/arr. David Steinquest Music for Pieces of Wood Steve Reich Ogoun Badagris Christopher Rouse Okho Iannis Xenakis Omphalo Centric Lecture Nigel Westlake Scenes From the Woods Brian Blume Sculpture in Wood Rudiger Pawassar Sharpened Stick Brett Dietz Six Marimbas Steve Reich Slopes Paul Rennick Stained Glass David Gillingham Stormbreak Jim Casella Technology Jim Casella Terra Cotta Warriors James Campbell Trio Per Uno Nebojša Živković Why I Put this Resource Together I remember as a young band director simply not having a clue. I got through my first marching season with a modicum of success when suddenly it hit me: What were we going to do in the spring semester? I was very fortunate to work with two very strong band directors at the time, and when I asked them this question they pointed me towards a wonderful resource for concert band: Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. It is, as of the time of this writing, a 10-volume collection of articles that not only helps with the preparation of music but also helps with the selection of quality literature. Only the “good stuff” finds its way onto the pages of those books. It was a real life-saver for me as a young director as I tried to prepare my students musically with quality literature. My beginnings as a percussion director were very similar. Unfortunately, I didn’t have other percussion directors at my school to lean on and, when I started in 2003, the only place I knew existed where I could purchase music for percussion ensemble was Row-Loff. Their music was great for my percussion ensemble, and I still play some of their works with my groups, but there is so much good music out there, and I had no idea it even existed or where I could get it. It wasn’t until I started bringing in clinicians to work with my group that I was able to ask questions about where to get more music. Professionals of all ages and experiences will find something useful in this book. It is very unlike a typical percussion re- source. The vast majority of the resources for percussion pedagogy are articles with a very specific subject matter typically relating to performing. Vic Firth Co., Innovative Percussion, and a host of online forums are great places to find those articles, and they are easily accessed by anyone who knows to look for them. There is not, however, a vast resource for rehearsal tips focused on specific quality works for percussion ensemble—until now. I feel, however, that it is worth saying that when I decided to go forward with this project I had one group foremost in my mind: young percussion directors and professors early in their career. I wish that I would have possessed a resource like this when I began teaching in 2003. All of the articles are written by professionals with experiences that range from past performances of their specific pieces to time spent with the composers during the time the works were written. Several of these articles are written by the composers themselves, offering a unique opportunity for everyone who reads this book that very few individuals are afforded: the ability to get a glimpse inside the mind of those composers to see just what they were really going after and why they wrote the piece. Beyond the articles, the beginning of this book is filled with information that I have personally found essential. I am hardly the “end-all-be-all” in education. Instead, I offer these chapters as an attempt to provoke thought within the reader. I hope that what I wrote helps you in your classroom. These words might also be a catalyst that takes you in a completely different direction. If this provokes thought within you, regardless of where it leads you, then this text will have fulfilled its intended purpose. In the words of Bill Watterson, “Your preparation for the real world is not in the answers you’ve learned, but in the questions you’ve learned how to ask yourself.” I wish you the best of luck in your musical journey, with the hope that this book helps you enjoy the ride! —Dan McGuire How to Cultivate Culture: The Keys to a Successful Percussion Program One of the most important aspects of any program—be it Student Growth/Character music, athletics, or academics—is culture. This thought encom- Many public school educators believe that the most im- passes every aspect of a program, from the expectation of the portant resource for a good program is its schedule. To an work ethic of its members to a mutual understanding of the extent they are correct; a good schedule can go a long way definition of success. Culture is the most important, and most towards improving a program. I would assert, however, that often overlooked, factor for the success of a program. It is also the most important resource in any organization is much important to note that, of all the different aspects of a program, simpler: people. it is the most difficult one to change. Almost every director of a successful program across the country is much more than a con- As educators we tend to lose sight of the individual be- ductor: He or she is a leader. While many aspects are present in cause of the music. As we engage in the process of making the culture of any organization, there are four primary areas that music—something for which I hope we all share a common heavily influence musical ensembles and their success: passion—it is very easy to lose track of the fact that the little music-making automatons that populate our classrooms and • Work Ethic studio spaces are real human beings with their own thoughts, • Student Growth/Character emotions, and lives. While it is easy to acknowledge that fact, • Ownership few and far between are the people who really invest in their • Esprit de Corps students. This article will focus on each of these four areas of organization- You must be a role model for them in life as you are in music. al culture. I feel strongly the need to stress that there is so much If you really want them to follow your passion, they must more that goes into helping to shape a group’s culture. The be willing to follow you. If you ask a person who the most intent behind this article is not to provide the “end-all-be-all” to influential people were in their lives, the common thread that having a successful program. Instead, it is meant to function as a will tie those answers together is the respect that was felt catalyst for purposeful thought and dialogue between directors, for those individuals. Morality, lifestyle, and the choices that staff, and students on meaningful ways to improve programs that declare those things to the world cannot exist in a vacuum. are such an integral part of students’ lives. As such, we must look to those things in our students as we teach them not just to make music, but to become the Work Ethic people into whose hands we will one day entrust the future of Work ethic is the aspect of culture that most obviously influ- our activity. ences the playing ability of an ensemble. Natural talent and ability, while very important, are meaningless without the Ownership consistent practice that hones it into something worthwhile. I learned a truism while earning my Masters in Education My caption head for WGI, Tim Bray, often said, “Potential just degree: People love what they help create. Over the course means that you might be good one day,” and that attitude is of the last ten years, my students have become more and an important one for young adults to have. As a society we more involved with the program and the decisions that are tend to overvalue mediocrity and raw ability and undervalue made to guide it. That does not mean that I “handed over the work that is necessary for anything of true value. So, in a the keys to the kingdom,” but instead a concentrated effort world that constantly desires instant gratification and the easy was made to allow the students to have a sense of ownership solution, you must instill that work ethic in your students by in the ensemble. giving them a reason to practice. Decide upon your standard of excellence and demand it from your students and yourself. One of the first means I used towards this idea was to give When they achieve, words of praise are important. It is also the ensemble a goal—but it was not just my goal. I sat the important, however, that if they do not achieve what they are students down over a period of time, speaking to them as capable of, that they are not told that they did a good job.