teaching RHYTHMS
teaching RHYTHM | teaching LYRICISM | teaching HUMOR |
teaching MODERN TECHNIQUES | teaching MODERN STYLES |
EASY
Asturias (Albinez-Bonney)
Explosive music with a Spanish flavor, requiring a wide range of musical expression.
Hopak (Mousourgsky-Bonney)
Teach folk rhythms with a traditional Russian peasant dance.
Interruption Overture (Bryant)
Small amounts of aleatory in the context of a catchy tune; requires the ensemble to change focus quickly between melodic playing and dissonant, "out-of-time" moments; humorous, surprising shifts of melody, key and time signatures.
MetaMarch (Bryant)
Humorous march with surprising twists and turns: extra measures and beats, "wrong notes," etc.; requires the players to pay attention and not assume they know what's coming next.
INTERMEDIATE
Chaos Theory (Bonney)
Fusing progressive/hard rock intensity with classical sophistication, this concerto for electric guitar and wind ensemble pays homage to Beethoven, Metallica, J.S. Bach, Led Zeppelin, Shostakovich, Iron Maiden, Igor Stravinsky, King Crimson, George Lynch, Augustin Barrios-Mangore, John Petrucci , Frank Zappa, Anton Webern, and Steve Vai. Educational elements of ferocious rhythms, tight intonation and articulations, and aggressive playing.
Ghost Train (Whitacre)
The classic that started it all...with everything from motoric train rhythms to slick jazz textures.
Noisy Wheels of Joy (Whitacre)
An overture of cartoon-style music, teaching quick rhythms and triumphant phrases.
Wings That Work (Bryant)
Extended flute solo; exposed horn writing; opportunity to teach trumpets to triple-tongue (at a moderate tempo).
ADVANCED
Alchemy in Silent Spaces (Bryant) (three movements)
Extended flute solos in Mvts. I and II; exposed orchestral writing; large phrase arcs; Mvt. III has constant meter and dynamic shifts, and requires endurance from the trumpet section.
Chunk (Newman)
Teach classic funk styles and rhythms within a fun homage to the music of George Clinton and Stevie Wonder. Challenging brass parts, a "Jethro-Tull"-style flute solo, and a funk-flugelhorn solo are the main funk elements needed.
Equus (Whitacre)
Challenging mixed meters with a motoric pulse...teaching ensemble, metric complexity, and balancing colorful orchestration.
Monkey (Bryant)
Exposed orchestration at a fast tempo - each player must be confident and secure (no hiding). "Metric modulation" - quarter-note triplet becomes the new quarter note.
OK Feel Good (Newman)
Constant mixed meters and rhythms -- with a constant 16th note, the groove
is a juxtaposition of compound 16th note groupings (2+2+3+2+2+2) within
the time signatures of 7/16 and 3/8.
Stampede (Bryant)
Extensive use of dotted-eighth, dotted-eighth, quarter rhythm, or four dotted-eighths in a 3/4 bar (results in 4-against-3 feel); bitonal brass harmonies; humorous "western" sections with missing beats and mixed meters.