If we want great music in our future we have to plant the seeds now. If we want a musically literate society we need kids playing music now, and they deserve the best out of band class. They need charts that are challenging yet attainable, fun and educational. I’ll never forget my first feature as a trombone player in 4th grade. I can remember the melody to this day. My amazing band teacher had the three trombones up there sliding all over the place. Although I’m no longer a trombonist (bass and guitar have taken over my life), that single arrangement kept me going with the trombone and music in general for quite some time.
What if every kid in music class had such an impactful piece? This could be any number of tunes, arrangements, songs etc. But where to start? Bach is still considered the godfather of music. Albeit generally difficult to play, his music an attainable goal for any serious music student, and I know I’m not alone in saying, all these hundreds of year later, he changed my life for the better. There have been a plethora of genius composers since then, but why not start a little closer to home? Duke Ellington, possibly the greatest of our American composers, has many pieces that, although again not exactly easy to find all the nuances, are very attainable for even those students only (initially) mildly interested in the music. However, although this was pop music of its day, many kids will arrive to Bach and Ellington through rabbit holes started by pop music of more recent history. There are still many catchy melodies, hooks and riffs from more modern musical times that can be arranged for school bands. This is how I became obsessed with music, playing modern rock songs on bass and guitar. There’s no reason we can’t transfer this music to string, wind and percussion sections of today’s bands!
Once I permanently caught the bug of music, I started slowly going back in time to discover the roots of what I was listening to. This of course, before I got all the way to Stravinsky, Beethoven and Bach, led me to the blues. The blues is the mother of all American music. Hip hop, rock, R&B, country, jazz, etc. This is why I suggest slipping in a blues into all school bands as soon as they’re ready. I know this goes against the grain of a lot of music programs, but I must insist. Not only will students learn the roots of our great musical culture, but they will quickly learn how to hear the I, IV and V chords. Once they have these sounds in their heads, picking out songs by ear becomes less of a guessing game and more of an educated guessing game, which will quickly lead them to hearing a song in the car or wherever and thinking, OMG I know how this goes! Then they’ll go home, pick up their instrument and start playing. This is when the hooks sink in.
