Rehearsal Plan – June 21, 2017

Good morning!

Thank you for an extremely productive rehearsal on Wednesday! Even with a decimated trumpet section and no percussion, we did some really good work!

Our next rehearsal is Wednesday, June 21 and we will be back at Bourkevale Community Centre – 100 Ferry Rd. In fact, all our remaining rehearsals will be at Bourkevale.

We’ll be working from the following list of pieces (not in this order):

1 – The 80s
17 – Eine Kleine Rockmusik
36 – Space & Beyond
40 – Windjammer
58 – Les Mis
59 – Super Mario
63 – Hallelujah
64 – Bolero

I will likely post another note early in the week – I was advised that in “The 80s,” your music doesn’t indicate what songs you’re playing, so I’ll pull together a listing of bar numbers and corresponding songs!

See you on Wednesday!

Happy playing!

Elizabeth.

 

Rehearsal Plan – June 14, 2017

Our second rehearsal of the season went really well! I’m very excited about what I’m hearing and am pleased as punch about our progress!

The next rehearsal is Wednesday, June 14, from 7-9 pm at St James Legion #4 (1755 Portage Ave).

Our rehearsal will be drawn from the following list of pieces (though not in this order!):

1 – The 80s
4 – Standard of St George
9 – Arabian Dances
11 – Cartoon Symphony
40 – Windjammer
58 – Les Mis
59 – Super Mario
63 – Hallelujah
64- Bolero

As I had mentioned at our rehearsal, we have inherited a box full of scores and Jeff will be bringing a new score each rehearsal for us to sight-read at the end of our warm up phase. Please do not add these to your binders or write on them! These will NOT be part of our repertoire this season, but if we like a score, it will be added to the binders for a future season. Please don’t be shy about sharing your feedback with me.

Now, for some listening homework. This is probably the hardest section from “The 80s.” I would recommend that you take a few minutes to have a listen or two in order to really get a sense of the groove. (Once we lock in, it sounds good. The problem is that we need to snap into it immediately and that hasn’t been happening for us. I think really getting that pattern into our heads will help).
Faith – George Michael

I hope to see you out on Wednesday, and, in the meantime,

Happy playing!

Elizabeth.

Notes on Music – Scales/Key Signatures Edition

(Reprinted from an email sent out during the summer of 2016).

When I ask for a specific scale, how do you determine which notes are flat/sharp? There are several options. I’ll explain three of them, and you can decide which one will work best for you.

Circles
Firstly, there are the two circles. The Circle of 4th is for the flat keys, which the Circle of 5ths is for sharps. You do have to memorise that C Major has no flats or sharps, and C is always where you start with either circle.

I’ll use the Circle of 4ths to illustrate (because we don’t have strings so we like flats better):

C = 0 flats
(up a P4)
F = 1 flat
(up a P4)
Bb = 2 flats
(up a P4)
Eb = 3 flats
(up a P4)
Ab = 4 flats
etc.

I can’t say that I’ve found this understanding of much use to me outside of my earliest theory classes when I was first learning about intervals and chord structures and learning to analyse music (i.e. identifying progressions and relationships – how one chord can precipitate a key change because it exists in different keys). It’s probably not going to be the most useful method, but it does exist. Also, knowing the order of flats/sharps (so you know which 4 notes are flat in Ab) is important. I explain that in the next method.

Order of Sharps/Flats
A second way of determining your flats/sharps is by using the order of flats and sharps.

Sharps
The last sharp in the key signature is one half-step below the key name. Thus, the last sharp in G Major, is F#, the last sharp in B Major is A#, etc.

Then, look at the order of sharps to figure out the key signature:
Father
Charles
Goes
Down
And
Ends
Battle

Flats
The key name is the second-last flat in the key signature. Thus, Ab Major has B,E,A,D flats, while Dd Major has B,E,A,D,G.

The order of flats is:
Battle
Ends
And
Down
Goes
Charles
Father

This is the way I believe I figure it out most of the time (or I just have them memorised – I’m not sure which). There is a bit of memorisation involved – I think it happened a bit organically for me because I have to do so much transposing on the fly as a Horn player. I find this to be most effective for transposing purposes in the context of a piece or short exercise. It’s also, I think, a better option for a faster scale (i.e. in quarter notes or shorter).

Scale Structure
Finally, there’s the major scale structure itself.

All major scales are made up of tones (T – a whole step as in C to D) and semi-tones (ST – a half-step as in C to C#).

The pattern to memorise is:
T T ST T T T ST

Here is how it applies – I’ll pick Ab Major (because it’s my favourite concert pitch chord):

Ab (+ T)
Bb (+ T)
C (+ ST)
Db (+T)
Eb (+ T)
F (+ T)
G (+ ST)
Ab

The pattern is reversed on the way down.

This is probably the method with the LEAST amount of memorisation required. I think it’s a very solid method to use for long-tone scales, because it makes no one key harder than any other – you’ve got the time to plan your next note out as long as you know the placement of tones and semi-tones.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight into some strategies for approaching a whole note scale when I just call out a key!

Happy Playing!

Elizabeth.

Rehearsal Plan – June 7, 2017

and…. we’re off!!

The 2017 season has officially begun!

Thanks to everyone who came out for our inaugural rehearsal for 2017, and to everyone who let me know they couldn’t make it but definitely ARE playing with us this summer!

I’m really excited about what we have in store, and I’m so pleased at how good everyone sounds already!

One thing I know I didn’t do very well last summer that I want to improve upon is to make sure that each one of you knows that you are welcome. To (poorly) paraphrase an immortal ad, “Aunt Elizabeth wants YOU!” I want you to play with us. I want you to try your best (and maybe even push yourself a little further than you thought you could). We have a vast array of levels of playing and types of musical experiences represented in our band. For some of you, some pieces will be a big challenge – please don’t be discouraged! Just do your best – play what you can today (if that’s only the whole notes, play the most in-tune, supportive, well-shaped whole notes you can play). I promise that next week, you’ll be able to play more. I am confident that you will find someone in your own section, or perhaps even a neighbouring one, who will offer you encouragement or a tip to help you out. Please don’t be shy to reach out to myself, the executive committee, or a smiling face in your section. This really is a band for everyone.

As promised, here are a bunch of lists!

Here are the pieces I plan to draw upon at our June 7 practise, to be held at Bourkevale – 100 Ferry Rd. The baton drops at 7 pm. These are in no particular order:
1 – The 80s
2 – Michelle/Eleanor Rigby/Yesterday
9 – Arabian Dances
36 – Space and Beyond
40 – Windjammer
58 – Les Mis
59 – Super Mario
63 – Hallelujah
64 – Bolero

Here’s a listing of what I think will be programmed this summer – as in, I’m sure we can perform them, so it’s more likely they’ll be on a concert programme than not:
1 – The 80s
6 – It don’t mean a thing OR 7 – Swing the Mood (we’ll discuss)
9 – Arabian Dances
11 – Cartoon Symphony
36 – Space and Beyond
40 – Windjammer
58 – Les Mis
59 – Super Mario Brothers
63 – Hallelujah

And, here are the others that are under consideration – it will depend on how rehearsals go and what else is on the programme:
2 – Michelle/Eleanor Rigby/Yesterday
4 – Standard of St George
17 – Eine Kleine Rockmusik
22- The Stripper
25 – The Blue Orchid
64 – Bolero

Now, on to the listening. I’m including some links below to recordings that I think will help demonstrate the general direction I’d like us to take, or, sometimes, it’s the only or best recording I could find!

Super Mario Brothers – Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra

Windjammer – Robert Buckley

Bolero – Ravel (arr. Jay Bocook)

Hallelujah – Cohen (arr. Michael Brown)

Space and Beyond – John Moss

See you on Wednesday, June 7!

Happy Playing!

Elizabeth.

 

2017 Season Launch

Welcome, welcome, welcome!!!

We have a shiny, new-ish website!!

One administrative detail of note: The new band email address is info@mbmillenniumband.com. The former gmail address is no longer associated with the Millennium Band. Please update your address books accordingly.

Here’s how the summer is shaping up: (The page for the 2017 season will be updated as things firm up or change).

Rehearsals will be at Bourkevale Community Centre (100 Ferry Rd) on Wednesday evenings from 7-9 pm unless otherwise specified.
Rehearsal Dates:
May 27 – Saturday – 10 am – 12 pm – St James Legion #4 (1755 Portage Ave)
June 7
June 14 – 7 – 9 pm – St James Legion #4 (1755 Portage Ave)
June 21
June 28
July 5
July 12
August 9
August 23
Concert Dates:
July 19 – 7 pm – Shaftesbury
August 16 – 7 pm – Concordia Village
August 26 – 2 pm – Saturday – Victoria Beach ***Tentative***
August 30 – 7 pm – Lindenwoods
September 9 – 2:30 pm – Saturday – Morden ***Tentative***

 

Membership Dues for the summer are $20/person.

I am very excited about this summer and can’t wait to see you!

Sincerely,
Elizabeth
on behalf of the Manitoba Millennium Band Executive