The Right Music at the Right Time: Finding Music that Fits Your Beginning Band

Teaching first-year band can be extremely rewarding, but it has unique challenges. The first year of playing an instrument brings a steep rate of growth for the students that can be exciting and satisfying, or frustrating and disheartening, depending upon the material that we provide them. We need to make careful decisions about the ensemble music we choose to supplement our method book. The music must be of several levels to accommodate student growth, and it must allow for differentiation so we can meet the needs of every student.

When it comes time to supplement the method book with concert music, we can’t rely solely on publishers’ grade levels. There are no universal parameters, so a grade of .5 or 1 can mean many things. On top of that, our programs are all unique. Schedules, contact time, administrative support, school tradition, grade levels of the students, and experience level of the director all affect how fast our students learn to play their instruments. So how does one choose appropriate ensemble music to supplement the method book? This is not an easy question to answer but there are a few crucial factors to consider when determining whether a piece might be appropriate for your students and situation.

A common resource for finding literature is other teachers, via word of mouth or posts on social media. While other directors and mentors are easily the most useful place to start researching new literature, remember to be mindful that every situation is unique and avoid comparing programs to determine how well our programs are doing. Sift through any suggestions with your own band in mind. Avoid using the pace of others and instead consider that students learn better and are happier when they have material that challenges them but doesn’t frustrate them.

As mentioned earlier, there is tremendous variance in the difficulty of music marketed in the beginner category. For example, there are works graded .5 that are really quite easy and accessible for students who are still very early in the method book and others with longer phrases and trickier patterns that are more appropriate for students who are more advanced. Knowing what musical elements to look for in a piece of music is a crucial part of determining difficulty and suitability for your ensemble.

The very first pieces outside of the method book should fall into the easiest category of music. Seeing a full-page band piece for the first time comes with a lot more to learn than just the notes and rhythms. Look for pieces that emphasize the first six notes, are mostly stepwise, and feature short phrases that will encourage students to play with correct breathing and articulation. We want to avoid music that might develop bad habits such as breathing too often or not connecting the notes with the air. Rhythm might include repeated eighth notes in pairs but is mostly limited to quarters and halves in the winds. Call and response tunes work well at this level as they contain short, digestible phrases for the students to play and sound great when played as a full band. Blocked rhythms eliminate the concept of independent playing, which is a more advanced skill.

As our students progress they can play longer phrases and can be more rhythmically independent. As the students’ ranges develop, more pitches may be included in the music. However, be wary of rhythms that contain too many consecutive eighth notes, particularly in patterns that might be idiomatically difficult for one of the instrument groups (e.g. patterns around “concert C” in the flutes and brass). The band should not be able to sight-read the more difficult sections, but with repetition, all should be achievable. Pieces with repeated material are more easily mastered than those with a lot of unique material. Beware of choosing pieces that require varied articulation. While it is great to teach different styles of articulation they may be difficult for beginning band students to execute. Finally, when your students are able to handle a full octave, perform more complicated rhythmic patterns (still avoiding syncopation), execute longer phrases, and handle some part independence your students are ready to advance to the grade 1 literature.

Aside from looking at the level of music and its technical requirements, we should also be aware of styles and key centers. Variety creates interest and we need to provide our students and audience with a diverse palette of music to play and listen to. We have also found that when programming a concert, it is important to provide differentiation in the difficulty of our selections. Try including one piece that everyone can readily play, one that most of the students can play, and one that is a bit more difficult that will challenge even your most advanced students.

Beginning band can be a wonderful, joyful experience, but the success of our student relies on the material we present to them. It takes careful curation of the many pieces available to us to find just what is needed at every point of our students’ growth. With careful shopping and planning, we can provide our students with music that is engaging and achievable, and get them on their way to a long, rewarding band experience.

Heather Archer Hoefle is a composer, clinician, adjudicator, and retired band director who resides in Wilmington, NC. She has a B.S. in flute performance and audio technology from Indiana University Bloomington and a Masters Degree from Vandercook College of Music.

Mark J. Connor is an arranger, composer, conductor, educator, and podcaster who has a love for everything band. His music is diverse, his interviews are inspiring, and his ability to capture the listener’s attention for both means of expression is remarkable. He is currently the head band director at the Principia School in St. Louis, Missouri.

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