Connecting Classroom and Instrumental Music Instruction:
Teaching Band Music and Literature
by Bruce Gleason, Ph.D

While band students substantially outnumber string students in U.S. public and private schools, an examination of a current college music history textbook shows that within the 805 pages, band history is covered in just three paragraphs. The reasons for this shortage have to do with instrument development and current orchestral dominance in the professional performance world, as well as with band history.
     The brass family reached its zenith after the 19th century invention of valves in general, and the advent of the tuba in particular, which finally gave a suitable bass sound to the out-of-doors military band (the Serpent, Russian Bassoon, Sarrousaphone, and Ophecleide had never quite cut it). Similarly, proper intonation and facility didn’t come to the woodwind family until Boehm’s system of ring and covered open-standing keys was applied. These developments, which came mainly through military circles, are a much different history than that of orchestral stringed instruments, which have remained basically unchanged for 400 years.
     It is not my point here to lament the dearth of band topics in music history classes. Rather my aim in highlighting this inequity is to encourage instrumental music teachers to join with their colleagues in elementary music to teach students about the contributions of the Masters to band literature, and provide tips on teaching about transcriptions, genre, and form.
     As in previous issues of Kjos Band News, I stress the need for positive dialogue between classroom music teachers and instrumental music teachers.
     Here are some suggestions for connecting the two curricula:

1. Find out which composers are being studied in elementary music classes, and make suggestions for future topics. Work to balance band and orchestra topics in elementary music history, which, like undergraduate music history, often focuses exclusively on the development of the orchestra.
2. Teach your students about the differences between bands and orchestras, and the rich heritage of each; point out that many composers wrote for band as well as orchestra. In addition to their orchestral and choral works, agree with your elementary music colleagues to study the wind and percussion works of composers like Beethoven, Mozart, Berlioz, Copland, Gossec, Handel, Holst, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Stravinsky. For example, there are good elementary arrangements of some of Beethoven’s dances and marches which he originally wrote for military band, as well as transcriptions of his and others’ orchestral works.

     By the time students begin elementary band instruction, most of them have heard very little band literature—either recordings or live performances. Work with your elementary music classroom colleagues to develop band awareness before students begin instrumental instruction by developing a listening library of band works to accompany lessons about music literature.

1. Use Holst’s two suites for band in conjunction with lessons about the suites of the Baroque period; use Gossec’s Military Symphony in F for an introduction to symphonic form. It is much shorter than orchestral symphonies and therefore more easily grasped within time limits. In addition, these early French military band works have plenty of interesting political and social history accompanying them.
2. Develop lessons based around march form and the different genres of the quick step, double quick, circus march, funeral marches, and cavalry marches.
3. Connect early American com-posers like William Billings and his work with vocal music with William Schuman’s Chester.
4. With the widespread interest in folk songs among Kodaly and Orff-based music classrooms, work with your colleagues in developing lessons that connect folk songs with their band arrangement counterparts: “Airirang” and Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance; many of the works by Percy Grainger and Gustav Holst.
5. Discuss with your students the definition of a transcription and an arrangement. Talk with them about the great military and civilian bands that developed around the turn of the century, and of the shortage of original band music, which necessitated borrowing from the orchestral tradition. The key to basic history instruction is for students to understand that music development came with social development.

     A major component of music literature instruction is to call attention to composers during rehearsals. While this sounds basic, it is often overlooked in performance ensemble instruction.

1. Rather than listing pieces by title on the board at the beginning of rehearsals, list the composer, and refer to pieces by the composer during the rehearsal: “The first piece up will be the Sousa.” Encourage your elementary music classroom colleagues to do the same. Students learn the composition titles automatically because of the centrality of the larger type. By calling attention to the composer, students will get used to the idea that band and orchestral music doesn’t just appear in their folders, and isn’t written by the director or the music store or music publishers. They’ll learn that humans are creating music for other humans. With your instruction they’ll learn that instruction, preparation, and performance are comprised of tasks to be performed by composers, performers, and audiences alike (you may wish to extend this to include jobs by publishers, music stores, etc.).
2. Give brief synopses (one or two minutes) of composers each day during rehearsals. You may want to plan a regular “Composer’s Interlude” to take place in each rehearsal, so students know that a couple of minutes are going to be set aside to learn further about a particular person. Take a look at the Standard of Excellence Conductor’s Scores, which contain hundreds of brief music history items. Look especially at Book 3, which is arranged chronologically according to historical period. This instruction will be most beneficial to students if you’re able to add to the instruction they’ve had in elementary classroom music.
3. Have the band write a collective letter to the composer of a favorite piece. Tell the composer that you like the work and ask him/her how they composed it, what they were thinking about, etc. The key for this is to have students write the letter after the piece has become a favorite, after the piece has attracted the band’s collective attention, and after they have claimed some kind of ownership. This approach can be better than a commission for generating enthusiasm among your students because, as in other areas of music education, students learn sound first, and they aren’t being “required” to like a piece of music just because they’ve connected with the composer first. Most composers will be eager to communicate, and a brief note from you may encourage even the busiest of composers to respond to their young fans. This activity will do wonders in generating enthusiasm for music and the composition process.

     Another area of literature concerns genre, form, and analysis. Discover together the form and style involved in a march, overture, or air.

1. Teach listening, form, and analysis skills through the rehearsed literature. While some eye training will be inevitable, try to focus on road map kinds of things that students can hear. Train students’ ears rather than their eyes. Don’t be afraid to quiz certain sections or individuals by having them sit out while they listen to the rest of the ensemble, either with their eyes closed, or following along by watching their individual notation. Begin at a specified point, and ask them about changes and developments in dynamics, tempi, phrases, harmony, unison, etc.
2. Refer to sections of the piece by: transition, bridge, exposition, etc. Instead of measure numbers, tell them that you’re starting at the trio, or the legato section. Do your best to not tell them where certain sections are—have them tell you the things that they discover through listening.
3. Have students explain to you the definitions of “songs” and “pieces,” and work to remind them of the difference. Students and teachers alike often overlook the concept that songs have texts, and consequently are rarely performed by instrumental ensembles. Referring to these genres interchangeably however is the same as referring to a poem as a play, or a novel as a limerick. Work to correct and develop students’ terminology.

     A wealth of rich literature and history exists in our band heritage that can easily bring enrichment to our students’ lives. An examination of your current curriculum will probably reveal several places where you can insert some of the aforementioned areas in conjunction with your elementary music colleagues, who will probably be delighted to receive your input.

Dr. Bruce Gleason is an assistant professor of graduate music education at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota where he teachers courses in music education and advises graduate research.

Copyright © 2001 Neil A. Kjos Music Company. All rights reserved.