by Dr. Michael Pratt
In the preface to An Introduction to America’s Music, Richard Crawford makes a distinction between classical, popular and folk music, which is tied to the use of musical notation. He says, “The classical sphere is ruled by composers, who tell performers in a musical score precisely what was intended; the popular sphere is ruled by performers, who shape and alter scores to fit the occasion; and the folk (or traditional) sphere is also ruled by performers, who work from oral tradition and memory rather than notation.” [1] Obviously, in any grand generalization like this, there will be some interesting exceptions (for instance, John Cage’s aleatory music might be considered modern classical music, but hardly tells performers precisely what is intended.)
Does it make sense to focus on one of these types of music—classical, folk, and popular—over the others? What genres of music would be inappropriate to teach? What kinds of American music might you include in one semester, and do they span classical, folk and popular music?
The musical literature employed in a high school band class will, of necessity, be of divergent types and styles, usually related to the activity for which the music is being prepared and performed. For example, most high school bands will begin the school year with marching band which gives performances at football games, pep rallies, homecoming parades, and so on. The literature usually performed will range more toward the popular genres such as popular song, rock and roll, movie themes, television themes, musical songs and generally music of a more “rousing” nature. With the rise of the “corps” style of marching band there has also been inclusion of more traditional “classical” music (although never in its original form but rather arranged to fit the instrumentation, time restrictions, and other requirements of the milieu). Even though this music is played in a less restrictive manner than perhaps concert music is played, it still would fall into the first category defined above as music performed as the score dictates and not improvised to fit the occasion like popular music or jazz (and certainly not involving the oral tradition of folk music).
The next musical event for the high school band would probably be some sort of holiday concert (what used to be called a Christmas concert). This event has changed considerably over the last few years with the rise of restrictions to the literature which public schools are allowed to perform as a result of the necessities of our “PC” culture and of the perceived limitations arising from the legal separation of Church and State. Many schools are not allowed to even use the word “Christmas” let alone perform any music of a religious nature whatsoever (choirs especially feel the brunt of this prohibition since well over ninety percent of their entire repertoire is religious in nature). So where high school bands used to perform quality arrangements of Silent Night or the Overture to Messiah they are now performing less than quality arrangements of Jingle Bells, et al. Many high school bands are choosing to use this restriction as an impetus to ignore holiday music as a whole and instead pursue their time in preparation of the classic band literature (many are already preparing their festival music for second semester). This has given rise to the audience which decries every year against the lack of holiday spirit being displayed by the school as a whole and the music programs in particular with the “ignoring” of the season in all of the school’s pre-new year’s activities and programs.
Next comes the season of festivals for the high school band: solo and ensemble festival (both district and state) and band festivals (both district and state). The literature requirements for these events are usually more stringent and must be selected from standard repertoire lists or contest lists allowing very little leeway for non-traditional or even non-classical music. The only room for deviation might be for the high school band’s jazz band program (which may or may not be an actual separate class from the regular band itself). It may be simply a performing ensemble or it may also be involved in the festival season. Either way, it will afford the option to explore the second option above (performers who shape and alter scores to fit the occasion, i.e., they improvise). Very little opportunity exists for improvisational skills to be used in the regular band literature.
After festival season the school year usually concludes with a succession of spring concerts, parades, and graduations. These spring concerts can afford the opportunity to play lighter or more popularly oriented types of music, but like the marching band, they are still usually strictly notated even if the music is in the lighter vein. The high school band therefore gets to experience the music of all three spheres (classical, popular, and folk) but usually performed in the classical style as far as notation is concerned (with the exception of a jazz band).
There is another type of music not mentioned which must be considered in this mix and which may cross these categories previously defined: world music. There is an infinite variety of world music available to explore with the high school band and it could very easily cross genres as it will certainly cross cultures. For example, you could be performing one of the staples of the high school band repertoire Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance. This piece would certainly fit into the classical category above. However on the concert you could have a native practitioner from Korea perform the actual Korean folk song upon which the variations are based (Arirang) and possible even in native dress (you could really do a spectacular job and have a Korean supper prior to the concert). [2]
Does it make sense to focus on one of these types of music—classical, folk, and popular—over the others? In a traditional band class is makes more sense to focus on classical music as very little opportunity exists to focus on popular or folk music (and even then it would of necessity need to be performed in a classically notated style). It is certainly not inappropriate to teach popular or folk music but within the context of the overall class, the scope would probably be limited and it would be very difficult to give the band the experience of this music as it really exists because the performing genres are simply apples and oranges. More appropriately a high school band could include in their literature all kinds of American music spanning classical, folk and popular music and include this literature in almost every event they participate in throughout the school year. The marching band could do a show on folk music starting with Woodie Guthrie and Bob Dylan right up through Peter, Paul and Mary and Up With People. A more popular half time show this past year for many schools focused on the music of Ray Charles (as a result of last year’s movie about his life). Obviously much of this music was blues and jazz oriented even if not played in the original style and manner. A concert might include selections from musicals by Rogers and Hammerstein or film music by John Williams. Festival music might include band music by John Philip Sousa or Charles Ives and transcriptions of music by Leonard Bernstein or John Adams. A wealth of great American music exists to be programmed on high school band concerts, and if performed side by side with the wealth of music which exists in world music, possibly including the folk traditions from other cultures, tremendously exciting concerts can be the result, not only for the audience but for the performing ensembles as well.
Copyright 2010 by Pratt Music Co.
NOTES
[1] Richard Crawford, An Introduction to America’s Music (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001), xii.
[2] Introducing Korea, 2006, “Culture,” http://www.studyinkorea.go.kr/ENGLISH/A300/A300_Co4.jsp/ (accessed February 19, 2006).
