today at jw pepper we have a list of 10 concert band titles for younger bands that every director
should know about these are solid picks that if you're in a jam and need something to work
for your young group you could literally close your eyes and just pick one of these and you'll
have a great time teaching and performing and your students will too let's get started
this list of titles comes directly from our instrumental editorial team and all of them
are from the jw pepper basic library which if you don't know is an ever-changing list
of titles that have constantly sold well over a five-year period only the ones that have
proven successful make the cut so really you created this list our customers by continually
choosing titles like these for your groups and coming back to them time and time again
you can go to jwpepper.com basic library to shop all of the pieces that we designate as
basic library while browsing the site any title that is in the basic library will be
marked with this blue star icon you can really be confident that any title that you choose
from here will be a winner both from a performance standpoint as well as educationally our editors
were and in some cases still are teachers themselves at various levels in this video
you'll find a variety of styles for concert band there are grade levels that start at
the very beginning and go up to grade 3 or medium easy but even advanced groups could
take advantage of some of these since they are staples and could be used for holiday
or combined concerts before we get started this list is in no particular order these
are all top choices and there are a lot more at jwpepper.com and we plan on making a lot
more of these recommendation videos so if you have suggestions please leave us a comment
below and we will make that list so let's get this list started with the first piece
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knife fury by carol britton chambers is a great beginner piece that still has a lot
of meat on the bones for the players to dive into this is listed as a very easy chart from
our editors the title is intended to portray a mythical time period with castles heroes
and dragons the goal here was to get an epic sounding fast-paced composition that is playable
for younger musicians and carol has achieved that goal dotted quarter eighth rhythm patterns
and some independence of parts articulation are some of the musical concepts explored
which makes this a fun but challenging title for your young players
[Music] robert w smith has been a staple of the jw pepper basic library he has numerous
pieces in the collection and i even remember performing his music when i was in high school
which proves his standing the test of time in the world of concert band music the tempest
is a classic example of smith's work and how he's able to make performers like i was in
high school sound and even feel like professionals the piece has a strong brass presence along
with rhythmic woodwinds and makes for a great opener for any young band concert graded very
easy however this will instill confidence in the performers and impress the audience
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rippling watercolors is a classic example of brian balmage's philosophy of writing for
younger musicians which is it can still sound great and they can still feel challenged and
love it in this piece brian explores harmonies colors and emotional ranges that some tend
to think are reserved for more experienced players but even though this is listed as
easy it's equally at home with more mature ensembles pepper has had numerous opportunities
to film and work with brian in the past we have links below to some of those videos if
you want to get to know more about him and his music
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this music is iconic my six-year-old heard this music in a commercial after watching
the movie a hundred times and he immediately picked it out and said how much he loves it
and this arrangement by michael sweeney brings it to younger performers in a really educational
and fun way this is from the first concepts for band series which aims at simplified instrumentation
with unison baselines and optional piano accompaniment this arrangement is a perfect way to introduce
john williams to your younger band
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queen is one of the greatest rock bands of all time and this medley of their hits is
a great way to introduce younger students to their musicality and flair all with a great
foundation in concert band thanks to the arranging of j beaucoup this is a grade 3 so along with
those awesome popular melodies there are some great challenges in there for the younger
players as well
so [Music]
christmas concerts can be tricky to program for especially for new teachers since they
creep up on you right out of the fall but this medley is timeless it will be a staple
in your music library as it's been a staple in lots of libraries from other directors
and teachers this set has an optional satb octavo if you want to expand it to work with
the choir as well this leroy anderson arrangement is a classic and will be something to always
have around each year for your christmas concerts
[Music] this arrangement of selections from the tim burton movie scored by danny elfman
is arranged by michael brown as a medium easy arrangement i personally love the music of
danny elfman and his soundtracks are some of the best in my opinion but what i think
is great about this piece is you could use it for halloween or christmas and the craziness
of danny elfman is translated very well by ranger michael brown to give a great change
of pace to your concert or for your performers
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arabian dances is an original work by roland barrett from the young band series for alfred
music publishing this piece is a grade 2 and it does a great job of introducing some new
concepts to the young band there's a great clarinet solo opportunity that even encourages
the soloist to ad-lib a little and the fast pace will really get the band excited to perform
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so
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afterburn from randall d standards is a powerful somewhat fast-paced work that has a lot of
repeated rhythms and great percussion parts driving throughout this piece is graded as
e but it sounds much larger and much more challenging than that this will be great for
a concert opener to get the energy going and have something that the students can feel
confident with right out of the gate [Music]
this david holsinger piece is a classic it's based on the hymn it is well with my soul
it's appeared on a number of state and festival lists and when you hear it you can really
understand why it makes complete sense that it's in the pepper basic library of music
holsinger is a composer that every band performer should be exposed to at some point among others
and this is a great work to have in your library that is timeless and can fill a need for any
occasion we know that you will have success with any of the titles that we've gone over
in this list whether you're a first year teacher or you're going into your 20th year of teaching
band the jw pepper basic library has titles that will help you at any point in your journey
as a director or an educator we hope that you found this video helpful because we plan
on making more of these videos just like this if you have a specific genre or list or difficulty
level that you would like to see us feature please leave us a comment below we're always
checking there for ideas and this is your chance to get a curated recommendation from
world-class leading editors who really know what they're talking about so please take
advantage of this if you did find this video helpful give us a thumbs up and remember to
engage us on social media wherever you are or give us a call and talk to a real person
in 2022 and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any of the new content that we
have coming out at jw pepper
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