School Band - High School Bands

High School Bands

High school bands typically challenge students musically more than those in middle school. Music is much more difficult with more complex passages, intricate rhythms and more involved phrasing. Selections also vary in style. A well-rounded band is expected to be able to play a wide variety of music, ranging from serious 'program music' to lighter 'pops-style' music. For many high school students, school bands are the main form of music education available to them in school. Marches were the first major contributions to the wind band repertoire. There are many amazing pieces other than marches written for wind band at present, but there are some historical standards that should be included into the repertoire of advanced ensembles. Some of the most notable of these pieces are Holst's First Suite in E-flat and Second Suite in F, and Grainger's Children's March and Lincolnshire Posy among others.

Below is a list of the instrumentation in a typical band at the high school level. Middle school/junior high bands are usually around the upper values for each instrument. Instrumentation in beginner bands is usually much larger than this. College and professional bands generally have smaller numbers of players. These numbers may vary widely, based on the instrument and the people playing them (as many people playing instruments such as tuba may drop out, causing others to change instruments to fill the need).

Woodwind

  • 1 or no Piccolo in C
  • 8 Flutes
  • 1-2 Oboes
  • 1 or no English Horn
  • 1-2 Bassoons
  • 1 or no Eb Clarinet
  • 8-9 Bb Clarinets
  • 1 or no Eb Alto Clarinet
  • 2 Bb Bass Clarinets
  • 1 or no EEb Contra-alto Clarinet
  • 1 or no BBb Contrabass Clarinet
  • 1 or no Bb Soprano Saxophone
  • 4 Eb Alto Saxophones
  • 2 Bb Tenor Saxophones
  • 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone

Brass

  • 8 Bb Trumpets
  • 4 Horns in F
  • 3-9 Trombones (sometimes including 1 Bass Trombone)
  • 1-4 Baritone horns or Euphoniums
  • 4 Tubas

Strings

  • 1 String Bass or Electric Bass

Percussion

  • Percussionists playing:
  • Snare drum
  • Tom-toms
  • Bass drum
  • Cymbals including crash, ride, and suspended
  • Tambourine
  • 2 playing Mallet Percussion, including orchestra bells, xylophone, marimba, chimes and vibraphone
  • 1 Timpani
  • 1 Drum kit
  • 1 set of Chimes
  • A variety of other auxiliary percussion instruments used on specific pieces, including Cabasa, Triangle, and Maracas.

In most middle school bands, strings are not used. If they are, the band is considered an orchestra.

The first high school band in America was the Boston Farm and Trade School Band founded in 1859. The oldest high school band in America is The Christian Brothers Band (Memphis) founded in 1872.

Read more about this topic:  School Band

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