Marching Tutorials

We spend a lot more time working on music than we do on marching, but we can still use a little marching help now and then to look SHARP.

• Please read How to March with The Beat Goes On Marching Band to understand how the band does things and what expectations we have on the parade route.
• For extra credit, this short tutorial contains additional diagrams and an animated GIF for the five Important Rules that'll have you turning corners like a pro in no time.
• Want another way to amuse yourself during a parade? We learned this move for the YMCA Street Routine, but now we occasionally do it in the middle of parades just to amuse ourselves. Here are instructions on How to Do the 8-Count Spin. It looks waaaaay cool when your whole row does it together!

Practice Aids

To Slow Down Recordings for Practice

On Android / iPhone smartphones: See this link for a 2020 roundup of available apps that will let you change the tempo of a recording without changing its pitch.

On full size platforms: Audacity is free, open source, and supports Windows, Mac, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.  It does all the speed up / slow down tricks and is a full audio editing application. Download it here.

To download songs to your own machine

Right-click on the link to a song, choose "Save Target As ...", select the folder on your device where you want to place the recording, and then click the Save button. The recording will download to the selected folder. You can play it back by double-clicking the downloaded file or playing it back in any of your favorite players.

Help with Jazz Rhythms

While it's not the center of gravity of what we play, we DO sometimes play music with a jazz feel. Jazz isn't really harder to play than other styles of music, but it has a different idiom that many marching band players haven't encountered before. The first thing to recognize is that (for most jazz tunes), the rhythm of eighth notes is SWUNG, not STRAIGHT. In standard music notation, when you play a pair of eighth notes you split the beat exactly in have; that is, each note takes exactly half the beat. Swung eighth notes are written so that they look exactly the same, but are played differently -- the first note takes roughly 2/3 of the beat and the second note takes only 1/3 of the beat. When playing "standard" rhythms, a string of eighth notes goes dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit -- every note the same. But if you are playing swing rhythms, it sounds doo-dit-doo-dit-doo-dit-doo-dit (long-short, long-short, long-short, long-short). It's important to recognize (and play!) the difference because otherwise you won't line up with other players.

Jazz tunes also see a lot of syncopated rhythms, including tied notes that cross the bar line and accents on upbeat notes. Click here for a Help With Jazz Rhythms sheet with a collection of rhythms that you'll see a lot, along with how they should "sound" when you play them so that you'll match style with everyone else.

Another thing that can be helpful to know is that jazz players don't usually tongue every note on the page. You DO want to tongue notes that are accented, but not every note in a string of notes. In particular, a string of eighth notes that are accented on the upbeats have a standard "slur style" that jazz players apply automatically even though they're not written on the page. The typical idea is that you TONGUE the upbeat note and then SLUR to the downbeat note. Here are links to a couple of examples for tunes we play, with parts "marked up" to show where the "invisible" slurs go:  Sing Sang Sung ......... Long Live Texas. The specific parts shown are for saxophone and clarinet, but the same idea applies to other instruments too (you can mark your own part!). Look for the slurs that are marked in red -- they are the "invisible" ones added by the player even though they're not on the page.

TBGO Rehearsal Music

Here's some help with learning the TBGO music.  Click on the various links to listen and play along. Songs are listed in alphabetical order after a "General Stuff" section that applies to all our music. You can also use the links in this table to skip to the right section of the alphabet.

General Stuff for All Tunes (Be Sure to Read This Part!)

• We sound best when we listen to each other and balance all the parts across the band. Know when you have the melody and when you don't. When you don't have the melody, get out of the way!
• If you're playing a long note, someone else probably has the interesting part. Even if this note is part of the melody, bring it down in volume so that the interesting counter-melody comes through.
• Dynamics and articulations matter hugely! THIS is what gives the band "style". One volume level gets boring. When we shout and whisper together, it lends interest to the music. When we do that and match articulations, we sound fabulous. Accents, staccatos, hat notes, etc are what make a tune sound "cool".
• EVERYONE has to pay attention to dynamics and articulation. One section (or even one person) who doesn't decrescendo ruins the effect. One person who doesn't play hat notes or staccato notes makes the whole section sound blah. One person who misses a forte-piano makes the effect meaningless.
• When you're playing a melodic line, there are a couple of ways to handle accents. The obvious one is to play the accented notes louder. But it can often be more effective to stress the accents just a little bit, then "ghost" the unaccented notes so that the accents pop out -- much cooler!
• For forte-pianos, use a nice solid attack and then IMMEDIATELY drop the volume way down. The farther you can drop the volume, the better it sounds. If this is an fp with crescendo, DON'T start the crescendo right away -- wait until near the end of the note! There are two reasons for waiting: (1) it is often the case that some other section is playing a cool little part that needs to come through; (2) a big crescendo that happens suddenly is more exciting.
• Cut off the ends of long notes together. Holding a note into a rest sounds sloppy and probably buries some other part that needs to come through.
• Tune your horn! Spend a little time with a tuner, learn which notes on your horn tend to be sharp and which ones tend to be flat so you can compensate. This is especially important for the woodwinds!

60's Spy Themes

60's Spy Tunes Rehearsal Hints

• Pink Panther should be MYSTERIOUS throughout.
• Low brass be sure to back the volume down at 5.
• Trumpets / Horns / Flutes go VERY EASY in measures 1 through 16. This should sound "off in the distance".
• Measure 18: Get the SHORT-LONG rhythm right and lean on each short note.
• Measures 25-26: Make sure you count and get your entrance right (different instruments enter on different beats).
• Measure 28: Big crescendo.
• James Bond Theme should be MENACING throughout.
• Don't be frightened of the key signature! Lots of those flats don't get used in your parts and there are lots of courtesy accidentals to help.
• Measure 31-47: People with the "hairpins" be sure to swell and release every two bars.
• Measure 35-38: Be sure to repeat this section! Trumpets DO NOT PLAY the first time and DO PLAY the second time.
• Measure 39: Most of band is still playing straight 8ths, but melody (Trumpet 1, Bells) must play SWING 8THS.
• Measure 47: Flute, Trumpet 2-3, Horns also go to SWING 8THS.
• Measure 47: Tubas, these should be LONG.
• Measure 50 and 54: Tenor Sax, Trombones, Baritone bring out the figure in the middle of the measure. Be sure to follow articulations!
• Measure 55: Everyone with 8th notes goes to SWING 8THS.
• Measure 57: Low brass and percussion crescendo into 59.
• Measure 59: Everyone back to STRAIGHT 8THS.
• Secret Agent Man - LOW BRASS lead
• Measure 65: READ CAREFULLY to make sure you're playing the flats and naturals accurately.
• Measure 67: Long notes sting the entrance at mp then crescendo.
• Measure 69 and folllowing: Melody people be careful about which notes are on the beat and which are syncopated. Tubas, you have a good part here, take advantage of it.
• Measure 84: Lead here is still trombone / baritone / tsax; everyone else blend and don't be overly loud.
• Measure 87: Flute / Clarinet / Alto Sax / F Horn watch the rhythm and articulation; it's DIFFERENT from the melody line.
• Measure 92 - 98: The "vamp" line gets passed around and gets quieter as we go.
• Meaure 96-98: High woodwinds begin trill softly, but then big crescendo to push into Mission Impossible. Grace notes come just before the downbeat of 99; the stinger is right smack on beat 1 in 99. Trumpets are also in on the grace notes and stinger.
• Mission Impossible -rhythmically STRONG. The 5/4 pattern is broken up as 3+2.
• Everyone: Pay close attention to articulations, especially "hat" notes which should be strong and SHORT. The well-known Mission Impossible 5/4 pattern gets played two ways. When it's the only thing going on, it's LOUD and SHORT (hat notes); when other things are happening it's QUIETER and LONG.
• EXAMPLE: TSax, BSax, Trombone, Baritone, Tuba compare Measures 100-101 (short, loud) with Measure 102-103 (quieter, long).
• Measure 105: Melody (high woodwinds) be sure second eighth note is short.
• Meausre 106-107: notes are SHORT. Note that downbeat of 108 is also SHORT, then returns to LONG.
• Measure 115: Melody (low voices) be sure second eighth note is short.
• Measure 120-121: SHORT again.
• Measure 122: High woodwinds note that rhythm is DIFFERENT here. Previously you had two 8th notes and the long note came on beat 2; now you have TRIPLETS and long note comes BEFORE beat 2.
• Measure 122: Low voices (tsax, trombone, baritone) have a cool countermelody through this section. Here's a recording of the first 8 bars so you can hear it clearly.
• Measure 125: Watch the hat notes.
• Measure 126: High woodwinds now WAIT until beat 2 to begin the triplet.
• Measure 130: Melody in low brass is now RHYTHMICALLY DIFFERENT. Listen to 4 bars beginning at 130.
• Measure 134-136: High woodwinds and bells have a "four against five" rhythm. Rest of band continues to play in 5/4, but your rhythm is in 4/4: "dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter" repeated four times. Listen to it here.
• Measure 138: Everyone now in 4/4 for two bars, then one bar of 3/4. To make it easier to keep track of where you are in Measures 139-140, I've added a voice-over to the Rehearsal Tracks: ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR-ONE-TWO-THREE.

Africa

Recorded by TBGO March 2024.

Full Ralph Ford arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Here are some additional practice tracks so you can work out rhythms and the tricky parts at various speeds.

• Full tempo 104 bpm.
• "Full chart" is the Ralph Ford recording at different tempos.
• "A Section" is measure 1 through 8 for flute, clarinet, and bells.
• "B Section is measure 44 through 63 for flute, clarinet, alto sax, and bells.

America the Beautiful

Recorded by TBGO September 9, 2012 .

Any Way You Want It

Recorded by TBGO May 11, 2014.

This is a VERY early recording and still pretty rough. Since we were still in "learning" mode, tempo suffered so the original recording is at around 140 beats per minute. You may also want to try this version speeded up to 152 bpm, which is closer to the tempo we'll use eventually.

Back in Black

Full Tom Wallace arrangement (not recorded by TBGO).

Here are two recordings by TBGO from September 24, 2023. Choose your favorite. The band did a nice job, but the recordings don't sound as good as they could since the mic was being badly overdriven (sigh!).

• Back in Black 1
• Back in Black 2

Here's a third recording by TBGO, this one from October 8, 2023. The recording quality is better, but the drums were off between 19 and 23.

• Back in Black 3

Bad Romance

Recorded by TBGO on April 12, 2015.

Full arrangement (from Hal Leonard).

Band of Gold

Recorded by TBGO on May 26, 2019. You may wish to compare with this Finale MIDI playback version.

Bang Bang

Beer Barrel Polka

Recorded by TBGO November 20, 2011.

• At letter D, only the tubas and drums play; everyone else sings:

  Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun.
  Roll out the barrel, we've got the blues on the run.
  Zing, boom, ta-rarrow, sing out a song of good cheer!
  Everybody roll out the barrel, 'cause the band's all here -- HEY!

• Band starts playing again at letter F. As we approach the D.S., molto accelerando (we see how close we can get to warp speed on any given day).

Bend Me, Shape Me

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO November 13, 2011.

Full arrangement (not recorded by TBGO).

• Bar 4: People who also have half notes in bar 5 should crescendo the last part of bar 4 all the way to the bar line.
• Bars 7-10: Listen for the echoes ("you know it, know it, know it, know it") that move from part to part around the band and make them all fit together. Starts in clarinets and trombones at end of bar 8; tenor saxes and baritones in middle of bar 9; alto saxes and horns at end of bar 9; flute, clarinets, trumpets, bells at end of bar 9. Make a strong entrance, then get out of the way on the long note since somebody else is coming in right behind you!
• Bars 11-14: Same thing happens again.
• Bars 15-18: Nice dialog between the horns and alto saxes (melody people) and flutes/clarinets/trumpets (countermelody). Follow the dynamics to interweave the two parts.
• Bar 23: Not too loud, save it for bar 27!
• Bar 32: We'll try to pick up the tempo here to add urgency. Use the fp's and crescendos to build that same sense of urgency.
• Bar 38: SUDDENLY SOFT! We had a big build-up getting here; playing this softly is a surprise. But then we get to ...
• Bar 40: Where we turn up the volume!
• Bars 43-48: There is an amazing amount of stuff going on in all the parts in this section. Everyone gets to take a turn adding a cool little figure to the mix. There's another sequence of "know it"s that fly around the room. Horns and altos have a cool color note at beginning of 43. Flutes and trumpets get a lick at end of 43 and 44. In bars 47-48, another figure gets stated and restated upward by tenors/baritones, then altos/horns, then altos/trumpets/trombones.
• Bar 50 MODIFICATION: We have changed Trombone 1 in bar 50 to be similar to bar 48 as follows:

Birdland

Recorded by TBGO November 20, 2011. See also the video recording that we did at Hillsboro Stadium on October 29, 2011 (a really good rendition). And here's the audio recording (no video) from that same Hillsboro appearance.

Full arrangement from Arrangers Publishing Company.

IMPORTANT: We play the first 4 measures a total of 3 times (this is DIFFERENT from the ArrPubCo recording). First time is basses only; second time adds Trombone 2; third time adds Trombone 1.

Updated Alto Sax part: Since we're often short on Tenor Saxes, we've cued the tenor part from measure 19 to measure 35 into the alto sax part. (It's now in the standard TBGO handout.)

I've also produced a MIDI version of the tenor sax / baritone / tuba part between measures 19 and 31 to make it easier to hear and rehearse this tricky part. There are versions at full tempo (160 bpm) and at a slow tempo (124 bpm), and you can also hear it with and without melody parts. You can also see the score for the MIDI version so you can tell exactly what's being played in each part.

• 160 bpm with melody
• 160 bpm without melody
• 124 bpm with melody
• 124 bpm without melody
• score

Blueberry Hill

If you need to print a part for this tune, click here.

A nice, leisurely rendition of Blueberry Hill. No need to play anything too loud; drums especially hold back and stay in the background

Solo trumpet beginning in measure 4 as marked; rest of section joins in bar 12 ("tutti").

Here's a Finale MIDI version to play along with.

Blurred Beautiful

Recorded by TBGO on April 12, 2015.

Here's the latest MIDI version of the chart. This is the version dated 17 July 2014.

Help with the Intro: The opening section of this tune has been a traditional trouble spot, especially among the clarinets. Here's a MIDI recording with just the clarinets, alto saxes, and tubas from bar 1 through bar 9 for you to play along with. This combination of instruments makes the "melody line" through this section when you add them all together. Flutes, you can also use this to rehearse if you like, adding your part where you enter at 6. Clarinets: If you're struggling with the sixteenth notes, try replacing the two sixteenth notes with a single staccato eighth note until you become comfortable.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Recorded by TBGO April 15, 2018. This is the result of six months of hard work on this tune -- you'll like it! I'd still like to get the finale going at a faster tempo; here's a recording we did of just the ending with the tempo that we'd like to hit. And finally, here's the original sample recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement so you can see what else we might aspire to.

Everyone:

• PAY ATTENTION TO THE DIRECTOR every time we reach a section of the tune that's marked Faster ... because we're gonna go faster.
• Be sure to WATCH during all tempo transitions.
• You have to keep your wits about you at all times in this tune because there's a lot going on and it's easy to drag. And if we drag, it falls apart. "Play on the forward edge of your seat, thinking ahead!"
• Beginning: We'll start this with no count in, just a downbeat for the cymbal roll and then lead the flutes straight in.

Winds:

• Flute 1, Clarinet 1: Watch for the beat 4 pickup in bar 6 and play it strong.
• Brass: Solid "voice of authority" entrance at measure 8! (Echoed by remaining low brass and drums in measure 9). Announce your presence!
• Measure 12: Gonna pick up the tempo here - watch!
• Measure 14-15: Be sure Flute 1/2 and Clarinet 1/2 are evenly divided parts because we need to hear BOTH here (offsetting runs). Right now, we hear Fl/Cl 1 much more than Fl/Cl 2.
• Measure 16-17: Note that the rhythm in 16 is subtly different than the one in 17. We also become more marcato here; notes are separated and accented as we change style from the opening lush ballad.
• Measure 18: Faster again, watch! Since your note doesn't change for two bars, watch the director for the new tempo!
• Measure 20-21: F Horns, Baritones -- please play cues here. (Trumpet 1, don't play cues -- at least not now)
• Measure 30: Long notes get out of the way QUICKLY so we can hear the melody in Trombone and Tuba.
• Measure 37-38: Tenor Saxes, please play cues here. (No alto sax cues yet)
• Measure 39-43: End phrases cleanly with SHORT NOTES since there's a great deal of almost-overlapping back-and-forth between sections here. Saxes and F Horns, play out!
• Measure 46: Treat the 3/2 measure as being in 6/4 (I'll count it in 6).
• Measure 47: Be ready for the string of 8th notes; don't let them catch you by surprise and slow you down!
• Measure 56: Tempo doesn't change here, and it's still 4 beats per measure. Low brass, gotta really stay on top of this and DON'T SLOW DOWN!
• Measure 63: Feel the accented notes here (it's the last third of a triplet when you enter). And BE READY for the downbeat at 64.
• Measure 65: TSax, Trombone, Baritone: Be ready for the little "answer figure" in second half of measure and don't slow down!
• Measure 68-69: TSax, Trombone, baritone, Tuba -- be ready for this and (ahem) don't slow down! Everyone else: LISTEN to these players while you play your long note so that you have time time and rhythm in your head and will be ready for ...
• Measure 70-73: The remaining trickiest segue for us. Now almost EVERYONE has to play that tricky rhythm that the low brass has been laying down since we went to 12/8. Keep notes short in length and practice this lick!
• Measure 72: Both of these figures start right on a strong beat (beat 1 and beat 3). Leave some space between them (you might even take a breath between them so you get the spacing right.
• Measure 75: BIG volume change on the forte piano. Get QUIET! Don't be in too big a hurry to bring the volume back up; that will let the woodwind trill and the low brass figure shine through in bar 76.
• Measure 77: Gonna really pick up the tempo here again so WATCH. From here to the end, we will keep pushing the tempo forward!
• Measure 83-88: High woodwinds go wild here -- let 'er rip!
• Measure 89-92: Most of you play two long notes here, but some of you (Trumpet 2-3, some Trombone 1, Baritone) have only one long note with a "breath push" in 91. That means you don't rearticulate the note, but use your wind to add an accent and power push as we finish big.
• Last note: Cut off CLEAN with director, don't hang over and spoil the effect.

Percussion:

• Don't overplay (volume), especially if there are a lot of you on a given day. It'll be really easy to get overly exuberant and drown the band because you're having fun!
• All sections are SIMPLIFYING the drum corps-style parts. Make sure you work with rest of section so you know what everyone is doing.
• There's a cymbal ride (on bell) on Aux Percussion 2 parts in bars 60-62 that could be fun. Again in 70-72.
• There's good suspended cymbal stuff through in Aux Perc 2. If we ever have a surfeit of players, probably worth a look to see what we could use.

Aux Percussion:

• If anyone owns a mark tree, there's a part for it throughout the opening 7 bars (and it would sound awesome).
• There also a triangle part if first 7 bars - we should learn it, that would be cool!
• Tambourine: Check out Aux Perc 1 part in bars 18-25.
• Jam Block: Hit in 28 (Aux Perc 1)
• Mark Tree bars 29-31.
• Tambourine: Bars 32-35 and 38-47.
• Triangle: Another opportunity in bar 36.
• Jam Block: Hit in 49.
• Tambourine: Busy from 56 to end.
• Triangle roll (!) in 81-83, and again 89-92.
• Jam Block: Hits in 83-84.

Brick House

Recorded by TGBO November 20, 2011.

• Bar 1: Percussion rock out here nice and loud -- but make sure you set the "funk" feel so that the band can jump right in behind you. When low brass enters, DROP VOLUME.

• Bars 5-10: Pay close attention to the rhythm in bars 5-10 (5-8 shown above); sooner or later everyone plays it. It sets the "feel" for the whole tune, so it's important to get it right. To get the "funk" feel, the hat notes MUST be short, the style must be light, and note placement must be precise. The trickiest part of the rhythm is placing the fifth note (the sixteenth note) correctly. The tendency is to play the sixteenth note just a little too late (in fact, it gets played as a thirty-second note instead of a sixteenth note), which produces a slightly jerky and "unfunky" feel. Here's what it sounds like when you do it WRONG. Now go listen to the Full Arrangement recording to hear it correctly!
• Bar 5: Percussion drop down in volume behind the low brass.
• Bar 11: High winds, alto saxes, trumpets, horns - Lean on the "back side" accents here. (Just noticed these myself, we need to work on this since we don't do it on the recording!)
• Bars 13-24: The "important part" alternates here between the high voices and low voices every two bars. High voices need to get out of the way in 15-16, 19-20, 23-24.
• Bars 15-16: Melody people (tenor saxes, trombones, baritones) watch the articulations. Keep the short notes short, lean on the accents -- but still keep the light, groovy feel.

• Bar 18-21 (above): Watch the placement of the sixteenth notes in bar 19! They must be on the upbeat of 1; the usual mistake is to play them a sixteenth late so that the second one comes on the downbeat of two. Here's what it sounds like when it's wrong, and here's what it sounds like when it's right.
• Bar 25: The lead moves to the high woodwinds and trumpets here; they're only playing mf, so everyone else needs to come down behind them. Melody here should emphasize the accents, ghost the other eighth notes to keep the "cool" sound.
• Bar 25-26 etc: In the backing line here (low reeds, low brass), keep the hat notes short, make sure you hit the accent that carries across the barline (this is the think that keeps the groove in this section).
• Bars 29-32: Melody people pay close attention to rhythms here, especially in bar 32. Click here to listen to the rhythm in bar 32.
• Bar 33: NOBODY PLAYS ON BEAT 2 OF THIS BAR!!! No instruments, no drums, no tambourines - NOBODY! Beat 2 should be a gigantic gaping hole in the earth that audience figuratively falls into. Then on beat 3, the low brass and saxes come back in like the voice of God <grin>. You MUST be patient and wait until EXACTLY the downbeat of 3 to come back in; if you anticipate, the effect is spoiled. Listen to the recording, where this is done just right!
• Bar 34 etc: The rest of this section has the same feel as the section at 13.
• Bar 41: The tricky part here is the backing part, which starts in the flutes, clarinets, altos, trumpets, and horns, then moves to the other instruments in bar 45. The tied sixteenth must be right on time, not too early, not too late. The long note should be held all the way to the next bar.
• Bars 41-48: The dynamics are tricky here since this is an 8-bar gradual crescendo across the whole band! Notice that in the backing part, the long note always gets soft. Each time this figure is played, it starts just a little bit louder than it did the previous time. The melody part also gets a tiny bit louder in each bar. In bar 45 where the instruments "switch roles", the low brass has to match the volume level where the trumpets and high winds finished so that we get continuity across the whole 8 bars. (One good way to do this is to listen to the alto saxes, since they have the backing part for the entire 8 bars and can set the pace for the gradual crescendo.) The percussion section can help a lot here by getting really quiet and then helping to lead the gradual build-up. If done well, the relentless drive through here creates great excitement. We don't do the dynamics very well on the recording yet; we don't get soft enough at 41 (should be a much bigger drop), and we don't finish loud enough. The result is that it sounds too much the same. (But we've done this well in other rehearsals so I know we can do it!)

• Bar 49-50: We changed the alto sax and horn parts here. The gliss up to the contrasting note in bar 50 now happens right on beat 2. See above for the changed alto part; the horn part uses the same rhythm. REST OF BAND MUST FP SO THIS RIP CAN BE HEARD!!! Listen to the full recording to see how this works.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Recorded by TBGO, August 2022.

Full Jay Dawson arrangement (not TBGO).

This tune is all about contrast and dynamics, so watch the dynamic markings and listen to how your part fits with others.

Build Me Up, Buttercup

Recorded by TBGO September 24, 2017. First recording we've done for this tune in a long time, and ... unfortunately it's not great (unsteadiness, tearing and tempo problems). But it's here until we do a better recording.

• Tempo: This is a pretty bright tune and we desperately want to draaaaaaag. Keep the intro light and bouncy; think "plucked string bass".
• Bars 14-17: You can hear the tearing here, and it's the EASY parts that are dragging. Low brass melody is bopping along, but the half notes and whole notes in the trumpets / flutes / clarinets are behind the beat.
• Bars 22-29: Melody parts are fine, background parts are causing lots of problems, especially bars with pairs of 8th notes on beats 2 and 4 (e.g., trumpets). Need to keep these ON THE BEAT, and need to articulate correctly; the (slight) emphasis is on the first 8th note, the second one is short and light: DOO-dat, DOO-dat.
• Similar issues at 48-51.
• Bars 56: "Long note" people get out of the way, melody is in the low brass and winds.
• Bar 60: Different volume levels on each repeat. 1x: loud. 2x: medium. 3x: soft. Final measure comes back to forte and finishes loud.

Call Me

Recorded by TBGO August 2022.

Full Tom Wallace arrangement (not TBGO).

Closer Walk - The Saints

If you need to print music for this chart, use this link.

If you're not used to reading jazz rhythms, please see the Help with Jazz Rhythms section above.

We use this tune only for special occasions, so recordings are scarce and imperfect. Here's TBGO on August 12, 2018 -- our best recorded version. In this one, there are two solos at the solo section (measure 49).

Here are a few additional recordings to help you out with this chart. These are all MIDI playbacks from Finale. First, here's a version of the entire chart.

The chart is busy enough so that it can be hard to pick out your part when everything is playing at once. To help with that, I've broken out groups of similar instruments in various sections of the tune so that you can heaer what your part is actually doing. There are four sections of the tune:

• The "slow section" runs from bar 1 through bar 16. Since these are solo instruments, I didn't break out any groups here. Just listen to the full chart.
• The A section runs from bar 17 through the end of bar 32.
• The B section runs from bar 33 through the end of bar 48.
• The "open for solos" section runs from 49 through 66. I didn't break out any groups for this section (it's mostly improv solos).
• The C section runs from bar 67 through the end of the piece.

Find your instrument in each section below and you can listen / play with the appropriate part. You may sometimes have a choice if your instrument is in multiple recordings.

Coach Driver's Love Song

This is one of the tunes done especially for the Chinese New Year Parade.

Recorded by TBGO on January 19, 2014. This one's starting to sound pretty darn good!

Notes:

• Bar 1, Flutes and Clarinets:  Keep this light and delicate and moving right along. Please SLUR the four sixteenth notes at the end of bars 1 and 3.
• Bar 1, Trombones:  Keep this light and match up with the flutes and clarinets.
• Bar 2 beat 4 - Bar 3 beat 1:  Note the articulation of long-short.
• Bars 5-10:  F horns sing this out! Alto and tenor saxes try to sound as much like a "horn" as you can.
• Bar 10 beat 4 - Bar 12:  Pay close attention to articulation (long-short-long-short-etc) and dynamics (sudden mezzopiano with big crescendo).
• Bars 13-14:  Woodwinds and trombones play these eighth notes very legato (think violins).
• Bars 15-16:  Keep these notes SHORT and LIGHT. Think pizzicato strings. It's also important to KEEP TEMPO CONSISTENT here (there's a tendency to want to slow down).
• Bars 13-16, Drums:  Watch for the stick clicks and the dropout.
• Bars 15-17:  The quarter notes are easy, but will drag if not careful. Keep it moving!
• Bar 17:  No need to play this section too loudly (we need some place to go in the later sections!) There's lots of block scoring here, so it'll sound plenty loud if you just play at a nice mezzoforte.
• Bar 17 Melody Parts:  Watch the articulations throughout the section. For the dotted-eighth / sixteenth figure, leave some space in between the notes. It's written like this but should sound like this .
• Bar 17, Tenor Saxes, Trombones, Tubas: Throughout this section, play SHORT and LIGHT - you want to sound like a bunch of string basses.
• Bar 24:  Good crescendo going into 25.
• Bar 25:  Melody parts continue to be careful about articulations.
• Bar 25, F Horns and Alto Saxes:  Sing out this nice counter-melody.
• Bar 33:  These notes are legato, in contrast to ...
• Bar 34:  Which is staccato. Watch the rhythm in this bar.
• Bars 33-39, Flutes, clarinets, saxes, bells:  Practice these measures! They're the only really tricky things in the piece.
• Bar 38 Trumpets, Trombones, Tubas:  Enter gently, give us a nice strong push into 39.
• Bar 39, Trombones, F Horns, Clarinets: Sing out the melody here. Same articulation on the dotted-eighth / sixteenth figures bar 17 above.
• Bar 46, Trumpets, Flutes, Clarinets, Tubas:  Place these upbeats accurately, accent well, and crescendo! All the syncopated notes are pretty long (i.e., not much empty space between them).
• Bar 47:  This should be a nice climax. Again, sing out the countermelody in horn and alto sax. Tenor drums, your dynamic is mis-marked here; should be forte (f) not fortepiano (fp).
• Bar 54:  Decrescendo to repeat the main theme.
• Bar 56:  Crescendo into final statement of main theme.
• Bar 58:  Long notes need a good fortepiano so that we can hear the moving rhythm in tenor saxes, horns, and trombones. Wait until late in the bar to crescendo into the final notes.
• Bar 59:  Drums, you are the only people playing on beat 2 so make it count!

Confident

Recorded by TBGO April 30, 2017. For comparison, here's a second recording made the same day.

Recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

IMPORTANT CHANGES:

• We play only the last beat of measure 1; i.e., we treat this tune as though it starts in measure 2 with a pickup.
• PERCUSSION CHANGE: Percussion cuts out after the downbeat of 55 and stays silent through the rest of 55 and 56 so that the low brass gets a little solo lick. Join the low brass on the last beat and half ("and four and").

Other notes:

• Don't drag! It's easy for this tune to get sludgy, which makes it just a painful slog. Stay light, don't play at the top of your lungs, keep on top of the tempo.
• Opening pickups: This must be a bright fanfare; keep notes short, accents hard, be spot and make announce your presence! Same is true later coming into 41 and following measures.
• Measures 2, 3, 4: Long notes must cut off right on beat 3. (Same is true 41/42/43)
• All syncopated notes that are accented should have space between them (don't play too long). Examples: Bars 11/12 for saxes, horns, trumpet 2-3, trombone 1; bars 23/24 for all winds and brass except tubas.
• Saxes, horns, low brass at 25: it's easy for this figure to drag; be sure to keep all "hat" notes short and light.
• Good accents and separation on the drag triplets in 49. This is another place where it's easy to lose tempo -- stay on top of the beat!

Cool Jerk

Recorded by TBGO on January 13, 2013.

Recording of the Allen Gray arrangement of Cool Jerk (not a TBGO recording).

Da Dip

This tune is #3 on the music titled "Super Cool Jam Shorts".

The form consists of 16 measures (64 counts) that can be repeated as often as desired.

• Watch the director as we get near the end of each repetition. Circling finger means "go around again", closed fist means "this is the last time".
• MODIFICATION: On the last repetition, we finish by yelling "DA DIP!" on the upbeat of beat 4 measure 16 and downbeat of next measure. You can hear this in the TBGO recording below.

Debut recording by TBGO on May 22, 2022 -- 3 times through the form.

Recording of the Ayatey Shabazz arrangement -- 2 times through the form (not a TBGO recording).

Dancing in the Street

Recorded by TBGO on September 23, 2018. Much better than our debut recording from last week! Still improvements we can make in pitch and style, but it's getting groovy!

Here's a recording of the Tim Waters arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Desperado

Recorded by TBGO at NWAPA Championships, Hillsboro Stadium, October 29, 2011. This recording is uneven, at least partly because we were amplifying the soloists in the stadium and the balance is a bit strange (we can do a better recording!). But it'll give you something to rehearse with.

Here's a recording of the Ralph Ford arrangement of Desperado (NOT a TBGO recording).

Disco Inferno

Here's a recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement (not TBGO).

Here's a TBGO recording from Feb 2023. It's pretty sloppy and really drags but you can get a sense of where we're going..

Domino

Full arrangement recorded April 12, 2015 by TBGO.

Note: LBWW here means people playing the Low Brass & Woodwinds part (i.e., tenor saxes, trombones, baritones).

Note: Trash line, this tune should have a very strong emphasis on beats 2 and 4 in each measure, lay off of beats 1 and 3.

Overall: The biggest problems with this tune happen when it gets heavy and sludgy. Even though a lot of the big licks are in the low brass, we need to keep them light and moving -- if you listen to Van Morrison, the feel is close to jazz.

• Bars 1-4: Pay close attention to the articulations! Hat notes must be short (there is a tendency to play the first note in bars 1 & 3 and last note in bar 2 too long). Keep the running eighth notes smooth, not separated (this is hard for trombones) -- sounds much better and more like the original tune. The feel of the lick is DOT ... boo doo-doo-doo dot dot boo dah-DOT. This lick should also crescendo - first note is strong, second note is quite and then builds to the last note. This lick (which occurs again at bar 45) must have sound like Van Morrison since it's the part of the tune that EVERYBODY remembers!
• Bar 5: Need strong clean attack in the whole notes. Watch the long-short articulations in the descending eighths that follow.
• Bar 9: Articulation and precision of attack in the backing part (flutes, clarinets, altos) is critical in this section. First and last notes in each bar must be short, middle note must be accented. If you do it this way, it's a groovy little part that drives the band down the street. If you don't, it sounds like warmed-over oatmeal that saps the energy of the tune. Also need to watch intonation here!
• Bar 9: Melody line (LBWW) must watch articulations to get the full effect. Shape the melody, make it cool. This is a place where ghosting the unaccented notes can help (see General Stuff section above). Be sure to keep the hat note SHORT in bars 10, 14; there's a tendency to play it as a full (long) eighth, which sounds dull.
• Bar 9: Tubas have a groovy little line here; be sure to hit the accent and keep the back end of each bar smooth.
• Bar 9: Trash line - a nice rhythm through here is: Rest on beat 1, two eighth notes on beat 2, rest on beat 3, one quarter note on beat 4. Use this rhythm through bar 34.
• Bar 17: LBWW are now the backing part, so bring the volume level down (stay behind the melody). Keep staccatos short, pop the accents just a little to keep driving the tune forward. Listen to how nice this sounds on the recording!
• Bar 17: Trumpets/high winds, it's your turn to shape the melody! Find the accents, ghost other notes so the accents stand out. Clarinets/flutes, don't get screechy!
• Bar 19: Watch the sixteenth note figure, keep it together.
• Bar 24: Make the crescendo happen!
• Bars 27 & 29: Long notes MUST get quieter after you hit them so we can hear the cool counter-melody in the saxes.
• Bar 30: The "hat" note must be SHORT.
• Bar 32-33: Altos and Horns bring this out; it's the melody line and you're the only ones that have it. After hitting the whole note in 33, get out of the way so that the counter-melody in trumpets and high woodwinds comes through.
• Bars 35: Treat this bar as a forte-piano. Waaaaay down, wait until halfway through bar 36 to come back up! Exceptions: Alto saxes and horns bring out your counter-melody part; tubas can emphasize the rising eighth note line.
• Bars 35-38: Trash line play all eighth notes in 35-36. For 37-38: Rest on beat one, one quarter note on beat 2, rest on beat 3, two eighth notes on beat 4. Use same pattern in 39-44.
• Bars 37-38: The high and low voices in the band trade accented notes on each beat throughout this section; it has to sound like a back-and-forth duet! Keep the long-short feel on the eighth notes.
• Bar 45: Trash line play quarter notes on 2 and 4 through here.
• Bar 45: EVERYONE is playing the lick together, so the articulations must match. See the notes for bars 1-4 to see how to do it.
• Bars 51-52: Watch the hat notes -- SHORT!!!

Don't Stop

Full arrangment recorded January 22, 2012 by TBGO.

Auxiliaries: I think we're going to want to extend this tune by adding a second verse (repeating from the end of bar 24 back to the beginning of bar 9). Here's a mock-up of the extended version that I created by cutting-and-pasting from the above recording.

All instruments throughout the piece: Whenever you have a figure that rhythmically looks (wholly or partially) like this, don't treat as a herky-jerky dotted-eighth-sixteenth thing (as written). Instead, mentally translate it into an eighth note shuffle feel; leave a little space between the notes, but we want a more relaxed groovy feel. You'll find this a lot in the low brass parts, but it also appears for a few notes here and there in the melody.

• Alto saxes and F Horns at 9: You carry the melody from here through 27, and it has some interesting rhythmic challenges. Click here to listen to (or play along with) just your melody part without all the other band stuff getting in the way!
• Tenor saxes and low brass at 9: Keep this background crisp and light, with a "shuffle feel" as noted above.
• Flutes, Clarinets, Trumpets at 17: Your first two notes here ("Don't ... stop") are fortissimo since they are the "echo" to the melody in the altos/horns. Then the long note and rest of bar 18 should back off so we can hear the melody part ("thinkin' about tomorrow"). Same thing happens in 19-20. Keep volume under control all the way to 27 since this is a counter-melody / backing part.
• Altos and Horns at 27: You have now reversed roles with the trumpets and high winds, which means that you want to bring out the triplet "answers" in bar 27, then back off in 28-29.
• Altos and Horns at 30: Very cool part; be sure you have a STRONG entrance and play this exuberantly!
• Flutes, Clarinets, Altos, Horns at bar 35: Sing out the pickups and first two bars. Let bar 37 decay in volume so that we can hear the cool trumpet thing that happens in the middle of bar 37.
• Altos and Horns at 45: Bring out the cool triplet part.
• EVERYONE, bar 46-47:  We've added some dynamic interest to this last long note. Hit it strong, then let it decay away to mezzo-forte over about two beats, then crescendo to the end of the note and finish strong with the triplets and eighth notes.

Drum Cadence + Whistle Example

Here's an example of how we use whistles to call a tune and start a roll-off on the parade route. You'll hear the following:

• Four clicks to get started.
• One full run through the drum cadence (8 bars, 32 counts).
• Second drum cadence begins; three whistles in bar 2 are used to call tune #3. (There would be one whistle for tune #1, two whistles for tune #2, etc.)
• LONG whistle superimposed over bar 8 of the cadence signals the end of the cadence and preparation for roll-off.
• Four SHORT whistles invokes the roll-off.
• Drums roll off.

Enter Sandman

IMPORTANT:  You MUST get the TBGO version of Enter Sandman - don't use the original! Four measures have been removed and the music has been marked up to make it easier for the band to figure out how the solo section works.

Recorded by TBGO March 20, 2016.

Here's a recording of just the Enter Sandman Background in case you want to practice your solo.

Here's how we will perform this tune (and it's what happens in the recording):

1. Steve introduces the tune, counts the band in at the top.
2. Drums play the opening four bars.
3. Tubas/drums begin the vamp at M5. We will play this section FOUR times. Steve will do a voiceover during parts of this section. On the second time through the vamp, drums are OUT for just the fourth bar (M8) so that the tubas play solo for one bar. (You can hear this at 0:40). On the fourth time through the vamp, alto saxes and F horns play their parts as marked.
4. Band enters at M9 and plays through the ending marked "To Next Verse".
5. Go back to M9. Alto saxes, F horns, tubas, drums play their parts as background; everyone else is OUT as marked. Soloist plays over the top of the background. (Note: trombones enter for just 4 measures beginning at M17.)
6. Take the ending marked "To Next Verse" again. Solo finishes as we reach the last part of this ending.
7. Back to M9 to play for the third time with whole band in again.
8. Take the "Last Time" ending and finish the tune.

• Be sure to play with ATTITUDE! This is a head-banger; you should feel like you're stabbing notes into somebody!
• Second verse (the solo verse) begins around 1:43. Clark Brooks (trombone) will do the solo in the Showcase; thanks to Ron Philips (trumpet) for a great fill-in in the recording!
• M17 of solo verse happens about 1:58 (you can hear the chord change and the trombones enter for four measures).
• Third verse (which the whole band plays) begins about 2:28.

Faith

Recorded by TBGO August 2022.

Recording of the Paul Murtha arrangement (not TBGO).

You might also enjoy the charming music video.

Fanfare for the Common Man

Recorded by TBGO on April 12 2015. Our best recording to date! Snare drums and cymbals are missing from this recording; they will add a little extra pop.

MIDI rendition of the arrangement.

Final Analysis

We haven't really started work on this yet, but here's some practice files in case you want a head start.

Here's the MIDI version of our arrangement.

Here's a Frankenstein version edited from the original Don Ellis recording on the Live at Fillmore album, augmented by MIDI where our arrangement differs significantly.

And finally here's just the Percussion Solo section in case you folks want to listen/practice.

Fins

Important: We are using the Tolopka arrangement dated January 20, 2012; do NOT use the Smedley arrangement!

The handouts published at the Jan 22 rehearsal had "two parts on one staff" for several instruments. As requested at rehearsal, I've exploded the flute, clarinet, and trombone parts into separate 1 and 2 parts for those who prefer that format. For a limited time, you can download those parts here and print the page(s) you need.

Recorded by TBGO February 5, 2012.

There's also a MIDI rendition of the arrangement. It's not the finest sound (and some of the articulations are a little funky), but it gives you something different to practice with.

Alternatively, you can go the original Jimmy Buffet recording since our arrangement tracks it pretty nicely. Go for the recording on the album "Songs You Know By Heart"; you can purchase it from Amazon for 99 cents right here.

The trickiest part of this tune is getting the rhythms to be precise for the verses since they're all different. Really - this is what is taking most of our rehearsal time on this tune, and it'll make all the difference in how good this tune sounds. To make it easier for you to get this right, here are MIDI versions of each verse so that you can hear (and practice) without the distraction of other parts. You should also take advantage of the lyrics to help you play the rhythms correctly; the flow of the words should help with the timing. Click below to listen and play along:

• Verse 1 (alto saxes and horns)
• Verse 2 (flutes, clarinets, trombones, altos)
• Verse 3 (flutes, clarinets, trumpets)

Other notes:

• Snare drums: Do not play on rims during the introduction if there's a cowbell available.
• Flutes, clarinets, trumpets in the 19 section: Don't overplay, this is all backgrounds and responses. Watch the rhythm in bar 22; it's different than bar 20.
• Low brass at 27: Every time you have this section ("Can't you feel 'em circlin', honey?"), please bring it out (it's easy to lose the melody because the part is fairly low).
• Flutes/clarinets at 28-30: Be sure to play the little fall at the end of long note.
• Verse 2 melody people: Bring out the melody in this section. Make sure you can play the rhythms in 51-52 correctly (people have had trouble with this at rehearsal).
• Verse 2 second half melody (54 section): Again, make sure the melody comes out. Pay close attention to all the phrases that start on the upbeat of 4 and DON'T BE LATE -- if you are, it'll give you trouble in the rest of the phrase. Make sure you can play the rhythms in 58-59 correctly (people have had trouble with this at rehearsal). You need to be precise since the brass are aligning with you on "months go by" to help emphasize those notes.
• Trumpets bar 80-81: Be sure to really sting the pickup into 81; you are the only people who play this first note of the Verse 3 melody (everyone else is still holding a long note).

Fireball

Recorded by TBGO September 27, 2015.

This has now become respectable, though there are still things that can be improved.

For comparison, here's the original sample recording of the chart (not TBGO).

The whole key to this tune is correctly playing the rhythm found in Bar 1 and 2, which looks like this. Other parts have different notes in different places (e.g., Flutes and Clarinets at 17), but sooner or later everyone plays the rhythm shown below. There are three things to watchout for. First, in the 16th-8th-16th figure you must keep the 8th note SHORT (staccato) and on the second quarter of the beat (i.e., it must stand on the "e" of 2-e-and-uh and cannot fall onto the "and". Second, the 16th note that finishes each measure must stay on "uh" and not fall late on the downbeat of 4. I'll refer back to this as the "main lick" in the notes below.

• NO: Here's what is sounds like if you're totally ungroovy. This is COMPLETELY WRONG!!! (Listen)	NO: Here's what is sounds like if you're sloppy and let the 16th note bleed over onto the downbeat of 4 (this is what we hear on the recording in several places). This is also WRONG!!! (Listen)	YES: Here's the written (correct) rhythm. (Listen)

Here's another technique you can use when learning to play tricky rhythms like the ones above. Grab some music paper (or draw some lines!), then write out the difficult measures -- BUT make the duration of each note TWICE AS LONG. (Note: that does mean that you have to insert additional barlines after each four beats.) In the case of the "main lick" rhythm, it would look like this:

Here's the "main lick" with all the notes (and rests) written to be twice as long as the original. Note that TWO bars of the original lick have become FOUR bars here since the notes are twice as long.

You'll probably find that this rhythm is easier to read since it looks more like the notes you're used to seeing. Now play this version; you'll find that it sounds slow. Once you have it down cold, speed up the tempo. Then speed it up again. After you've done that a few times, you'll find that you're counting about twice as fast as the original tempo -- and what you're playing sounds like it's supposed to! I highly recommend this trick for ANY difficult rhythm!

Okay, here are the performance notes:

• Bar 1: We're improving but it still sounds too muc like the middle (bad) example above. We're aiming for the CORRECT (rightmost) version.
• Bar 7: Flutes / Clarinets / Trumpets be sure to play the dotted-eighth-sixteenth rhythm correctly (exaggerated), not as even eighths. This is improved but still too square in the recording.
• Bar 8: Drums should be OUT.
• Bar 17 and following:  Focus on getting the main lick right! Low brass sound pretty good in the melody.
• Bar 28: ASax / Horn / Low Br & WW bring out this figure a bit.
• Bar 34-35: Drums get QUIET immediately, crescendo across two bars, then get QUIET again in bar 36.
• Bar 36-38: We have added flutes and alto saxes into these three bars to augment the mallet percussion. Flutes, be sure to get (and play) the adjusted part. Altos, play the repeated section all three times (not just 2nd and 3rd time as stated in the music).
• Tambourine: Be careful not to play through the break in bars 8, 16, and 40.

Five Olympic Fanfares

Here are recordings of the five fanfares (though not by TBGO) plus an edited-together version of the "mashup" that we're doing. We are currently performing only two fanfares:

• A mashup of the first nine bars of Fanfare #1 followed immediately by all of Fanfare #5; and
• Fanfare #3

Click to listen to TBGO recordings made August 5, 2012:

• Fanfare #3 (The Olympic Spirit)
• Mashup of Fanfare #1 (Summon the Heroes) plus Fanfare #5 (Buglers Dream)
• Fanfare #5 (Buglers Dream) by itself

Here are the original recordings (not TBGO):

• Mashup of the Fanfare #1 (Summon the Heroes) plus Fanfare #5 (Bugler's Dream)
• Fanfare #1 as written (Summon the Heroes)
• Fanfare #2 (Olympic Fanfare and Theme)
• Fanfare #3 (The Olympic Spirit)
• Fanfare #4 (March of the Olympians)
• Fanfare #5 (Bugler's Dream)

Five O'Clock World

Recorded by TBGO February 10, 2013. This is the first day we were playing the tune, so we'll post a better recording after we've worked it!

Forget You

Frosty the Snowman

Recorded by TBGO November 10, 2013.

Notes:

• Don't lose tempo in the first few bars! Keep this light and lively throughout
• We play one verse, do a little chant, then play the second verse. The chant is:

  Thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump,
  Look at Frosty go,
  Thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump,
  Over the hills of snow.

• As we end the first verse, low brass do NOT play the pickups at end of first ending. Play those pickups AFTER the chant as we head into verse 2.

Funiculi Funicula

Recorded by TBGO April 21, 2024. The balance here is strange because we had to locate the mic in the tenor sax section (don't ask). We'll get a better recording, but here's a start.

You can also listen to this recording of the Jerry Burns arrrangemeent (not TBGO).

Gangnam Style

Recorded by TBGO on December 9, 2012. This is an early recording, plenty of room for improvement! In this recording, it's also hard to hear/distinguish exactly what's going on. For now, I'd refer you back to the La Quinta (California) High School Blackhawks doing this arrangement.

Start by watching the Blackhawks pep band in action at a basketball game. Op! Op! Op!

Okay - here's the same performance as an MP3 file instead of a YouTube video.

And finally: LQHS is playing that tune at about 138 beats per minute (bpm), which sounds great but wouldn't work in a parade. Here's the same performance editing down to 128 bpm, which is closer to parade tempo.

Ghostbusters

Recorded by TBGO on April 7, 2019. We had two alto saxes standing near the recorder during this take, so their part is pretty "forward" - but it's still better than our previously-posted recording!

In case we need it for performances with the Roosevelt HS band, here's the original Doug Adams arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Gimme Some Lovin'

Recorded on November 20, 2011 by TBGO.

Full arrangement from Arrangers Publishing Company.

• Alto saxes all play Alto 1 for this chart (we need that melody line). There's also a new part for Tenor saxes that doubles the Alto melody.
• Bar 7 and 11: Alto saxes and Trumpet 2 should really milk that half step of dissonance and resolution.
• Bar 23: Long notes make sure you get out of the way via the forte pianos all through this section.
• Bar 28 and bar 30 in flutes and trumpets: Start this string of eighth notes a little more quietly and crescendo through the bar. The full recording above doesn't does this particularly well. Here's a short clip that gives you a better idea of how it should sound.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Recorded by TBGO November 2, 2014.

You might also like to listen to the recording put out by the music publishers; click here to listen to the Arrangers Publishing version.

See Fireball or Uptown Funk or any of our other funky tunes for hints about playing that 16th-8th-16th rhythm correctly. And watch out for the 2/4 bar!!!

Half-Time Caper

This is the fight song for Roosevelt High School. Here's the TBGO recording from September 13, 2015. Make sure you accent, separate, and punch the notes so this sounds like a march (and like a fight song!).

Happy

Recorded by TBGO June 16, 2019. This recording includes the repeat with the additional verse (suitable for the "Happy Dance').

Heartache Tonight

Recorded by TBGO March 26, 2017. This version includes a roll-off.

Much better than previous recordings! Tempo is getting locked in, shuffle feel is much improved, and those tricky melody rhythms are working. Yay!

Hey Baby!

Recorded by TBGO November 20, 2011.

• As noted on the parts, we sing at 11 the second time through.
• Watch the rhythms from 28 through 36 in the counter-melody parts.
• Do NOT play the last measure ("no cha-cha-cha").

High School Never Ends

This recording is in the lower key that TBGO uses. A pretty good recording, although the ending is still a little awkward (we'll get that fixed!)

Here are two recordings for you, both in the lower key that TBGO uses. The first was recorded by TBGO on January 13, 2013. This recording is less precise than February 24, 2013 recording, but has much better balance. (We are too "percussion-forward" on the Feb 24 recording"). Listen to the first one for balance and the second one for how to play you part more cleanly.

Percussion: Be careful not to rush the intro - it kinda wants to take off! For example, in the Feb 24 recording, I actually slowed down the drum into by 4% in editing, which brought it right in line with the tempo we actually want (and that the band played).

Recording of Dave Henning arrangement. (Not a TBGO recording.) This is in the original key, so you can listen to it for style and rhythms, but can't play along with it. There are also a couple of places where the rhythms are slightly different than the way we play it.

Horse, The

Recorded by TBGO on June 26, 2016. It's loud and the drums kinda dominate, but good enough to rehearse with. Click here and prepare to ride!

• Drums (and band) begin one bar before letter A; ignore the other 2 measures prepended in the drum parts.
• Trumpets are doing hand-in-bell "doo-wop" throughout letters B, C, and G.
• At letter F, flute and clarinets are trilling on the long notes; trumpets are shaking the long notes.

Hot Stuff

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO November 13, 2011. I still like this better than our more recent 2023 recording, but here it is for your listening pleasure. You can also listen to the Ralph Ford arrangement (not TBGO), which is at a brisker tempo.

• We're slowing this down a bit (120 bpm) from our earlier tempos. This gets us closer to "Donna Summer" tempo and lets us sleaze it up a bit.
• Throughout: Play the accents, play sexy!
• Throughout: People with long notes or lines that don't move too much should listen to melody lines so you know where to play the upbeat accents.
• Bar 2: Ascending lines should crescendo to the accent that crosses the bar line.
• Bar 4: Watch the accent at end of bar.
• Bar 10: Volume drop -- sexy saxes and horns!
• Bar 13-14: Flute/clarinet/trumpet/mallet -- make this a tasty response to the saxes, don't overblow.
• Bar 17: Nice crescendo.
• Bars 23-24: Long notes be sure to play the sfp. Make the crescendo come LATE each time to save room for the sleazy trombone line!
• Bar 25-26: Trombones add a long sleazy fall to the last note of the phrase!
• Bar 34: Another volume drop (we'll play this around mp or mf, not the forte that's marked). Lean into the half-step glisses so they stand out.
• Bar 37, Bar 41: Altos/horns/trombones/baritones be sure to wait for beat 1; it's easy to anticipate because you've been playing upbeats for three bars, but here you must WAIT for beat one!
• Bars 42-45: High winds, trumpets, horns -- don't overblow, melody is in the trombones. Make the most of the sfp's (and again, make the crescendos come late).

I Just Want to Celebrate

Recorded by TBGO on April 14, 2024. Not tight yet, but vastly improved.

Recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement (not TBGO).

I'm Shipping Up to Boston

Recorded by TBGO March 12, 2017. A very nice recording!

Hal Leonard recording.

IMPORTANT: We are ignoring the fermata in measure 79; i.e., just treat it like a whole note and keep going. The last long note lasts a total of 3 measures (6 beats). Be sure to do a good forte-piano and late crescendo!

Auxiliary units and support staff: We'd love for you to learn (and shout) the Sailor's Lament that happens in the second woodwind chorus (just before measure 61). You'll hear it on the recording about 1:05 into the recording. Here are the words:

I'm a sailor peg,
And I lost my leg,
Climbing up the topsails, I lost my leg.

Jingle Bell Jam

Recorded by TBGO December 1, 2019. This hit the parade route for the first time a week later.

And for good measure: here's the (non-TBGO) recording.

Jingle-Bell Rock Street Edition

Note: This the ONE PAGE version marked "TBGO Street Edition".

Here's a nice sprightly Finale MIDI recording (132 bpm). It's a good version to rehearse with and can help with the swing/shuffle feel or rhythms.

And here's a version recorded by TBGO September 29, 2019. Tempo is somewhat slower (closer to what we'd do on the street).

General notes:

• Be sure to SWING throughout -- no straight 8ths. Click here if you need help with interpreting swung 8th notes and jazz rhythms.
• Be sure to play WHAT'S ON THE PAGE, not whichever version of Jingle-Bell Rock is in your head.
• Watch for ACCENTS throughout, especially on upbeats, to keep a jazzy swing feel.

Specific items:

• Bars 1 and 3: Keep the quarter note SHORT as marked.
• Bars 2 and 4: If you have bell tones, sting each note and then let it decay (like a bell!).
• Bar 5: Get out of the way on long notes so we can hear other parts stack in.
• Bar 7-12: Melody parts follow articulations. Backing parts (saxes, horns) punch the upbeat accents to keep things lively. Tubas, note that your accents line up with accents in the melody.
• Bar 13-14: a little stop-time feature for the melody (flute, trumpet, bells).
• Bar 23: Melody/harmony moves to middle/lower voices. Watch the accents and staccato notes.
• Bar 26 Flute / Trumpet / Bells: not hard, but unexpected so pay attention. Rhythm is "one-two-aaand-and" - don't play on four. Here's a little playback of 24-26 to help.
• Bar 29-30: Another little stop time. Note that beat 2 of bar 29 is short.
• Bar 34 Clarinet / Saxes / Horn: This is a nice little countermelody part. LEAN on that first 8th note so we hear it.
• Bar 35-38 Flute / Trumpet / Trombone / Baritone: Watch the rhythms here - read carefully!
• Bar 39-40: Cymbal crashes align with melody. Same is true in 43-44.
• Bar 41: If you have the 8th note string, accent the UPBEATS. Think "doo-VA-doo-VA-doo-VA-doo-VA". It's a little hard to hear on the rehearsal track, but here's a better version of bars 38 to 42 so you can hear the accents in 41.
• Bar 46 Tuba: Nice little "kick" at end of measure: "One-and-two-aaaand-and-four".
• Bar 50 Clarinet / Saxes / Horn: Again, LEAN on that first 8th note so countermelody comes out.
• Bar 53-55: Hat notes are accented and SHORT.
• Bar 56: Don't anticipate -- wait all the way to beat 1. Keep it light! Low voices, not too heavy on the final stinger.

Jingle-Bell Rock Singing Edition

We don't have a TBGO recording of the Singing Edition. The instrumental parts are played just like the Street Edition (see notes above), but we sing a verse in the middle.

Performance notes for the Street Edition (above) also apply to the Singing Edition except add 32 to all the measure numbers from 39 onward to account for the singing verse.

Here's a Finale rendition of the Singing Edition. It uses a glockenspiel to replace the vocal so you can see how it goes. (In performance, the glock would be singing, not playing.)

UPDATED PARTS SINGING EDITION: We have MODIFIED the original version of the Singing Edition. The UPDATED version has 88 measures, is subtitled "TBGO Singing Edition", and says "Updated November 21" at the bottom of the first page. If your copy has 89 measures and ends with a fermata, YOU HAVE THE WRONG VERSION. The music now matches the Street Edition throughout. The major change is the ending, but there are other small rhythmic changes. DO NOT USE THE OLD PARTS.

Joy to the World

Starts in bar 2 ("Jeremiah was a bullfrog"); we skip the awkward bar 1.

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO November 13, 2011.

• Clarinets and low brass, Bars 9 and 11: Watch these bars carefully, they are not the same! In bar 9 all notes are upbeats; in bar 11 the first three notes are upbeats but the fourth note is a downbeat right on 4. Don't be sloppy!
• Bar 36: Be sure to COUNT and DO NOT ENTER until beat 2! (Only percussion plays in bar 35 and on beat 1 of 36).
• Bars 36-43: Melody continues to enter on beat 2 in every other bar. Altos/horns bring out the counter-melody.

Jump

Recorded by TBGO on June 16, 2019. THis recording is becoming more musical, with better balance and clearer statements of the melody wherever it occurs. Still can't hear the "back and forth" sections (see bar 13-16 below for one example). But definitely our best sound so far.

Recording of the Jay Bocook arrangement (not TBGO).

Here's a concert band recording of a similar (but not identical) Jay Bocook arrangement. This is an excellent recording for balance and style - very clear, easy to hear the "back and forth" sections. Highly recommend a few listenings since it'll help you a lot!

Here are a few notes on things to watch out for, but the best idea is to listen to the Jay Bocook recordings for style, balance, articulations, and precise placement of notes.

• Throughout: Once we get past bar 9, "the lick" is almost always a background thing. Bring the volume way down, and emphasize the melody lines.
• Bar 5, low brass and TSax emphasize the accent on the downbeat.
• Bar 13-16: There's an "echo effect" here in which the trumpets continue to play the lick as normally written, while flute/clar/Asax/horn/trombone play it ONE HALF BEAT earlier (red) before catching up for the last half of the lick (blue). [Click score to enlarge] Here's a clip from the Bocook recording beginning at bar 9 and continuing to 17 so you can hear clearly how this should work.

• Melody at 17: Is in ASax/Horn/Trombone, beginning with pickups to 17 and continuing through 23.
• Melody at 25: Is in Trumpet, beginning with pickups to 25 and continuing through 31.
• At 33: Melody trades in 2-bar phrases between ASax/Horn/ and Flute/Clar/Baritone/Trombone through bar 42.
• At 42: Melody is ASax/Horn.
• At 44: Melody moves to Trumpet.
• At 46: Back to ASax/Horn
• Bar 47: Trombones bring out the moving triplet (no on else has it).
• Bar 48: SUDDEN volume change (quieter!) followed by glorious build to 52. Trumpet 2 and Trombone 1, bring out the chord change in the middle of bar 50.
• Bar 52: Back to the lick.
• Bar 56: Low brass emphasize accent on downbeat.
• Melody at 60: Is in the Trumpets, beginning 2.5 beats before 60.
• At 68: Trumpets, pay attention to which 16th notes start on DOWNBEAT and which are on UPBEAT.
• At 72: Nice little build across the band to the big finish.

Last Night

Full arrangement.

Light My Fire

Recordings of the Brian Scott arrangement (not TBGO).

By request, here's a flute-only playback (with a basic percussion beat). Alto saxes may also find this useful for the 37-53 solo section.

Long Live Texas

Recorded by TBGO March 20, 2016.

Swing Style: Note that The Yellow Rose of Texas (which goes from measure 75 to just before the end) is written in Swing (Jazz) style. See the Help with Jazz Rhythms section for more info and playing aids on learning jazz style, including some marked-up saxophone parts that show where "invisible" slurs should be added by the performer to achieve the correct style.

• M1 (0:07): Initial pickup note sounds tentative and sloppy. Needs to be confident, fanfare-ish, announce our arrival!
• M24 (0:37): Stacked entrances sound good, but we do not END the note together. See the breath mark? This must end RIGHT on beat four, and it should end with a crescendo and positive cut-off (kind of "nnnnnYUH") so that we have a very clear half-beat hole at end of the bar. On the recording, you can hear people playing into the rest and we don't have a clean "end" sound.
• M41-44 (1:07): Needs to be a smooth accelerando to the slightly faster "China Grove" tempo. Drums need to be confident here about setting the new tempo. Rest of band needs to LISTEN and follow the drums so that we stay together. We're also getting some bad pitches in M44. Tenor sax & Tpt 1 is F# (not F natural); Trombone 1 and Tuba is E natural (not Eb). Please mark your parts!
• M47 (1:18): Last note of the "China Grove lick" is just as SHORT as the first two notes in this bar. On the recording, this measure (and others like it) sound like "det ... det ... daah".
• M52-53 (1:27): Drums need to keep working on this IMPORTANT two bar transition into the China Grove verse. Recording is not bad, but we need to be sure we can do it every time.
• Good energy in this recording of China Grove!
• M74 (2:06) Another important transition. Drums, nice job here of laying down the triplets to change the style and slow the tempo back to swing tempo. Band, be sure to follow!

Long Train Runnin'

For a rock tune, this one is pretty complex, with lots of interlayered parts. Use your ear, learn when to bring your part out and when to lay back! The same part (e.g., the "train lick" right at the top) may be important in some places and background in others.

Recorded by TBGO at the NWAPA Championships, Hillsboro Stadium, October 29 2011.

Here are some MIDI selections to help you get some of the licks straight.

• "Train Lick" - Bar 1 through 4 (saxes, horns, trombones)
• Tuba lick - Bar 5 through 12 (baritones and tubas)
• Trumpet Verse 1 - Bar 10 through 20 (trumpets only)
• Verse 1 - Bar 10 through 20 (trumpets with tuba lick)
• Verse 2 - Bar 22 through 32 (trumpets)
• Verse 3 - Bar 34 through 45 (trombones)
• Verse 4 Countermelody - Bar 46 through 56 (trombones)
• Verse 4 Melody + Countermelody - Bar 44 through 56 (trumpet lead and trombone countermelody)

Louie Louie (Johnnie Vinson)

Here's the Johnnie Vinson version of Louie Louie as recorded by TBGO on March 9, 2015.

You can also listen hear it as part of the American Band / Louie Louie medley.

Mercy Mercy Mercy

Recorded by TBGO on April 12 , 2015.

Here's a MIDI version of bars 5 through 10 so you can hear the drum break and practice with it.

Recording of the original Jay Dawson arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Mighty Oregon (University of Oregon Fight Song)

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO November 10, 2013.

• U of O plays this song FAST. We won't be quite as breakneck, but keep up the tempo!
• Form of the song: Play down and take first ending, then KEEP GOING STRAIGHT AHEAD through Letter C. Play down to end, take the D.S. back almost to the top, then take the SECOND ending when you get there and stop.
• Must be SOLID on the call-and-response fanfares at Letter C. This is also a place where it's easy to lose tempo, so keep driving forward.
• BIG cymbal crash just before the D.S.

National Anthem March

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO November 6, 2011.

For grins and giggles, here's the reference version (NOT recorded by TBGO) with a MIDI roll-off.

National Emblem March

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO July 10, 2016 (all repeats).

No Roots

Recorded by TBGO on April 14, 2024. Work to do still, but this has come a long way!

Recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement (not TBGO).

Nutcracker Christmas Parade

Recorded by TBGO December 1, 2019. Opening still needs work, but mostly very nice!

Here's the non-TBGO recording of the Allen Gray arrangement.

Olympic Fanfares

See the section on Five Olympic Fanfares.

One Mint Julep

Recorded by TBGO on January 25, 2015.

Because I thought you might enjoy hearing how much the band has improved, I've also left a link to this recording from October 14, 2012.

Recording of the Allen Gray arrangement from Jalen Publishing (not recorded by TBGO).

OSU Fight Song

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO November 13, 2011.

• Form of the song: Play through the whole thing once, then go to the chant (see below). Low brass plays three pickup notes back into a second run-through of the song.
• Here's how the chant goes:

Over Mountains and Valleys

Here's our new second song for the Chinese New Year Parade.

Recorded by TBGO on January 12, 2014. This is version 1.2 with the updated parts.

Recorded by TBGO on January 19, 2014. This is version 1.3 (minor tweaks from previous edition). I've kept both recordings here so you can listen to both and decide which recording you like best!

Over the Rainbow

Recorded by TBGO April 12 2015.

Nice recording here! Big things to remember throughout this piece are:

• GENTLE entrances. Smooth, seamless hand-offs between sections as melody gets passed around and harmonies are added.
• Lots of restraint -- hold back on the volume until we really turn it loose in the build-up to 29.
• Do NOT breath at the end of bar 35 or the end of bar 36. Mark your music "Big breath" at the end of bar 34 and "NO BREATH" at end of 35 (and if fact, you shouldn't breath well past 37 if possible). This is necessary to avoid what you hear in this recording and can see clearly in the audio snippet below -- we start a lovely build but the line gets interrupted when everyone gasps for breath. I'll give you the "stretch" gesture here to help remind you to bridge over the top of these measures. You can hear the problem in this excerpt and clearly see what happens in the waveform capture (below) from that same excerpt. The main (March 8) recording above does not suffer from this problem; the band bridges this section beautifully in that recording. Yay!
  
• Measure 37 is the climax, but long notes still save sonic space for the T Saxes and low brass who have the moving eighth notes.

Overjoyed

Recorded by TBGO on November 2, 2014.

Notes:

• The "Traditional" Joy to the World at the beginning should have great energy and separation. Lots of bell tones on these notes!
• Bars 3-4 and 8-9: People playing long notes get out of the way of the moving parts.
• Bars 3-5 and 9-11:  Saxes, F horns, and Tenor Drums bring out this part ("Jeremiah was a bullfrog").
• Bars 6-7:  Low brass and bells bring this out; is the tag answer to the "Jeremiah" statement.
• Bar 14: Everyone back off on the volume a little so we can get a terrific crescendo going into 16.
• Bars 17-18:  Saxes, trombones, baritones be very solid with this countermelody.
• Bar 28: Volume comes down here and there's a back-and-forth canon between the high and low voices. Taper off the long notes so that the opposing part can be heard.
• Big crescendo going into 36.
• Bar 36: Tempo REMAINS THE SAME as we go from cut time to 4/4 time. The half note of bar 35 is the same as a quarter note in bar 36.
• Bar 36: This transition is the trickiest part of the tune. Be sure to keep the tempo consistent as we cross from Traditional to Three Dog Night. If you play on the downbeat here, land solidly so that it sounds like you did it on purpose! Drums be sure we have a SOLID downbeat at 36. EVERYONE must land solidly on beat 2.
• Bars 36-44:  Bring out the lovely counter-melody in alto sax and F horn.
• Cymbals: The crashes on beat two of bars 36, 38, 40, 42 are really important. Play them with gusto!
• Bars 40-41: Watch rhythm and articulation.
• Bar 44:  All horns (except tuba) must WAIT for beat 2. Don't fall in the hole!
• Bars 47-48:  Clarinets, saxes, F horns, trombones, baritones, tubas - Place all the notes in 47 precisely on the UPbeats and in 48 land precisely on the DOWNbeats, especially beat 3 of bar 48. Watch the articulation in 47 (short-short-short-long-short).
• Bars 51 and 55: Clarinets, saxes, F horns must be solid here ("You know I said joy ...").
• Bar 52:  Trombones, baritones, and tubas - start this note ONE HALF BEAT SOONER (i.e., start it on the last half-beat of bar 51) so that it matches the figure played by the saxes and horns.
• Bar 56:  Trombones etc same as bar 52 (start this note one half beat sooner).
• Bars 52-58:  The music isn't marked, but this should be a gradual descrescendo for everyone. Each statement of the "Joy to the world" figure should be quieter than the previous one.
• Bar 59:  F Horns, trombones, baritones, tubas - nice solid BEAUTIFUL entrance of Ode to Joy. Flutes and clarinets sing out the little run at end of 59. Drums be sure to go to rims here.
• Bar 61:  Trumpets enter smoothly so that the sound builds nicely throughout; don't create a discontinuity by blatting in.
• Bar 62:  Nice crescendo here!
• Bar 65:  Long notes be sure to do a great forte-piano. WAIT until the end of the measure to do a big sudden volume swell back to fortissimo so that we can hear the final statement of "Joy to the world" in the clarinets, altos, horns, and bells.
• Bar 66:  Drums do NOT play on the low brass tag on beats 2 and 3. (This is exactly how it's written, just making sure everyone has it straight!)

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

Recorded by TBGO on March 10, 2019. This is an improved recording after a first day of real work on the tune. For comparison, here's a recording of the Nick Baratta arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Notes:

• 1st Trumpets: There are some really high notes throughout the tune, along with lower-pitch options. If you don't have the chops for those high notes, don't be a hero! It's better to play a part that will sound good than to strain for a note you can't reach. (You can hear examples in our recording above!)
• Tubas: Take a "string bass" approach throughout the piece. Keep notes round and of moderate length so that we keep a groove going.
• Everyone throughout the piece: If a note has a hat on it, it's SHORT! How short can you play these notes? Keep it tight!
• Bar 1: Watch out for those two consecutive upbeats!
• Bar 7: Melody people (ASax, Horn, Low Br & WW) be sure to cut off the long note right on beat 4 as written. Don't let it slop over onto beat 1 of the following measure. This will feel a little unnatural, but it lets the trumpet figure on beat 4 come through.
• Bar 14: Here (and each time this figure occurs, beat 1 must be very short and then the dotted half note gets a STRONG accent. Think POW!!!!
• Bar 19: See note for bar 7 above.
• Bar 27: All 'bones should practice the solo. You never know when you'll be the lucky person at a gig!
• Bar 30: Flute/Clarinet/ASax/Trumpet/Hn - the dotted 8th note on beat 2 has a hat and MUST be short.
• Bar 33: 1st Trumpet please tongue this note following the half-valve squeeze.
• Bar 39: ASax/Tpt/Hn see note for bar 7 above.
• Take full advantage of forte-piano's (fp) throughout!
• Bar 47: Watch the director for the ritard.
• Bar 48-49 Drums: These measures will be in time following the ritard in 47.

Poker Face

Recorded by TBGO on April 12 2015.

Notes:

• OMIT bar 1 (we start in bar 2).
• There are two General Rules for this tune:
  • There's a lot going on (it's densely scored) and all the edges have to line up so you must play PRECISELY on both downbeats and upbeats. Beginnings and endings of notes must occur exactly as written or you'll step on somebody else's part.
  • This tune is about ATTITUDE! Play like a bad-ass at all times. Need to add the "lean on" accents everywhere to keep the energy going.
• Flutes and clarinets at 7-13: Lean on the first eighth note in each pair to create an accent, then shorten and fade the second one (DEE-ot, DEE-ot). This is a good place to employ General Rule #2.
• Tenor saxes and trombones at 6-13: This is a call-and-response between Trombone 1 and Trombone 2/Tenor Sax. You must let the long note decay each time so that the other voice can be heard.
• Trumpet 2-3 and Horns at 6: You guys have the melody here, so play to be heard!
• Bar 19: DO NOT STEP IN THE HOLE!!! New rule instituted at Jan 23 rehearsal is that whoever steps in the hole has to buy the beer! Percussion, make sure you damp any ringing sound so that it doesn't bleed through.
• Bar 23: Alto & Tenor Saxes, Trombones, Baritones: Think of this bar as a "response" phrase, different from the bar on either side of it. This is a melody bar even though you've been playing backgrounds.
• Flutes and Clarinets at 28-31: Although you have more or less the same part, the articulations are quite different! The flutes are pretty much playing the melody line we've already heard, but the clarinets have tied notes where the flute articulate. Play your part and don't freak out because the other person is different, it all works.
• Trombones and Baritones at 32-33: Please duplicate your bars 34-35 at 32-33 to help bulk up the tubas.
• Bells at bar 39: This whole measure should be a "tinkly run" from top to bottom of the instrument (you're the only thing playing after the first half beat). The original music uses a mark tree here (which the instrument that looks like wind chimes; we are replicating it using bells. When we're in a large venue or don't have bell players, we fill this with a "roll-down" on the toms.
• Bar 39 everyone else: DO NOT STEP IN THE HOLE!!!
• Bar 40: Must have a SOLID downbeat here from the people who play right on beat 1, including bass drum, cymbals, quads.
• Snares at bar 40-41: We decided we don't like the "empty space" here; please replicate bars 52-53 into bars 40-41.
• Clarinets, Flutes, Trumpet 2-3, Horns at 48: This is another place where everyone has almost the same notes, but the Flutes and Trumpets articulate the melody while the Clarinets and Horns have tied notes.

Poker Face Street Routine

There's a simple marching routine for Poker Face; first use will be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras in February 2011. Here's how it works:

• Normal marching from the beginning through bar 13.
• At bar 14 (which is the low brass "horns of doom" motif), we MARCH HALF-TIME for 8 steps (16 counts, or four measures of music). To march half time, step only on beat 1 and beat 3 of each measure. It helps to "swagger" a bit here (looks better and makes it easier to keep the rhythm).
• A SECTION: Here's how the 8 counts of bars 18 and 19 work:
  • Return to regular speed marching for 6 counts (6 steps).
  • On count 7, STOP by planting your left foot next to your right foot. Keep your weight on your right foot since the left foot will be the next to move.
  • On count 8, REAR BACK by leaning back slightly (if possible) and raising your left foot so that you are ready to take a step. Your left knee should come up high enough so that it looks like something is happening <grin> and your left toe should be pointed down (flat or up looks ugly).
  • You are now ready to STEP with that left foot on beat one of bar 20 at normal speed.
• Normal marching in bar 20 through bar 31.
• At bar 32, we return to the "horns of doom" motif. MARCH HALF-TIME for 8 steps (16 counts or four measure of music), just like you did at bar 14.
• B SECTION: Here's how the 16 counts of bars 36 through 39 work:
  • Return to regular speed marching for 12 counts (12 steps).
  • On count 13 (beat 1of bar 39), STOP by planting your left foot next to your right foot. Keep your weight on your right foot since the left foot will be the next to move.
  • On counts 14 and 15, STAND STILL while the bell players tinkle.
  • On count 16 (beat 4 of bar 39), REAR BACK just as we did above.
• At bar 40, return to normal marching for the rest of the tune. (We DO NOT go to half-time when the horns of doom return at bar 52.)

In "shorthand form", the A Section and B Section are meant to be very similar:

• On each of the first two times we get to the horns of doom motif, go to half-time marching for 8 steps (16 counts).
• Go back to normal marching until we get to the place where everyone stops playing.
• Stop.
• On beat 4 of the measure where we stop, rear back and then step out on beat 1 of the next measure.

Because the two pieces of music are somewhat different, the number of "normal steps" and the length of "stop time" vary -- but the basic idea remains the same.

Proud Mary

Recording of the Allen Gray arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

We will eventually MODIFY this arrangement by putting a slow opening verse on it.

Rolling in the Deep

Recorded by TBGO on January 13, 2013. Pretty decent recording with good balance. Still feels a little rushed (needs more groove). And we have intonation problems in a recurring spot that we need to look at and correct (bars 9-10, , 33-34, 52-53).

Recording of the Michael Brown / Will Rapp arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Runaway Baby

Recorded by TBGO March 20, 2016. This is starting to cook!

• Opening 20 bars of this recording sound really good! It's getting tighter each time we play. Keep it up!
• M28-32 (0:41): This is the weakest remaining section of the tune (same thing happens at M62-66). Tpt1/ASax/Hn carries the melody here; the rhythm is not together and you keep losing time (especially in the second half of measure 30). You can hear the "tearing" with the rest of band. This happens on all the recordings, so it's the biggest thing we need to fix! I think what happens is that the rest at the beginning of M28 doesn't last as long as you think (it mostly get swallowed because you end on an upbeat in M27), and then the back half of M30 has the same sort of problems. Take a listen, check your part, and work through it!
• With that in mind: Here's a link to a MIDI version of those parts in M 21-34, along with enough "drum stuff" so you know where the beat it. Starts with a 2 measure count-in and then you're at M21. Please work on this before the next rehearsal!
• M43 (1:02): Place the 8th note at end of measure carefully -- this first one sounds awkward, the rest sound pretty good.
• M62-66 (1:30): Same notes, same problem as M28-32 except this time it's ALL Tpt 1 since your Sax/Hn friends have wandered off to play a different (and cool!) part.
• M68-69 (1:39): Pitch is pretty dicey on the last four notes of the tune. If it finishes too high for you, take that baby down an octave so we make a great last impression!

Here's the original sample recording of the chart (not a TBGO recording). (Now go practice!!! <grin>)

Salute to Julie and Homer

Recorded by TBGO on June 26, 2016. This recording has been post-processed to make it somewhat easier to hear and understand the vocal parts.

Basic plan for how it goes:

• Announcer does a vocal intro to the tune, along the lines of "Next we'll perform a salute to two people who were formative influences on the band. The first is the woman who taught us our do-re-mi's, Miss Julie Andrews".
• Play the intro and first strain, which brings us to the vamp. Tubas/drums play the vamp as needed during the next voice-over.
• "Our second salute goes to that famous beer-drinking American, Homer Simpson".
• Count the band into the singing section (and band sings).
• Back to the vamp. "Now that you know the words, we'd like you sing it with the band".
• Count the band into the singing section again.
• This time, take the coda jump. That means you do NOT sing the final "do" as expected. Rather, the band stops abruptly, peers into its empty beer glass for two counts, then slaps its forehead and says "Doh!"
• Immediately count the band into the tag that follows the caesura (the railroad tracks): One-two-three, (band plays) "That will bring us ...."

Santa Baby

Recorded by TBGO on November 6, 2016.

Just for fun, here's the version recorded by TBGO on November 10, 2013 (first day we played it).

For comparison, here's the recording of the Mike Story arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Notes:

• Keep it light, fluffy, and SWING throughout.
• Bar 10-11:  Be sure to read the melody part precisely here; it's more "square" than versions you may have in your head from other performers.
• Drums:  Make sure bars 5-10 are very RHYTHMIC since the drum part really sticks out here against the unison trumpets.
• Bars 23-31:  This is a little duet between the low and high brass. Make the volume levels match, and be sensitive to when you do (and don't) have the melody. DRUMS, be sure to honor the stick clicks when the low brass are playing so they don't get covered up.
• Bar 28:  Be sure there's a nice crescendo here.
• Bar 29:  Trumpets and flutes watch the articulation - Short - Short - Long - Short.
• Bar 41:  Drums watch out for the cut here.
• Bar 42:  Watch the articulation: Long - Long - Long - Short.
• Bar 42 last beat:  Need a really good forte-piano here so we can hear the drum part in the last couple bars. Hold off on getting louder again until around beat 3 of bar 44.
• Bars 43-45:  DRUMS be sure to learn this part so the ending doesn't sound like undifferentiated noise!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Recorded by TBGO October 6, 2019.

And for good measure: here's the (non-TBGO) recording.

Santa Meets Sousa

Santa Meets Sousa Master Track for Virtual Band (starts with roll-off)

• The playing on the Master Track is kinda blah. Please make it more marcato and Sousa-like, especially in the Sousa parts.
• Time signature changes from 2/2 (cut time) to 6/8 at measure 36. It's still two beats per measure.
• Beyond that, nothing very tricky here so should be a fast, easy learn (I hope!). Play with a good sound and enjoy!

Semper Paratus

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO June 28, 2015.

Shut Up and Dance

Recorded by TBGO September 16, 2018. This is our best recording so far, especially for getting the dotted 8th-16th rhythms to be correct and dance-y. Pretty fun. Compare it with this recording from one month earlier, which sounds much more square and boring. The biggest trick is not to let the tied 16th note come too so that it sounds like it falls onto the next downbeat. Take a listen to the original recording of the Matt Conaway chart (not a TBGO recording). Notice how much cleaner and crisper this one sounds! (Work to do ...)

Here are some "aural aids" to help you hear the difference. Here are three MIDI playbacks of the first 10 bars of the tune:

Correct rhythm and articulation. The music sample at right shows the critical bars.	Listen
"Square" rhythm. Note how the tied 8th note sounds like it's falling onto the downbeat. The music sample at right shows you what's happening here (compare with the sample above).	Listen
"Triplet" rhythm. If you "round off" the rhythm, you get the rhythm shown at right. This is incorrect; it should be "jaggier". (Compare with the samples above.)	Listen

Here's one more bit of assistance for the clarinets, alto saxes, 1st trombones, and bells who play the "chirpy" rhythm beginning at measure 15:

Correct rhythm and articulation. Music sample is shown at right. Two things to pay attention to are the LENGTH of the notes and the RHYTHMIC PLACEMENT of the notes. In particular, notice how the SOUND of every note is the same length although the written form looks different. Basically, the dotted 8th notes are just there to make it easier to read, but the length of each note is the same because of the staccato markings.

Listen

Sing a Song

We've added a chorus to this tune that we use for most shows. (We may use the "original version" with no repeat from time to time, so there are recordings below done both ways.) The added chorus works as follows:

• Play to end of bar 32 as written.
• In bar 33, play ONLY the first note in the measure, but hold it for 3 beats. Drums "fill" as appropriate, and Tubas use the beat 4 notes as pickups to the repeat.
• Repeat back to bar 10 and play through normally to end.

Here are November 2011 recordings done by TBGO:

• WITH the extra chorus (repeat added).
• WITHOUT the extra chorus (as originally written).

For reference, here's a recording not done by TBGO.  IMPORTANT: This does NOT include the 24 bar repeat that we've added!

Sing Sang Sung

Swing Style: Sing Sang Sung is written in Swing (Jazz) style. See the Help with Jazz Rhythms section for more info and playing aids on learning jazz style, including some marked-up saxophone and clarinet parts that show where "invisible" slurs should be added by the performer to achieve the correct style.

Here are some audio recordings at various tempos (tempi?) you can use while working through your part. Listen for style, articulation, and balance as well as getting rhythms right. And swing, baby, swing!

• Sing Sang Sung - original tempo (200 bpm)
• Sing Sang Sung - 180 bpm
• Sing Sang Sung - 160 bpm
• Sing Sang Sung - 130 bpm

Here are a few "score playback" videos to augment the audio recordings. In these videos you can watch the score scroll by while listening to a MIDI playback. (This is like what we've been doing in our Zoom rehearsals). Check 'em out and see if they help. (It may take a little while for video to load after you click the link.)

• Full song at 130 bpm (slooow)
• Full song at 180 bpm
• Measures 47 - 62 for Trombones at 130 bpm (trumpets are muted)
• Measures 47 - 62 for Trombones at 180 bpm (trumpets are muted)
• The Tricky Back-and-Forth near the End: Measures 67 to End at 130 bpm

Here's an audio clip of the tricky back-and-forth between the high and low brass in Measures 69-72 (preceded by a four beat count-in). The above (slowed down) video is probably more useful, but this is still here in case you want it.

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO October 2, 2016. Not quite up to tempo yet and there are issues with rhythms and intonation, but it's recognizable!

So Very Hard to Go

Recorded by TBGO November 20, 2011. It's not a bad recording, but it is clearly an example of why it's important to work on intonation, dynamics, and blend for this tune!

For trumpet players who would like to practice the solo section, here's a "Music Minus One" version of that section that you can play along with.

A few additional recordings that may help (not TBGO)

• Verse 1 and Chorus (Bar 7 through approx bar 35)
• Flugelhorn solo and second chorus (bar 35 to bar fifty-something)

Notes:

• This tune has to be managed very carefully for best effect. It's a great blend of quiet beauty and awesome power and when you get BOTH halves right it can be stupendous!
• Percussion: Need to fade into the background for most of this tune; it is NOT a big percussion tune!
• Everyone: Watch articulations throughout! Long and short matter a lot!
• Bar 1: Power intro, but must be clean and intonation must be GREAT!
• Bar 4: There's a cymbal "crunch" on beat 2 that we can't cover with marching cymbals. So ... the band is doing it vocally! Right on beat two, everyone says "Tschook!" in imitation of a cymbal crunch.
• Pickup to bar 5: Contrast! This must be very gentle and soft.
• Pickup to Bar 5 Tubas: Tubas can be a little louder since they have the moving part. In fact, the groove set by the tubas in these first few bars is crucial to setting the tone of the whole piece. The sixteenth note must be placed precisely and the staccato eighths must be short so that this line has some bounce and really grooves.
• Bar 7: Tenors and Trombones/Baritones must blend so we get a balanced sound on melody. This should be relaxed and milked for all the beauty you can find!
• Bar 14: Flutes and Clarinets enter carefully! We're building the sound a little bit, but don't spoil the mood! The grace note is played right on the downbeat.
• Bar 15 etc, Flutes and Clarinets: Place these precisely on the beat. First note long, second note short each time (boo-Dot). Think of yourself as the background dancers doing those little sidesteps with a cool move! This is NOT loud -- it's an interesting little rhythmic figure but must support the melody in the Altos/Horns, not bury it!
• Bar 15 Altos and Horns: You take over melody here so you come to the fore -- but STILL has to be mezzo forte. It's important not to "give it away too early"; save the big build-up for bar 22!
• Bar 22 Everyone: BIG swell in one bar from mezzo forte to fortissimo -- this is a POWER crescendo!
• Bar 23: There's a LOT going on in this section and we need to hear all of it. Even though we're playing big, balance is critical. Become aware of when your part is an "important sound" and when you're just part of the "big chord" -- it'll probably change back and forth several times in the space of just a few bars. Examples follow in next few bullets:
• Bar 23-24: Melody is TSax, Trombone, Baritone. The trumpet "moving part" at end of 23 must be heard, but long notes are support. Altos and Horns are just a gorgeous cushion of sound to stand on. Flute and Clarinets add ethereal counter-melody, but must be careful not to be shrill or overpowering in top registers. (See, there's a lot going on!)
• End of Bar 24 and Bar 25: Sixteenth notes in TSax, Tpt, Tbn, Bar should be treated as melody, as it bar 25. BUT once you hit the long note in 25, you have to back down enough for the melody to be heart in ASax and Horn.
• Bar 26 Trumpets, Trombones, Baritones: The eighth notes must be be quite short and should crescendo building to the downbeat of 27.
• Bar 27 last beat - ASax, TSax, Hn, Tbn, Bar: Sixteenth notes and the half note in 28 are important countermelody.
• Bar 28 Flutes, Clarinets, Tpts: This is melody. Back off after hitting the accented whole note in 29 so that the Trombone moving part in 29 can come through.
• Bar 29 Trombones: You are the ONLY moving here (well, the tubas have a little sump'n).
• Bar 30: If you have the whole, this must be a GREAT forte-piano. People with the moving eighth notes must start soft (overplay on the "too soft" side) and swell back to fortissimo over just 7 eighth notes. Flutes/Clarinets, this is a "gesture"; start it right on beat four, linger a little over that first note, and milk that run into the big trill for all it's worth. This bar is all about maximum drama!!!
• Bar 31: There are two parts duking it out for importance here. Tpts have the melody (with periodic contributions by others), but the countermelody is ASax and Hns is big and beautiful and probably the most interesting thing in 31-32. Saxes and horns lean on the first note of each triplet in bar 32 to create a sense of motion.
• Bar 33 All: Fall is short and falls in volume as well as pitch.
• Bar 34 All: There's another "vocal cymbal crunch" on beat 2.
• Pickup to 35: Just like bar 5, this must be gentle for huge contrast. Flutes/Clarinets, enter gently just like you do in America the Beautiful so that this is gorgeous.
• Bars 36-41: Everybody stay out of the way of the soloist. Solo is only mezzo forte, so you have to be QUIET! Place the staccato eighths precisely and gently. Tubas, keep the groove coming!
• Bar 42: Another one bar dramatic swell for everyone just like bar 22.
• Bar 43: Complex combination of many voices like we had at bar 23, but the roles have changed. Tpts are primary melody. ASax and Hns have a great countermelody. TSax/Tbn/Bar are the cushion of sound, but with some key moving parts mixed in. Flutes/Clarinets are still the ethereal voices of the angels (and still need to be careful not to be harsh or stick out!).
• Bar 49: Long notes let the trombone moving part come through.
• Bar 50: Another dramatic forte-piano and huge crescendo.
• Bars 51-53: Another complex dance between the melody, gorgeous countermelody in ASax/Hns, and the trills and gestures going on in the high winds.
• Bar 54: This bar and the sfp leading into it create another dramatic big crescendo.
• Bar 56: People playing the two-beat triplet with eighth note pickup to it ACCENT and leave some space between those notes.
• Bar 57: Another surprise! We have this big buildup in 56, and then the bottom drops out of the band! Volume is still loud, but we've cut the players to Fl/Clar/ASax/Hn. The effect is this long note shimmering in space, soon to be interrupted by ...
• Bar 58: The return of the brass and big, big sound. We will ritardando these last two bars; watch director for each note. On the last note, save a little something when you get there so we can crescendo as we hold it!

You get this one right and I promise you it'll bring down the house!

Soul Finger

• We often do this tune "with a vamp", which means we add an extended intro that the band plays while I talk to the crowd. When we do it with a vamp, we play bars 1 and 2 normally, then play bars 3 and 4 over and over and over again (softly) while I do the voice-over. I'll count you back in at bar 5 and the rest of the tune goes normally. You can hear an example of The Vamp on the recording above. (You can also hear one person try to come in early!)
• Watch the articulations to get the "funk feel"; hat notes should be short, watch the long-short-long-short eighth notes in the low brass parts especially.

Star-Spangled Banner

Turns out we've never recorded this for ourselves! However, here's a recording of the Texas All-State Philharmonic Orchestra playing the same arrangement / same key.

Star Trek: TNG

Recorded by TBGO Aug 7, 2022.

Original theme (audio). Just for fun, here's a somewhat different arrangement performed by The Ohio State University Marching Band.

Finale recording of the arrangement with no tempo change. DO NOT USE THIS TO RECORD FOR THE VIRTUAL BAND PROJECT.

• Opening:  In concert, we will probably slow this down slightly and then speed up to performance tempo at bar 14.  On parade (if we can do this on parade!), tempo will remain constant throughout.
• Bars 1-4:  Bells, this is just a down-up-down glissando.  The recording may play 8th notes at beginning of bars 2 and 4, but this is a playback anomaly.
• Bars 5-12:  State the theme, then get out of the way on the long note.
• Watch change to 2/4 and then 6/8 time.
• Bar 23:  We are repeating this theme (unlike the original) to get a little more length in the tune.
• Bar 30, Flutes/Clarinets:  This notation looks funny, but is actually easy.  This says "play 4 notes in the space of 2 beats".  That's the same as if these were just 8th notes in 2/4 time!  Similarly, bar 34 has four notes in the space of one beat, which is like "normal" 16th notes.

• Bar 31:  KEY CHANGE!!!  Yow, what just happened???  Yes, that's a lotta sharps, but I've helped out by explicitly marking all the "unusual" ones for you (G#, D#, A#).
• Bars 31-34:  Mellophones and saxes have the lead.
• Bars  35-36:  Trumpet 1, play the small notes if you don't sound good on those top notes.
• Bar 39:  KEY CHANGE!!!  Back to the original key (whew!).
• Bar 47:  KEY CHANGE!!!  OMG, that's a lotta flats.  Again, I've explicitly marked all the unusual ones (Ab, Db, Gb).
• Bars 47-50:  Flutes/Clarinets/Saxes have the lead.  Mellophones and Trumpet 2/3, be short and precise on this nice little background motif.
• Bars 51-55:  Mellos and Alto Saxes sing out, this is a cool part!  Again, the "quadruplets" are four notes played in the space of two beats, the same as "normal" 8th notes. 
• Bar 55:  Whole band has a variant of this figure.  Again, these are just 8th notes or 8th rests.
• Bar 55:  KEY CHANGE!!!  Unusual sharps are marked.
• Bars 55-58:  Woodwinds have the lead again. Mellos and Trumpet 2/3, watch the articulation in bar 58 (another cool little figure).
• Bars 59-62:  Much like 51-54.
• Bars 67-68:  Trumpet 1, if you can double-tongue go for the 16th notes.  If you can't do that cleanly, just play all staccato 8th notes.
• Bar 70:  Most people have 3 quarter notes here.  What does that sound like?  Well, it's 3 notes played in two beats … hey, that's just a "drag" (2-beat) triplet!

Sucker

Recorded by TBGO February 2023. This recording drags badly, but otherwise isn't bad. Here's the same recording speeded up to target tempo.

Recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement (not TBGO).

S.W.A.T., Theme from

See Theme from S.W.A.T.

Sweet Caroline

TBGO rehearsal recording (2013) - includes the modifications described below. The ending of this recording is a bit abrupt since we ended sloppily and I had to edit ... last note should be off right on the fifth beat (downbeat of bar).

Recording of the Allen Gray arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

We have MODIFIED this arrangement as follows:

• NO ONE PLAYS the last two beats of measure 54 or the first two beats of measure 55. Instead, everyone sings "bum-bum-bummmmm" (the melody). If you have a whole note written in measure 55, treat it as a half rest followed by a half note (i.e., don't play until beat 3).

• NO ONE PLAYS the last two beats of measure 59 or the first two beats of measure 60. Instead, everyone sings "bum-bum-bummmmm" (the melody). If you have a whole note written in measure 60, treat it as a half rest followed by a half note (i.e., don't play until beat 3).

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

This is the arrangement that was supplied to us by the Oregon Symphony in 2014. Recorded by TBGO August 3, 2014.

Takin' It to the Streets

Full arrangement recorded November 20, 2011 by TBGO. (We sound okay here but can play this better; we should do a better recording and replace this!)

Full arrangement from JW Pepper.

More extensive notes need to get posted for this!

• Flutes/clarinets don't play cue notes in the intro.
• Pay close attention to all the dynamic changes! This tune is much more effective when we make the dramatic level changes happen.
• Intonation can be difficult with this tune. Listen hard, pay attention!

TBGO Drum Cadence

Click here for music for the drum cadence (all parts).

Here's a variety of MIDI recordings so you can play along with different combinations of instrumentation.

• All parts
• Snare and bass only
• Snare, bass, and cymbal only
• Snare and tenor only
• Snare, tenor, and cymbal only
• Tenor and bass only
• Tenor, bass, and cymbal only

Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)

Tom Wallace arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

The Beat Goes On Cadence

Recorded January 13, 2013. Contains three full run-throughs (16 measures each). Please note that the trombone lick ("The beat goes on ...") is being played INCORRECTLY here (there's an extra eighth note included); we fix that in an updated recording.

Theme from S.W.A.T.

Finale playback of our arrangement.

Also try this original recording, which matches our arrangement well.

Thriller

This is the arrangement by Paul Murtha, in the Series One Marching Band Series published by Hal Leonard.

Recorded by TBGO on July 20, 2014. The tuba/baritone Groove starting at bar 3 is *almost* correct here. (In fact, it's correct a lot of the time and sooo cloooose the rest of the time.) See below for more on the Groove.

The recording's not great, but here's a fun example of what can happen when we have an enthusiastic crowd egging us on. Here's a version recorded by TBGO at the NWAPA Championships, Hillsboro Stadium, October 29 2011.

• Throughout: Pay attention to articulations - especially all those staccato and "hat" notes.
• Bar 1: Be sure to wait for the sixteenth note (don't play it too soon). THRIL-LER!
• Low brass at bar 3: Be sure to keep these notes short. Watch out for the sixteenth note at the back end of beat 3 in each measure - don't let it slip onto the downbeat of 4! Getting this line right will make a big difference in whether we sound like a stodgy marching band or a band with a groove! Click here to listen to the Groove starting at bar 3.
• Bar 7: Long notes stay out of the way. Low brass keep the groove going. High woodwinds and trumpets carry the melody. Click here to hear the melody part from 7 to 31.
• Big build going into 23. At 23, be sure to wait on the sixteenth note (just like at the beginning). Volume comes down again at 25, builds at 27, down again at 29.
• Bar 30: Keep the hat notes short!
• Bar 32: Tenor saxes and trombones are the melody here and should be BIG! All that other stuff needs to be background. Trombones must ACCENT so this part pops. We also had problems with the rhythm through this section, so listen (and practice) below. Also watch out for 39-40, where the rhythm was really rocky.
• Bar 40-41: Many parts here are rhythmically difficult; be sure to listen (and practice) below. Bar 41 should also have a forte-piano with crescendo (you won't hear this in the MIDI version, but do it anyway! <grin>)
  • Click here to listen to the trombone (lead) part from 32 to 42.
  • Click here to listen to the other parts from 32 to 42.
  • Click here to listen to all the parts together from 32 to 42.
• Bar 42: Tubas and baritones: The dotted eighth is staccato; the sixteenth must be accented and placed properly. Again, this keeps us in the groove. (You can hear four bars of this lick in the recordings above.)
• Bar 46: May the long notes mysterious; swell and release the volume.
• Bar 54: SUDDEN LOUD NOTE AND SCREAM!
• Bar 55: Drums must get us back into the final chorus.
• On the D.S.: Be sure to mark the "To Coda" at end of Bar 29; if you play bars 30 and 31 here it'll sound goofy.

Time Warp

Recorded by TBGO on May 26, 2019.

For comparison, here's another recording of the Tom Wallace arrangement (not a TBGO recording). And finally, here's the Purdue All-America Marching Band playing this same arrangement.

Toccata!

Recorded by TBGO March 20, 2016.

Important things to note:

• If possible, make sure all parts are covered in all sections -- there's lots of "chordal writing" in this part and it sounds great if we have all the voices.
• Need great tone quality throughout thanks to all the long notes.
• Quarter note parts (high voices) at A: Clean, short, and precise is the order of the day. This is your chance to be the Canadian Brass (even if you're a flute or clarinet or sax). Doesn't have to be loud (since many people are covering the parts), just CLEAN. First 4 bars in "high" parts (Fl/Cl/Tpt) should crescendo, last 4 bars decrescendo (can't hear much difference on recording). On the repeat, these parts will start at mezzo-piano (and do a little cresc/decresc) so we have something different to listen to. Low brass etc stay underneath volume-wise!
• Low brass leads the way at letter B - high voices, pull back and give them the floor!
• Letters C, D, E: Once again, clean and precise. Percussion section has to be restrained at A and B in favor of other voices, but this is their chance to shine!
• First half of F: Most people are holding a big chord here. Bring out the moving notes in the parts that have them: Cornet 3, Horn 2, TBone 1, Baritone/TSax 1. Balance the big chords throughout!
• Letter F M4 (1:01): Cut off the long note INCLUDING THE TRILL right on the downbeat as written (you can hear holdovers on the recording and it messes up the effect). Same thing 4 bars later, but this one sounds better!
• Second half of F: Accent each entrance, then back away a bit for the next entrance. The trills begin in three different bars, so be sure to read your part! (For instance: trumpets 1, 2, and 3 begin their trills one bar after each other).
• Letter G: We have two "half bands" (high voices and low voices) playing the same rhythm, but half a beat apart throughout this section. Don't be fooled! Maintain balance -- both parts should be equally heard. Trombones, make the most of the big glissando in the first ending -- you can really romp on this one! In the second ending, parts with four quarter notes (low to mid voices) must be VERY precise about starting these on time and playing cleanly since this is what gets us out of the "offset" of letter G and kicks us back to the tic-tic-tic precision of letter A. Sounds great on this recording!
• Letter A on the D.S.: When you take the D.S. back to A, be sure to take the repeat (first ending)! (I know this seems counter-intuitive, but it's what makes musical sense.) To be precise, here's what happens:
  • Take the D.S. back to A.
  • Play 8 bars, including the first ending.
  • Take the repeat back to A.
  • Play 6 bars and jump to the coda.
• Letter H: This is a long wind-down and gets quieter as people drop out and the voices get lower. Watch pitch in low brass as we hit the half notes in the coda -- sounds iffy. Low voices please continue to be solid after you've reached the half notes and become the long remaining voices. Would like this to be stronger, more asssertive -- we're finishing a phrase, not dying at the end of it <grin>.
• Letter I: This is a long build, with voices entering at many points as we work up the chord. Bell tones throughout: When you have a new note to add, sting it well, then back away so we get the next sound. Overall, we'll continue to crescendo as new voices enter. Watch the "half beat" entrances in bar 3 (A Sax, Horn, Baritone) and bar 7 (Flute, Clarinet, A Sax 1, Trombone 2).
• Letter J: Bring out the chord change in bar 5 (A Sax 1, Cornet 2, Horn 2, TBone 1, TSax/Bar 2)
• Just before Letter K (1:45): Snare entered early on recording -- that ride patter starts just as the band is ending its long note.
• Letter K: Really great forte-piano here please! Don't crescendo too soon - watch me, we're going to bring it back late. Percussion, you can lead the crescendo since you have the moving part.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Here are the recordings from the Augsut 18,2018 rehearsal:

• Janet T on sax, Janet S on horn
• Janet T on sax, Jan C on horn
• Don and Kevin on sax, Janet S on horn
• Edited version with beginning composed of the best parts of first 3 recordings. This is the best one for listening / rehearsal.

Notes on the above recordings:

• Horns: I'm losing you on the downbeat in bars 1 and 2. (The problem may have been me since I was facing into the woodwinds and you may have been unable to see the beat). We need those downbeats to set up the clarinets and flutes.
• Baritone: Entrace in bar 3 MUST be solid and properly rhythmic. On the recordings, sometimes this is good, sometimes iffy. Keep working, it's improving.
• Sax, you can sing out even more.
• Flutes/horns bar 11-14: Intonation problematic on long note that ends each phrase. Note that the F flat (C flat for horns) carries through the measure to the long note.
• Sax: Watch the Bb in measure 11.
• Trumpets:  More crescendo from 21 to the cut-off in 26 would be lovely.
• All: Crescendo 24 to the cut-off in 26. It should sound just like we were planning to keep playing but suddenly stopped.
• All:  The "resume" in bar 26 should be fortissimo (right where we left off!) and then decrescendo down to the flute/clarinet line in 28 and the sax solo in 29.
• Bass Clarinet / Tuba: Need to better align 31. Judy's idea of putting you two together physically will help.
• Baritone:  Solo line in 31-35 is not aligning with sax (baritone is dragging and rhythms are not quite correct). OK to just omit this (let sax carry it) if we keep having trouble here.

Additional observations:

• The rhythms are tricky, but not THAT tricky. Keep a 4-ticks-per-beat rhythm going in your head, figure out where each figure belongs against that rhythm, and don't drag. Don't guess, figure it out!
• One figure that causes a lot of grief is 16th rest followed by three 16th notes. It's easy to be LATE on these entrances. These are generally bad places to breath (it'll make you late).
• Soloists: It's okay to play louder than the marked dynamics. Be confident!
• Once more: DON'T DRAG (and don't rush). Watch Steve, keep the music flowing and rhythmic.

The following recordings make it easier to hear rhythms that are giving people trouble.

For comparison, here's a Finale playback of the chart that can help you learn rhythms.

Here's a concert band recording. This is probably the best way for you to clearly hear and learn the rhythms of the more complicated parts (although to my ear the alto sax is rushing, especially in the early part of the tune). But nice blends and a good way to hear how all the parts fit together.

Here's the official Bonnie Tyler music video. Note that there's a second verse and a longer runout that we don't play. But same key and otherwise the same arrangement, so you can play right along with the recordings.

Here's a link to the lyrics. In the places where you have melody lines that are tricky, it can be VERY helpful to know the lyrics since they'll guide you toward the correct rhythms. You might even want to write them on your part in critical places as a reminder.

Tribute to America

Recorded by TBGO on September 27, 2015. This contains the new "modified" ending; we'll have updated sheet music for you at upcoming rehearsal.

As you work on this tune, pay attention to where you have the lead and where you are in a supporting role. Balance is important throughout, but especially at the key change in middle of the piece where we have three (!) patriotic tunes being quoted by different sections of the band, all at the same time.

Uma Thurman

Recorded by TBGO on August 19, 2018. Compare with the Hal Leonard recording.

Unchain My Heart

Recorded by TBGO April 12, 2015. The snare drums are missing from this recording, which is why you don't hear the cymbals in the drum solo section. But the rest of the solo (and the rest of the recording) is solid.

For comparison, here's a recording of the Chris Sharp arrangement (not a TBGO recording).

Up!

Recorded by TBGO March 10, 2013. This is our first decent recording since we finally got a full rehearsal to work on it! This is the Beta 3 arrangement, which will now be anointed as the final arrangement.

For another idea of what this SHOULD sound like, try this MIDI rendition of the TBGO arrangement.

Uptown Flash

This is a little "walk-on" prelude that lets us use Uptown Funk as a flash-band tune.

Click here to download and print your part.

Click here for a MIDI (Finale) rendition to get the idea of how it's supposed to work.

The repeated sections in Uptown Flash are all "vamps"; i.e., we can repeat them as many times as necessary (not just twice) since it may take longer than two times to get the next group of people in position and ready to play. Director will CUE when to move to the next section. If you're not in sight of the director (because you're still in "hiding"), you can also tell when we move to the next section by listening to when the new part comes in.

In the MP3 above, each section is played exactly twice.

Here's how the sections work:

• At Measure 1: Tubas begin with a very simple lick. If snare is available, it can play backbeats on rims.
• At Measure 5: Add drums to the simple tuba lick. Mostly backbeats, but the tenors (toms) have a nice little figure.
• At Measure 9: Add saxes and horns with a simple eighth note figure.
• At Measure 13: Add trombones playing the "Uptown Funk" lick. Tubas switch from the simple lick to the Uptown Funk lick. Saxes/Horns also change to a groovier lick.
• At Measure 17: Add woodwinds, trumpets, and mallets.
• THEN ON CUE: Start at the top (Measure 1) of Uptown Funk.

Note that the first few bars of Uptown Funk are shown on your Uptown Flash part for reference. But the basic idea is that you should flip over to your Uptown Funk part at that point.

Uptown Funk

We're still working on getting the feel of the dotted eighth-sixteenth figure, but we've come a long way! (Not to mention we've finally conquered the dreaded Bar 42!)

Here's our best current recording done on January 24, 2016.

For comparison, here's the original sample recording (not TBGO). Listen to how much crisper it is!

Additional Notes:

• Drums, please listen to the original recording to be sure you're playing the correct rhythm in bar 2. (This is a good place to try the "write it out double-length" technique described in the section for Fireball.)
• Be careful not to drag starting in bar 3.
• In the section starting at bar 23, flute/trumpet be sure to hold those response notes to full value.
• Bar 29: Melody folks (clarinet / alto sax / horn / trombone) watch out for the change in rhythm.
• Bar 42:  By far the trickiest bar in the whole piece. The good news: EVERYONE in the whole band plays the same rhythm.

• Here's bar 41 and 42 with one "count-in" bar of drums in front. Click here for a practice loop of this section of the tune (the loop repeats 6 times). If your part isn't shown above, just use your actual sheet music; you part fits in just fine. Here's a slower version of the practice loop in case you want to start slow and work up to full speed.

• As one more aid, here's JUST bar 42 written out with all the notes doubled in length (and rebarred into two measures). Play this slow to get the rhythm straight, then keep increasing the tempo until you're back up to the original speed. (See Fireball for another explanation of writing out parts at double length.)

• Bar 46: Need to bring out the nice lick on beats 3 and 4 in tenor sax / trumpet / horn / trombone / baritone / tuba.
• MODIFICATION:  We do NOT play the stinger (the last beat of bar 50). This note has been replace with everyone going "HUNH!" (listen to the Aug 30 recording).

Uptown Funk Virtual Band Project

Here's the Master Track for the project. Use this recording "in your ear" when you record your video.

The above track is MIDI-only, so there are no words in the singing parts, just sounds. If you prefer to hear it with words, use this Master Track with Words that includes Steve singing along. (It's not pretty -- consider yourself warned! <grin>).

Twirlers:  Here's a YouTube video of the routine you're using for this version of Uptown Funk.

Venus

Now we're cookin'! Recorded by TBGO on April 15, 2018. The April 15 recording is cleaner overall, but unfortunately starts a few measures into the tune. If you want ALL the measures, try this February 18 recording instead.

• Here's the original Tom Wallace recording for comparison (not TBGO).

Veterans Salute

Full arrangement (recorded by TBGO on September 23, 2018). This is the NEW arrangement that includes Semper Paratus.

For reference, here's a version not recorded by TBGO.

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

Recorded by TBGO August 2022.

Recording of the Nick Baratta arrangement (not TBGO).

The Tricky Parts: Here are four rehearsal tracks to help you play the correct rhythms in the "tricky backgrounds" of Wake Me Up. Each track starts with a 4-count drum intro. Click the instrument names to listen and play along.

Trumpets and Horns: Bars 5-12

Low Brass & WW: Bars 22-30

Low Brass & WW: Bars 33-40

Flute Clarinet Alto Sax: Bars 50-60

Washington Post March

Recorded by TBGO February 24, 2013.

Not quite Sousa-precise, but nevertheless a decent recording.

We Got the Beat

IMPORTANT: When we did the virtual band project for this tune, measures 51-54 (the singing section) were marked "Play 3X (12 bars)". However, in LIVE PERFORMANCE we have CHANGED this to be "Play 2X (8 bars)". The MP3's immedicately below in the PURPLE box use the latter format (2X through the singing section), which is how we're playing it in performance. However, I've left the virtual band MP3's (with 3X through the singing section) in the GREEN box below since that gives you some additional practice tracks that may be useful. The ONLY difference is how many times to play through the singing section; as long as you're aware of that you can rehearse with either set of recordings.

Performance Notes:

• Pay close articulations throughout. Accents and length of note make a big difference in how exciting this piece sounds!

We Like to Party

Recorded by TBGO August 19, 2018.

Here's a full version of the tune from MIDI playback, which may help you hear what sections and rhythms should sound like.

And finally, here's rehearsal material for the drum section as requested. (NOTE: This is out of date since we simplified some transitions on Feb 18, but may still be somewhat helpful).

• Bars 42-51 as played by our drum section
• Bars 10-18 (MIDI playback)
• Bars 18-26 (MIDI playback)
• Bars 42-51 (MIDI playback)
• Bars 26-51 (MIDI playback)
• Bars 58-End (MIDI playback)

We Need a Little Christmas

Recorded December 1, 2019 by TBGO. Rollicking good fun!!!

Here's the non-TBGO recording.

We're An American Band

Full arrangement recorded by TBGO on March 8, 2015. We often do this as a medley with Louie Louie; here are the two tunes as a medley (also March 8 2015).

For comparison purposes, here is the Tom Wallace recording.

We have some simple "choreography" (horn swings) that we do with this tune. Here's a copy of the alto sax part for this tune with the horn swings marked so you can see where they go.

• The most important moves are in measures 9/10, 13/14, and 33/34. In each of these spots, horns go sharply up and to the LEFT at the beginning of the first bar, and sharply up and to the RIGHT at the beginning of the second.
• Bar 23-24: Horns move DOWN with the subito mp and then come UP slowly with the crescendo.
• Bar 32: Again, horns move DOWN with the fp and come UP with the crescendo.
• Bar 48: Same thing, DOWN with the fp and UP with the crescendo.
• Bar 49 (final bar): DOWN on beat 1, UP on beat 2 and HOLD the up position for a few counts.
• Bonus moves: The saxes (and possibly others) do a few other moves you can adopt if they work for your part. In Bar 25-26 there's a LEFT, RIGHT, CENTER move that repeats at 27-28, 41-42, and 43-44. Other small accent moves are marked in the part.

Wooly Bully

Recorded by TBGO November 20, 2011.

• I like to look at folks in the crowd and raise fingers as we chant "Uno-dos-one-two-tres-quatro" -- it gets them engaged.
• Throughout the piece: The background eighth notes must be staccato, light, not too loud. They keep the energy high, but aren't the feature!
• First two played bars: Crisp attacks, then cut off the notes together (especially in bar 3)! Maintain separation between the notes in bars 4-5. We get a powerful start when we get these three bars right, otherwise, it's just blase. (This sounds good in the recording.)
• Whenever you have the melody, cut off the notes at the end of each phrase properly. Listen to the trumpets cut off together in bars 19, 21, 23. Again, this makes the tune tight and powerful!
• Big crescendo in bar 25 and into bar 26, then immediate drop in volume level back to mf.
• Bars 28-31: Note the long-short articulations in the flutes, clarinets, trumpets.
• Bars 33-38: Alto saxes and trombones have the melody, cut off ends of long notes together!
• Bars 40-41: Again, a big crescendo and then sudden drop to mf.
• Pickups to 47: HUGE drop in volume. This MUST include percussion and trash line! On the street, we kinda crouch and sneak along, then come back up 4 bars later when we crescendo.
• Bar 51: Tenor saxes, baritones, tubas have a big crescendo to get the band back to ff.
• Bar 54: Make the hat note SHORT.
• Bar 54: Clarinets and saxes need to wail on this lick. Hit the accents!
• Bar 55: Keep the hat notes SHORT.

Word Up

Recorded at TBGO rehearsal on January 25, 2015. You can get it with the repeat or without the repeat. Most of the track is pretty good, though there's a weak entrance for the final strain.

Here's a rendition recorded by TBGO at the NWAPA Championships, Hillsboro Stadium, October 29 2011. It's not as good a recording, but the energy level in the stadium is great fun!

Original arrangement (not recorded by TBGO). This does NOT have the extension described below.

We've added an extra verse/chorus to the original arrangment. This repeat is now marked in all the music we hand out. We normally perform this tune using the repeat, but will occasionally do it with no repeat if we want a shorter version of the tune.

We're also replicating the chant from the original tune each time we reach bars 33-36:

Word Up Cadence and Solos

We also use the tuba lick at the beginning of Word Up as a cadence on the street or for marching into a show. We normally perform it as follows:

• Tubas start all by themselves as in the original song
• Drums join after four bars
• Other parts of low brass begin reinforcing the tuba lick four bars later.
• Once the lick is established, soloists can take 8-bar improv solos. (If you're interested, the key is F minor concert.) We take turns with soloists stepping in until we're ready to play the full tune. At that point, the director will signal a cut-off, the tubas will go immediately back to the top of the chart, and the rest of the band enters normally when they reach their respective parts.

YMCA

Full arrangment (uses MIDI instruments).

• At the beginning, be sure we don't get too loud too fast. There's lots of time to play loud later!
• Bar 27: These notes must be short and crisp. Same later on at 45-46.
• Bar 28: Melody people make sure to bring out these pickups.
• Bars 30-31: Trumpets and high winds keep this quiet; it's an ornament, not the melody.
• Bars 38-41: Again, the sixteenth note figure must not overpower the melody. Keep the sixteenths staccato, but the quarter note at end of phrase is tenuto (long).
• At 55: Sing lustily! Only instruments are the basses, plus the alto saxes on the SECOND HALF of each phrase ("You'll be makin' the scene ...").
• Trombones at 64: Make sure to play these pickups to get us going again!
• Bars 72-73: This is a "stack", with different instruments coming in on each beat. Play each note as a bell tone, then immediately get out of the way for the next note.

You're a Grand Old Flag

Recorded by TBGO on June 28, 2015.

We add a vocal verse to this tune as follows:

• Play through the song once (down to the first ending); do NOT play the pickups at the end of the first ending.
• Sing a full verse of the song, with accompaniment by tubas and drums:
• I'll count you back in and we sing a verse with the crowd (with drums and tuba accompaniment), then take the repeat and play it one more time. Trumpets, play the last bar of the first ending as we end the singing verse (helps get us back into playing again).

  You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag,
  And forever in peace may you wave.
  You're the emblem of the land I love,
  The home of the free and the brave.
  Every heart beats true 'Neath the red, white and blue
  Where there's never a boast or brag.
  "But should auld acquaintance be forgot"
  Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

• When we finish singing, take the repeat and play through for the final time, taking the second ending. Trumpets, play the last bar of the first ending as we end the singing verse (helps get us back into playing again).

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

Recorded by TBGO on November 6, 2016 -- back in the book after a long absence!