On the 12th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Twelve bars a-bluesin'!
Eleven drummers drumming,
Ten months of band fun,
Nine flutes a-dancing,
Eight Brame analogies,
Seven saxes swinging,
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

As we come to the close of this fun little parody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," we finish, appropriately enough, with the 12-bar blues. This was one of the units Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble studied in the fall, as we listened to the great performers from B.B. King to Muddy Waters. We also became a giant blues band and had many students taking their own improvised blues solos.

And speaking of improvisation, we just finished our annual blues unit in Jazz Band. The students learned the progression and its many variations, played a transcribed solo by Dexter Gordon, wrote their own blues heads, and took a blues solo playing test. I can confidently say that all 14 players can now play stylistically appropriate jazz solos over blues changes.

Before I close this blog series, I have to leave you with one track to enjoy. Here is that rare cross between holiday music and the 12-bar blues. Lightnin' Hopkins, take us home!

Christmas Blues - Lightnin' Ho...

On the 11th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Eleven drummers drumming!
Ten months of band fun,
Nine flutes a-dancing,
Eight Brame analogies,
Seven saxes swinging,
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Okay, I know the actual song goes "Twelve drummers drumming," but in our Symphonic Band, we have eleven, which is quite a large number. Most bands of that size would be well served with six or seven percussionists, but we are blessed with a large and diverse crew, not one of whom I would ever give up. Sure, it means a lot of sharing of parts, but it's a happy section that knows how to both work hard and to have fun. I credit this to the leadership of past-president Paul Brisske who set the tone for his successors, who in turn have ably carried on in his footsteps. So here's to drummers everywhere, to anyone who has ever felt that hitting things was the best way to make music!

On the 10th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Ten months of band fun!
Nine flutes a-dancing,
Eight Brame analogies,
Seven saxes swinging,
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

So here's my list of the coolest DHS Band event for each month of the school year:

• August - Marching Band Camp! The march off at the end of the week is only one of many great traditions.
  
• September - The Potpourri Concert where Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble debut for the year in front of a capacity crowd in the auditorium.
  
• October - Bandorama, the shortest and loudest concert of the year.
  
• November - The Fall Band Concert where each group gets to show off all of their first quarter work.
  
• December - The Jazz Band's gig in the front hall on the day before winter break (although the citrus unloading is a close second!)
  
• January - The Honors Level Recital, everyone's favorite last-minute concert paper opportunity.
  
• February - The Evanston Township HS Jazz Festival with the requisite side trip to Buffalo Joe's.
  
• March - The Solo and Ensemble Contest together with our friends from HPHS.
  
• April - Jazz Night as the Jazz Band joins forces with Choraliers for a swinging evening.
  
• May - The social event of the year, the Band Awards Dinner!
  

So what do we do in June and July? To paraphrase former Chicago Cub legend, Rogers Hornsby, "We stare out the window and wait for fall."

On the 9th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Nine flutes a-dancing!
Eight Brame analogies,
Seven saxes swinging,
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Just when did our normally mild-mannered flutes become the Dancing Flutes? Well, it started back in the early part of this decade, when a bunch of flute players decided to dance along to pep music in the stands. At some point, they convinced me to let them dance on the field. I'm not sure exactly which year it began, but I do remember one routine that involved sword fighting with their instruments and another that included the pom pass-off. This year, we only had three flutes in the section, and it was a bit much to ask them to dance in front of the band as a trio. So we decided to bring it to an end. Thus, another tradition fades.

But that's actually okay. Traditions don't last forever. Take the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival. Sometime in the 1980s or late 70s, the marching band began competing in a parade contest in Sycamore, Illinois. The trophies that we won always had a grinning pumpkin head on top. Some years, we won our division as well as several categories like best drum major or best winds. One year we forgot to bring all of our drum sticks and beaters and had to go around to other bands to beg for their cast-offs. Of course, instead of this being a valuable lesson to our forgetful drummers, they won the outstanding percussion section award. Go figure.

Anyway, the festival was the source of all kinds of crazy traditions: Edu the inflatable pumpkin, the "We hate clowns" chant, the 50-piece Chicken McNugget challenge, the retelling of the 40 mph/40 degree monsoon story, etc., etc. But the parade competition eventually passed into the hands of people who didn't know much about marching bands, and the contest deteriorated quickly. When we stopped going, it had pretty much fallen apart. For a few years, band students were very upset, but we began new traditions. Maybe none quite so colorful, but Sycamore had a good run, just like "The Funky Warrior" and the "Where's Waldo" pep band shirts. In the same manner we have retired the Dancing Flutes, destined to become an obscure blog entry of their own in the year 2016.

On the 8th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Eight Brame analogies!
Seven saxes swinging.
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

So what's your favorite Mr. B analogy? Here are some of mine:

1. The pyramid (for balance)
   
2. The star (for precision)
   
3. Sour milk (for intonation)
   
4. Sizzling (for soft energy)
   
5. The see-saw (for call and response)
   
6. Walking through mud (for dragging)
   
7. Nesting Russian dolls (for blend)
   
8. And of course, the oldest one, breaking the glass (for releases)
   

Leave your comments with any I might be missing!

On the 7th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Seven saxes swinging!
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Ah yes, the glorious saxophone which comes in so many different sizes, the best known of which are:

1. Eb Sopranino
   
2. Bb Soprano
   
3. Eb Alto
   
4. Bb Tenor
   
5. Eb Baritone
   
6. Bb Bass
   
7. Eb Contrabass

That's seven to go along with the seventh day, but let's not neglect the C melody sax. In between an alto and a tenor, it's a concert key instrument and doesn't transpose. It was created so that it could read off of piano sheet music. I inherited one from a family member, and I took it to my high school sax teacher, Casper Boghosian (the original Mr. B) who was also a top-notch repairman. I asked him if we could fix it up. His response was, "We'll make it into a lamp." Thinking he was joking, I said, "No, really, can we do it?" Again he said, "No, we'll make it into a lamp." I guess he had little respect for this obsolete member of the sax family. I still have it in my basement, and no, it's not a lamp.

But we're still missing some other members of the clan. Besides altos in F, curved sopranos, and straight altos, tenors, and baris, there's a tiny Bb soprillo sax, also known as a piccolo sax. On the other end of the spectrum, there's the granddaddy of them all, the Bb subcontrabass, also called the tubax. You can learn about all of these wonderful, esoteric instruments at the Sax Family Gallery. Check out the pictures and soundclips, especially the one of the tubax playing the bass line on "The Entertainer." Mercy!

On the 6th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Six cool band trips!
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Yes, I know this is a non-trip year.
Yes, I know the seniors hate me because of it.
Yes, I know I've never taken you overseas.
However, I will now give you my six favorite band trip moments from the last 21 years:

1) EPCOT, 2009 - Getting a standing ovation from the hometown crowd of orchestra and choir students after playing the quasi-Brazilian samba tune, "Rio Con Brio."
2) Boston, 2007 - Scheduling an outdoor performance at Faneuil Hall in April, and having the weather forecast predict 45 degrees and rain. Instead, we had mid-50s, sun, and an appreciative lunchtime crowd of native Bostonians enjoying our concert.

3) Philadelphia, 2005 - Besides a cool performance at the Constitution Center, the real story of the trip was transportation. A band father rented a trailer for all of the band and orchestra instruments as well as all of our music. Unfortunately, his pickup truck died in Pittsburgh, and we had nothing to play at our first stop at a high school. The father then proceeded to do what any self-respecting band parent would do. He bought a new truck in Pittsburgh and drove the rest of the way.

4) St. Louis, 1989 - My very first trip with my very tiny band. One of our gigs was playing along with the entertainment on a dinner boat cruise. The jazz band augmented the backup ensemble and became part of the show. We almost didn't make it, however, because our bassist locked his case and left the key back home. The day was saved when he picked the lock with a fork.

5) Los Angeles, early 2000s - We performed at DisneyWorld and had an excellent clinic at UC Santa Barbara. We also went to a famous rock club to see one of our alums' bands play. One of their songs went into very raunchy lyrics as Mrs. Akers and I sat very uncomfortable between two band parents, an Episcopalian priest and a rabbi. Oh, and the La Brea tarpits were very cool, even though Mrs. Akers kept calling me a geek for thinking so.

6) Seattle, 1990 - This destination was chosen because the students wanted to visit their beloved former band director, Paul Harshman, who spent one year at DHS before leaving for his home state of Washington. I owe him for telling me that he was resigning from DHS and that I should apply for his job. We had a great exchange with his very fine high school band and a clinic at the University of Washington.

Here's to Montreal, 2011!

On the 5th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Five golden means!
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Ah, the golden mean! This is a fascinating mathematical ratio that is found in numerous art forms, from architecture to music. It is based on an irrational number called "phi" that is approximately 1.618. (The symbol is the Greek letter you see to above.) It is found by solving the equation x-1=1/x. By using it in different combinations, you can create what many artists believe to be pleasing ratios for various shapes like rectangles. It also appears in nature, as seen in pine cones and nautilus shells. When used in music, it means that the composer places an important event (like the return of a main theme) 61.8% of the way through a piece. Some theorists have shown this to be true in the music of Mozart, who was fascinated by numbers. The piece that SB and WE played last year, Spring Festival by Chen Yi, made use of this ratio three times.

Want to know more? Click here.

On the 4th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Four pep band games!
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Yes, it's that time again! From what Mr. Velleuer told me this morning, Pep Band A did a wonderful job last night as the Warriors crushed Maine West, 70-24. I wish you all lots of fun as you play all those great rock tunes and cheer on our home team. I played in my high school pep band, did one year at Northwestern, and then conducted pep bands for 20 years at Round Lake and Deerfield, so I know how much fun they can be. Good luck on a great season!

On the 3rd day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Three French horns!
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

So why is the horn called a "French" horn? According to Grove Music Online, the circular, coiled hunting horn (without valves) developed in 17th-century France, but it didn't really become the modern orchestral horn until it was refined in the 18th and 19th centuries in German. It could probably just as easily be called a German horn, but music snobs like myself refer to it only as "the horn." I'm sure our student teacher, Mr. Morden, would agree. At least it's not as bad as the English horn, which is neither English nor a horn.

On the 2nd day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

A two-headed turtle!
And a piccolo in the key of C.

On days when the orchestra players leave Wind Ensemble to play in the symphony, we typically spend a few minutes discussing topics that are brought up "for the good of the order." This can range from YouTube clip oddities to random thoughts about current events in the school. One day, we found out that Katie had found a two-headed turtle and kept it for a pet. That's the kind of important information that we share on OW days. And we get cupcakes and $20 bills.

On the 1st day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

A Piccolo in the Key of C!

Did you know that piccolos used to be in Db? That means that when a band played in Bb concert, the piccolo was in A. This was done so that fingerings in orchestral transpositions would be easier. It gradually fell out of favor, but whenever we pull out a piece of music from before 1950 or so, there is always a Db piccolo part.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Citrus!

Yes, this morning we unloaded our several tons of oranges and grapefruit, fresh from the sunny orchards of Indian River Groves in Florida. As always, many hands made for light work, and we earned lots of money for future trips and the general band fund. As Mr. Velleuer commented, "It's our one fundraiser that's actually healthy!"

Band Website URL Change

Just a quick note--

If you have the DHS Band website bookmarked, please update it to the following URL:

http://dhs.dist113.org/faculty/BrameD/website/index.htm

Thanks!

Mr. B