gglassmeyer

I know that in our band, the director has to constantly fight us over dynamics on Sousa marches. One thing that doesn't help our cause is that we have 13-15 trumpets in a 65 piece concert band. It's a bit of overkill, but sometimes I still feel like I'm the only one playing my part.

One other issue that comes up is the subconcious desire to slow down prior to the piccolo solo in Stars and Stripes, our director insists that we only slow down the second time through. I like the Canadian Brass salute to Sousa where they have the tuba player playing the piccolo solo, later followed by a piccolo trumpet.

A well played march with proper dynamics is a wonderful thing.

The director records our concerts and every time I listen to them, I'm dissapointed by how overall our performance is decent, but there are so many little things that screw things up. Transitions/keychanges/tempo/intonation/dynamics etc.. That's what really makes or breaks a performance. We're always going to have issues since it's community band and no auditions are done. Some folks just don't have the ear for intonation and don't reliably practice or know how to subdivide or follow direction. It's great fun though for those of us who don't make a living as musicians. I have great satisfaction when I hear an arrangement played on the radio or CD that our group has performed and knowing that I can do that.

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Greg Glassmeyer