COMPOSING AND ARRANGING FOR SCHOOL BANDS (2019)

Instructor: Dr. Scott Watson (​drscottwatson@gmail.com​)

Detailed Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION (​watch the video description!​)

This course is designed to help those with an interest in writing music for school bands take
their music to the next level of effectiveness and professionalism. There are many great
reasons to compose and arrange for your own ensembles, and no one knows your band and
its abilities better than you! For those exploring the idea of expanding the audience for their
music, we’ll be discussing the conventions of writing at various levels (elementary,
intermediate, high school and beyond), criteria related to the grading system (Grade .5 through
6 instrumentation, ranges, rhythms, doubling, etc.), preparing the score/parts, commissions,
and tips for submitting music to publishers. Several scores which model effective band writing
will be examined, along with a discussion of the craft of composition, traits of music of lasting
worth, one-on-one coaching, and your questions.

Instructor Dr. Scott Watson, a frequently published and commissioned composer of music for
band and orchestra at all levels and an exclusive composer for Alfred Music, will share
publisher templates, tips for shopping your music to publishers, and ways to prepare
professional looking scores and great sounding demo recordings. Bring your band sketches,
manuscripts, and score files along. Bring your laptop and any other gear you may want (e.g.
MIDI controller, etc.) for working on your scores throughout the week.

COURSE MATERIALS

● Course Google Doc

● Select Concert Band Conductors Scores for Analysis (To Be Announced)
● Your manuscript (music notation software file, hand copied, PDF, etc.) of
composition/arrangement for which you would like feedback (completed or
work-in-progress)
● Personal Laptop – We will access many materials from the Internet (Website, YouTube,
Google Drive, etc.). Bring your personal laptop for viewing these materials, note taking
and more!
● Other Tech tools you use when creating music: portable USB MIDI controller keyboard,
sketchbook or manuscript paper and pencil, etc.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be able to…
 ● Identify and deploy appropriate ranges and idiomatic writing for all the instruments of
the concert band in class writing projects.
● Identify and analyze a host of compositional devices by studying excerpts from concert
band scores and other music.
● Identify the features and criteria of concert band compositions/arrangements written at
each Grade level from .5 through 5.
● Create a brief but compelling arrangement for concert band based on an assigned public
domain keyboard piece or folk song, employing compositional devices and
level-appropriate criteria and features studied.
● Design and construct a plan, including strategies discussed in class, for submitting
concert band music to an editor/publisher for serious consideration.

PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENT - TWO PARTS...

1) Complete the ​STUDENT SURVEY linked here​.
2) MEET THE COMPOSER (via podcast interview) - Robert Sheldon:​ Listen to Parts 1
and 2 of the following podcast interview with composer Robert Sheldon:
a) PART 1, What Music Means to Me​ ​(alternate location for part 1)​ [27:39]
b) PART 2, What Music Means to Me​ ​(alternate location for part 2)​ [20:18]
c) Then, COMPLETE the ​Sheldon Podcast Listening Journal

Daily Schedule (University of the Arts)

8:30 Opening Activities

8:45 Instruction/Course Activities
10:30 BREAK [15 mins.]
10:45 Resume Instruction/Course Activities
12:15 BREAK FOR LUNCH [1 hour]
1:15 Instruction/Course Activities
2:30 BREAK [15 mins.]
2:45 Instruction/Course Activities
4:15-4:30 ​Wrap Up (Reflection/Discussion, Nightly Assignments,
What to Bring Tomorrow)

WEEKLY PLANNER FOR CLASS​ (Snapshot of what we’ll do each day)

DAY ONE (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Welcome; Course/Instructor; Take roll; Schedule, Facilities, Logging Into Workstations, WIFI,
and Course Website

Course Description. Take a moment to discuss what this course is about; benefits of taking
this class. Have Ss share their name, teaching assignment (if in-service), why they took the
course, what they’re hoping to learn this week.

Materials Overview

INTRODUCTION TO SOME OF THE MAJOR THEMES OF THE WEEK: 3 Podcast

Episodes
Please jot down notes as you listen to each; then, discuss as a class.
● When Copying Is Good​ (direct link) - At ​Pod-o-matic.com​.
○ What are some important, actionable tips, suggestions, lessons you heard?
● The Craft of Composition​ (direct link) - At ​Pod-o-matic.com​.
○ What are some important, actionable tips, suggestions, lessons you heard?
● Night Journey​ (direct link) - At ​Pod-o-matic.com​. ​CLICK HERE​ ​for a listening guide
to the podcast.
○ What are some important, actionable tips, suggestions, lessons you heard?

REPERTOIRE LISTS
● Dr. W’s Young-to-Intermediate Band Recommendations (Grades .5 - 3)
● Core Repertoire Listening/Score Study

THE ART, PART 1

Creating a Compelling Narrative (to keep players and listeners engaged)
Process Model for Composition: ​Narrative Approach​ (Dr. Watson)
Daniel Deutsch Quote on Role of Story-telling
DNA (groove, motive, what the piece is about)
Timbre (tone color)
Texture (layering)
Form - Contrasting Material (A - B - A)
Proportion (organic unfolding)

Self-Awareness/Evaluation
● German vs. French School
● Your “Spirit Element”: Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, etc.? Implications?
● Instrument(s) You Play vs. Instruments for Which You Write
○ Do you Compose at the Piano? Implications?
 ● Creativity: DO you enjoy problem-solving?
○ The “Stravinsky Paradox” and parameters (self-imposed, other-imposed)

Economy
● Repetition and Variation
○ Efficient vs. Wasteful: Using/Developing Limited Seminal Ideas (i.e. mining the
potential of a theme or two), vs. Relying on Many Themes
○ Patterns in Music
○ The “Rule of 3’s”
● Development, Organic (natural, “inevitable”) Unfolding
● Example: “Shovetide Fair,” from opening tableau of ​Pertrushka​, Igor Stravinsky
○ Read about it in ​Process Model for Composition: ​Narrative Approach
○ Petrushka score
○ Ruhr Piano Festival’s “Multimedia Guide to ​Petrushka”​ ​ (need Flash)
○ Performance on YouTube

COMPOSITIONAL DEVICES (to guide the listener as the narrative of your piece unfolds)
1. Introduction
2. Phrase Extension
3. Transition/Link
4. Episode
5. Tension and Release (​Dragonship ​opening​, Der Erlkonig)​
6. Dialog, Back-and-Forth, Conversation
7. Countermelody, New “Layer” (​Dragonship, ​Movin’ On,​ C ​ apturing the Blue
Riband)​
8. Counterpoint, Imitative Counterpoint (​Hercules vs. the Hydra, Hanukkah Is
Here​)
9. Canon, Fugatto (​Race Car​)
10. Use of Silence, especially before big hit (​Balkan Seven)​
11. Retransition (​Galliard)​
12. Pedal Point​ (​Fantasy On An Old English Air​)
13. Closing Material, Coda (​The Peak-End Rule​)
14. Crafting Vertical from Horizontal​ (​Lion of Ireland​)
15. Cantus Firmus, Soggetto Cavato
16. Octave Displacement, Register
17. Symmetry/Mirroring (​“The Dog and the Bone,” from ​Aesop’s Fables)​
18. Modulation (​Magic Valley​)
19. False Ending (​Nimrod)​
20. Partner Song (​Hercules vs. the Hydra​)
21. Sound Effects: vocal, clusters, etc. (​“Extraordinary Machines…”​)
Note Collections

IN CLASS: Read​ the short article, ​“The Kids Play Great. But That Music.” by Steven Budiasky​.
Reflect and ​discuss​ any take-aways from Budiasky’s point of view.
● OPTIONAL​ ASSIGNMENT (probably will NOT do this): ​FULL INSTRUCTIONS​ linked
here​.

ASSIGNMENTS:
FOR TONIGHT: ​Begin PRE-COMPOSITION for ​ARRANGING ACTIVITY (directions/criteria)
● DUE WEDNESDAY (Draft)
● DUE FRIDAY (Final)

FOR TUE, WED or THUR (Sign Up)​: ​Composition Sharing & Feedback​ - ​SIGN UP MON​ for
day to share, either ​TUE, WED or THUR.
● Prepare some of ​your music​ to share with the class. This can be ​any type of music
(original or arrangement, concert band or other) that you have created.
○ Score​ - Finale file, Sibelius file, PDF, Manuscript, etc. to project
○ Playback​ - Finale playback, Sibelius playback, MP3 audio export from software,
MP3 or live performance, etc. to play
● We need ​equal numbers of students ​presenting each day!

DAY TWO (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

GO OVER SCORE ANALYSIS PROJECTS: ​“Ballet of the Chicks Hatching in Their Shells”

THE ART, PART 2

COMPOSITIONAL DEVICES (continued)
1. Introduction
2. Phrase Extension
3. Transition/Link
4. Episode
5. Tension and Release (​Dragonship o ​ pening​, Der Erlkonig​)
6. Dialog, Back-and-Forth, Conversation
7. Countermelody, New “Layer” (​Dragonship, Movin’ On)​
8. Counterpoint, Imitative Counterpoint (​Hercules vs. the Hydra, Hanukkah Is Here​)
9. Canon, Fugatto (​Race Car​)
10. Use of Silence, especially before big hit (​Balkan Seven​)
11. Retransition (​Galliard)​
12. Pedal Point (​Fantasy On An Old English Air)​
13. Closing Material, Coda (​The Peak-End Rule​)
 14. Crafting Vertical from Horizontal​ (​Lion of Ireland)​
15. Cantus Firmus, Soggetto Cavato
16. Octave Displacement, Register
17. Symmetry/Mirroring (​“The Dog and the Bone,” from ​Aesop’s Fables)​
18. Modulation (​Magic Valley​) ​- ​“Magic Valley” lead sheet
19. False Ending (​Nimrod​)
20. Partner Song (​Hercules vs. the Hydra​)
21. Sound Effects: vocal, clusters, etc. (​“Extraordinary Machines…”​)

Listening and Analysis (all or excerpt of the following)

1. Wade in the Water, Michael Sweeney (Grade 1)
2. At the Feast of Stephen, arr. Scott Watson (Grade 1)
3. Hercules vs. the Hydra, Scott Watson (Grade 1.5)
4. See Amid the Winter’s Snow, arr. Scott Watson (Grade 1.5)
5. Galliard, Scott Watson (Grade 2)
6. Terracotta Warriors, Scott Watson (Grade 2)
7. Rampage, Todd Stalter (Grade 3)
8. Magic Valley, Scott Watson (Grade 3)​ - ​“Magic Valley” lead sheet
9. Jubilant Flourishes, Travis Weller (Grade 3)
10. Cumberland Cross, Carl Strommen (Grade 4?)
11. Night Journey, Scott Watson (Grade 4) - ​score​, ​audio
12. A Longford Legend, Robert Sheldon (Grade 4)
13. Mt. Everest, Rossano Galante (Grade 4)​ - ​SCORE FOR ANALYSIS
14. Aesop’s Fables, Scott Watson (Grade 5)
15. Mid-Winter Songs, Morten Lauridsen
16. SpongeBob Movie Cue, John Debney
17. “Nimrod,” from Enigma Variations, Edward Elgar
18. “Ballet of the Chicks Hatching in Their Shells,” Modest Mussorgsky

THE CRAFT, PART 1

The Craft of Composition
Craft of Composition podcast: ​Fantasy On An Old English Air
● Is this an “arrangement”?
● Similar piece: ​Lion of Ireland
● Actual arrangement:​ See Amid the Winter’s Snow
● Your Arrangement Project (see assignments): Allows you much latitude/freedom

Brief Orchestration Review (ranges, idiomatic writing for wind and percussion instruments)
Special guidelines/requirements for mallet percussion and timpani
Shared Staff and Divisi Guidelines
The Creative Process
Precomposition (thinking about the piece, experimenting, improvising, sketching)
Keeping a sketchbook
Mobile Recording App for Singing Ideas
Brian Balmages: Sketching, Orchestrating
Assembling
Revision

The School Band “Grading System”

Student Level Limitations - Example of “parameters” to work within!
Appropriate keys, ranges, rhythms, and doublings for each age and/or grade level
How to set up scores for various publisher series aligned with the grade levels
American Band College Grading System
Publisher Grade Level and Series Criteria
Grade .5
Grade 1 and 1.5
Grade 2 and 2.5
Grade 3
Grade 4

SHARING YOUR MUSIC & FEEDBACK, PART 1. ​Prepare some of ​your music​ to share with
the class:
● Score​ - Finale file, Sibelius file, PDF, Manuscript, etc. to project
● Recording​ - Finale playback, Sibelius playback, MP3 audio export from software, MP3
or live performance, etc. to play

DAY THREE (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

CLASS CONTACT LIST: SIGN UP TO KEEP IN TOUCH​!

THE CRAFT, PART 2

Publishing
Choosing the best publisher for your music
Entre to Editor
Submitting your works to an editor for consideration
Email (21st-century, brief cover letter)
Score - professional look
Recording - as good as possible
Blurb - market your piece (think JW Pepper catalog)
Tips on preparing professional-looking scores and great-sounding demo recordings
 What happens when your music is accepted; publisher production cycle
Editor Feedback; Revision
Professional Typesetter
Proofreading; Submit Errata/Corrections
Recording - ​Alfred session w/”American Symphonic Winds, Anthony Maiello
Review Sound Proofs; Submit feedback
Examples: ​Balkan Seven​ or Aquatica (start-to-finish)

PRESENT FIRST DRAFT YOUR ​ARRANGEMENT PROJECT​…

● SIGHT and SOUND, either by​…
○ Music Notation Software playback
○ PDF Display and MP3 playback
○ Feedback from Instructor and Class. Revise for Friday.
○ Remember to develop a “blurb” for your piece!

Listening and Analysis (continued)

1. Wade in the Water, Michael Sweeney (Grade 1)
2. At the Feast of Stephen, arr. Scott Watson (Grade 1)
3. Hercules vs. the Hydra, Scott Watson (Grade 1.5)
4. See Amid the Winter’s Snow, arr. Scott Watson (Grade 1.5)
5. Galliard, Scott Watson (Grade 2)
6. Terracotta Warriors, Scott Watson (Grade 2)
7. Rampage, Todd Stalter (Grade 3)
8. Magic Valley, Scott Watson (Grade 3)
9. Jubilant Flourishes, Travis Weller (Grade 3)
10. Cumberland Cross, Carl Strommen (Grade 4?)
 11. Night Journey, Scott Watson (Grade 4) - ​score​, ​audio
12. A Longford Legend, Robert Sheldon (Grade 4)
13. Mt. Everest, Rossano Galante (Grade 4)
14. Aesop’s Fables, Scott Watson (Grade 5)
15. Mid-Winter Songs, Morten Lauridsen
16. SpongeBob Movie Cue, John Debney
17. “Nimrod,” from Enigma Variations, Edward Elgar
18. “Ballet of the Chicks Hatching in Their Shells,” Modest Mussorgsky

SHARING YOUR MUSIC & FEEDBACK, PART 2. ​Prepare some of ​your music​ to share with
the class:
● Score​ - Finale file, Sibelius file, PDF, Manuscript, etc. to project
● Recording​ - Finale playback, Sibelius playback, MP3 audio export from software, MP3
or live performance, etc. to play

DAY FOUR (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Letter in NY Times from David Maslanka to Michael Colgrass: Aug. 18, 1974

Entrepreneurial Thinking
● Website
● Social Media
● Networking
● Conferences
● Self-Publishing

Share your music in seminar: feedback from instructor and class.

SHARING YOUR MUSIC & FEEDBACK, PART 3. ​Prepare some of ​your music ​to share with
the class:
● Score​ - Finale file, Sibelius file, PDF, Manuscript, etc. to project
● Recording​ - Finale playback, Sibelius playback, MP3 audio export from software, MP3
or live performance, etc. to play

DAY FIVE (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

MISCELLANEOUS WRAP UP PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATION OF YOUR ​ARRANGEMENT PROJECT​ (Final Version), either by…

● Music Notation Software playback
● PDF Display and MP3 playback
 ● Include a publisher “blurb,” describing/advertising the piece (i.e. J.W. Pepper
catalog/website description).

CONVERSATION WITH SPECIAL GUESTS (COMPOSER ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION):

Question and Answer Sessions (in person or Skype):
● Chris Bernotas
● Vince Gassi
● Your thoughts on Diversity, Cultural Appropriation
○ Blog post by composer, Jodie Blackshaw

COURSE GRADES/ASSIGNMENTS
1. ​Pre-Course Activity (see above)

2. ​Arranging Activity​ - SHARE MON: ​DRAFT DUE WED, FINAL DUE FRI
Directions/Criteria
● Straightforward arrangement/setting
● Fantasia based on the tune
● We need to agree on appropriate ​length​ (1:30-2:00?) based on ​depth​ (Grade
level you choose, simple arrangement vs. fantasia).
Select one of the pieces ​in this folder​ - appropriate difficulty for experience
Share draft on Wed., present finished arrangement on Fri.

3. ​Composition Sharing & Feedback​ - SIGN UP MON FOR DAY TO SHARE: ​DUE TUE,
WED or THUR
Prepare some of ​your music​ to share with the class. This can be ​any type of music​ (original
or arrangement, concert band or other) that you have created.
Score​ - Finale file, Sibelius file, PDF, Manuscript, etc. to project
Recording​ - Finale playback, Sibelius playback, MP3 audio export from software, MP3
or live performance, etc. to play

OPTIONAL: Composer Profile

Robert W. Smith: ​Read article and journal your reflections for class discussion

OPTIONAL:​ ​Quiz
15 questions dealing with any topic discussed during the week.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE (graphic)