Brian Balmages

Blue Ridge Reel by Brian Balmages

Look at Score

Listen to Recording

Read Composer Bio

Overview:

Key signature: Concert Eb, F Major Length: 2 minutes 45 seconds

Time signature: Cut time (2/2) Style: Lively Dance

Tempo: Half note = 108 Dynamic range: mp - f

Grade level: 2.5 Scoring: 4 part Full Flex

Instrumentation:

Parts 1-4: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba, Bass

Percussion:

Mallet Percussion, Snare Drum, Spoons (or Castanets), Tambourine, Washboard (or Guiro)

Special Considerations:

Brian Balmages has modified his original Blue Ridge Reel to create a 4 part Full Flex version. Alternate parts with a limited range are available for tenor saxophone and horn. Optional piano and guitar parts exist to provide accompaniment opportunities. Additionally, accompaniment tracks consisting of piano, guitar, and percussion, both with and without a metronome click, are available for musicians to download and practice with on their own. Musicians are encouraged to experiment with the orchestration and make musical decisions about which instruments they prefer on each part. It is also a wonderful opportunity for ensemble members to experiment with creating different colors based on which instruments are on a part together.

Brian Balmages was inspired to compose Blue Ridge Reel after visiting Asheville, North Carolina. In the program notes he writes, "During the trip, I had an opportunity to hear several bluegrass bands, including a great performance during a dinner and special tour of the Biltmore Estate. I love the rich heritage of the music in the mountains of the Eastern United States. Many influences in the region come from the rich cultures of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. This fiddle music eventually played a major role in the development of country and bluegrass music."

He goes on to explain, "The title, Blue Ridge Reel, pays homage to the Blue Ridge Mountains. While influenced by the form and style of a traditional Irish reel, the music certainly heads in some contemporary directions as it seeks to mix the modern feel of a city like Asheville with its deeply engrained musical roots. It is also deeply influenced by the untimely passing of Davidson College mathematics professor, Robert Whitton, a music lover and major supporter of local musicians. Shortly after his passing, over 100 friends and family gathered in downtown Davidson to participate in a New Orleans-style march through the city. Thus, this piece ties together the spirit of that New Orleans march with my own personal bluegrass experiences in Asheville."

Because of the bluegrass character of the piece, a washboard and spoons are called for in the percussion parts, but a guiro and castanets are acceptable alternatives, if necessary.

Rehearsal Suggestions

Musical Expression:

Play the accompaniment recording and have ensemble members move (or dance) to the music. Teach musicians about the influences of the piece. Allow time for learning

about traditional Irish reels and bluegrass music. There are also opportunities for teaching bluegrass music in a broader context, such as including its African heritage, as well as teaching about the New Orleans second line (funeral march) music.

After learning about the history and inspiration of Blue Ridge Reel, ensemble members are better equipped to understand the style and character of the piece and can start to develop their own emotions while performing. Each time they play the piece encourage the musicians to re-create the feelings they had when they were moving (dancing) to the music.

Tonality/Intonation:

Blue Ridge Reel is in the keys of concert Eb and F major. In order to navigate the chords and key change in the piece, musicians need to be able to listen and play in tune. Edward Lisk is an expert on the science of sound and he provides a thorough

explanation of the hows and whys of the tuning process in many of his books, including

The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader.

It is best to set a pitch from either a drone or a tuba (or lowest instrument in the band). A drone is advantageous, if possible, especially for a young band because it provides a consistent pitch. Using the Yamaha Harmony Director HD 200 keyboard is also helpful for hearing chords in just intonation and tuning them accordingly.

Concert F is the best pitch for tuning almost all wind instruments because of the overtone series and where it lies on the instruments. The exception is Eb alto and baritone saxophones, but the benefits of F in all the other instruments outweigh this. After the winds have tuned to F, the drone or tuba should switch to Bb and all winds should join the Eb saxophones in tuning that note. Start by tuning principal players. After the principal euphonium is in tune with the tuba, they should continue to play and then the principal principal trombone player should join them. The process repeats through score order (ascending). Next, everyone else tunes by listening to their section leader. Only one person in each section (who has not yet tuned) should tune with the section leader at a time, especially when musicians are first learning how to tune, so each musician can clearly hear themselves and identify if there are beats in the sound. Musicians do not need to worry about if they are flat or sharp. They only need to listen for beats in the sound. Tell players if they are pinching their embouchure to slow down beats, they are flat and if they are relaxing their embouchure to slow down beats, they are sharp. After that, they can adjust their instrument by moving the slide/mouthpiece/barrel in or out or adjusting the reed. Next, they need to identify if the beats got slower or faster. Faster beats means to go the opposite direction on the instrument and slower beats means to continue in the same direction until the beats have been eliminated. When musicians are perfectly in tune, their sound is indistinguishable from the sound of their section leader. They should keep playing as the rest of the section tunes. In addition to blending within the section, each section needs to balance within the ensemble. In general, this means musicians should listen down to the tuba or lowest instrument in the ensemble or the instrument playing the lowest part.

After musicians have completed the tuning process, they can play unison pitches around the Circle of 4ths from Edward Lisk's Alternative Rehearsal Techniques - Creative Director Series. As they get more comfortable with listening and playing in tune on unison pitches,

add perfect fifths. Eventually, players can learn to play major chords around the Circle.

Pulse/Rhythm:

In order to play confidently in cut time, a strong internal pulse is required. To develop ensemble pulse with my students, I introduce it as a game, based on Edward Lisk's internal pulse exercise (described in The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader).

To lead the game, hold your hands out with the palms up and count aloud 1-8 (at a tempo of approximately 60 beats per minute). Next, the musicians should count with you. Everyone should be counting with a crisp tone of voice and be focused on listening to the space between the beats. Players need to keep their bodies from moving during

this time. The focus is on internal pulse, not on external elements like foot tapping, head bobbing, etc. After the pulse has been established, turn your hands, so your palms are facing down. When your palms are down, you and the ensemble members should switch to silently counting. During silent counting, everyone should keep their lips sealed, so no one is mouthing the numbers to themselves. Remind musicians of the internalization process or "thinking in your brain". Initially, only indicate one or two beats of silence at a time. As the musicians improve their internal pulse, keep your palms down for more beats. It is a fun challenge for musicians to see how long they can count silently and still come in on the correct number and with their voices exactly together.

After the musicians have performed the pulse exercise correctly, they should transfer it to playing around the Circle of 4ths. Start by having them play in unison on concert F on the Circle of 4ths for pulse 5. Ensemble members should be counting to five (internally) while they are playing for four beats, releasing on beat five, and then breathing and entering with the new pitch on the next beat. After they have played concert F, they should play concert Bb, then concert Eb, etc. At first, you can conduct a "one" pattern and indicate the entrances and releases. When the ensemble is secure in the internal pulse, stop conducting and let the musicians continue to play pulse 5 around the Circle. It is important to stop the ensemble when precision in entrances and releases is lost. Remind musicians to breathe together and play together. Whenever the entrances or releases lose precision, name a new pulse (for example, pulse 3) and begin on a different note in the Circle (concert Bb, for example). With practice, the internal pulse of the ensemble and precision of entrances and releases will improve. As this occurs, indicate

pulses between 3 and 7 (or longer). Rests should also be added. For example, pulse 5 rest 3 would be "play, two, three, four, release, two, three, breathe" and would be notated as a whole note followed by a whole rest.

Teach musicians how to count in cut time. This requires them to subdivide when counting. For example, measures 1-4 would be counted:

After everyone can read, count, and clap the rhythm, have them think and play the

rhythm on a unison pitch (starting on concert F) around the Circle of 4ths.

Often times, more than one rhythm will be happening at the same time and ensemble members will need to focus on rhythmic precision (measures 81-84, for example).

First, choose two of the four rhythms and divide the ensemble into two parts. Have one group play one rhythm on a unison pitch, while the other group plays the second rhythm in unison, perhaps a perfect fifth away. After the rhythms have been played, the ensemble can rest for one measure and then play the rhythm again on the next pitch of the Circle of 4ths. Next, exchange parts so musicians are playing a different rhythm from the first time

they played. Repeat the process for the third and fourth rhythms. The advantage of a full flex arrangement is that musicians can experiment with playing different parts. After they have used the Circle of 4ths to play all four rhythms in isolation and as part of the whole, then they can play all of them within the context of the music before returning to their assigned part.

Dynamics:

Blue Ridge Reel has dynamics from mezzo piano to forte. Normally, I define dynamic levels using one hand to indicate a dynamic level pianissimo through fortissimo, where zero is pianissimo and five is fortissimo. In this case, use a three point scale, where one is mezzo piano, two is mezzo forte, and three is forte. Have musicians play around the Circle of 4ths and cue each note at a different dynamic level. Encourage everyone to only play as loudly or softly as they can play with good balance, blend, intonation, and tone quality.

Most changes in dynamic levels during Blue Ridge Reel happen suddenly. There is only one crescendo and two decrescendos in the piece. Allow the musicians time to brainstorm why the piece has decrescendos and crescendos when it does. To teach gradual changes in volume, Edward Lisk recommends, in his Creative Director Series books, musicians count aloud the number of beats the crescendo or decrescendo lasts. In measures 112-113, there is a three beat crescendo (in cut time) from mezzo forte to forte.

Ensemble members should count aloud at mezzo forte at "one" and increase the volume, so their voice is forte at "three" (on the downbeat of measure 113). Make sure musicians realize that this crescendo is leading into the key change from concert Eb to concert F.

The process is the same for decrescendos, except counting backwards starting with the voice louder and getting softer. In measures 59-61, there is a five beat decrescendo from forte to mezzo forte. In measures 63-64 (seen below), there is a four beat decrescendo from mezzo forte to mezzo piano.

Musicians should count aloud at mezzo forte at "four" and decrease the volume, so their voice is mezzo piano at "one" (at the end of measure 64). Ensemble members should know the decrescendos are the transition to the B section of the piece. Decrescendos are usually more challenging to do evenly at first, so continue to draw attention to making sure the voice is correct and then apply it on the instrument. With time, players will be able to play crescendos and decrescendos of various lengths.

Remind players they should never be whispering or shouting because that does not represent good tone quality on the instrument. After they are able to do this with their voices, they should play their instrument, while thinking the same volume with the voice in their head.

Articulation/Style/Phrasing:

Brian Balmages uses several articulations to create the energy required for Blue Ridge Reel, including staccatos, accents, and slurs. One way to address articulations is to help musicians understand how articulations are used as expressive elements in the music. In Artistic Nuance, Edward Lisk suggests using Edwin Gordon rhythm syllables (for example, "di", "du", "ba", ta", etc.). Rather than using them to define the rhythm where "ta", "ta", would be two quarter notes, instead apply them to different rhythms with nuance and inflection. Speak a simple rhythm pattern (quarter notes and eighth notes, for example) and speak the syllables ("du" and "ba" etc.) with inflection (happy, excited, curious, etc.). After you have spoken the syllables with inflection, have the musicians play and imitate your inflection through their instruments. Instruct them to echo you on a new pitch of the Circle of 4ths for each response. After repeating the same rhythm with different inflections a few times, change the rhythm. As they get better at echoing with nuance and inflection, add in rhythms from the music with a variety of articulations. This approach allows the musicians to focus on the aural, rather than the physical aspects of articulation. For example, in measures 105-106 of part 1, the following syllables could be used with various inflections:

In addition to traditional articulations, there are times when musicians need to perform vocalizations, such as part 4 in measures 125-128.

This is another great opportunity for musicians to move (or dance) to the music. Put on the accompaniment track and have players practice the vocalizations (while moving). Some ensemble members will be able to perform this part perfectly the first time. If anyone struggles to do it correctly at tempo, remind them to keep it light (hardly any movement of the tongue is required). It is possible that it will be challenging, especially for anyone who has (or had) a speech impediment. For those people, the part can be simplified to only speak on the beat or alternating measures, if needed.

Blue Ridge Reel would be a very boring dance if the music did not have energy and direction. In combination with articulations, ensemble members need to learn to make decisions about phrasing. In The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader, Edward Lisk outlines three natural laws of musical expression. Teach musicians that short notes look for long notes, low notes search for high notes, and high notes search for low notes. Shaping phrases based on these laws will give energy and direction to the musical line.

Allow musicians to consider multiple factors, such as dynamics, articulations, and texture to decide on how the piece should be shaped on a macro level.