Rehearsal notes from 10/11/2020
Another well attended rehearsal unfolded last night as we began with our first Dance Band session….. it was great to see a full line up of players enjoying some different music…. and having lots of fun along the way.
Our senior band needs to keep working on balance at this point, we have a good set of sections but it’s very easy to let one section over shadow some of the others and create an imbalance…. it’s also vital that our 2nd and 3rd players step up and balance with our leaders particularly in charts like Orient ‘express where there are for instance 3 trumpet parts and 2 cornet parts and each of them is important to the blend.
Speaking of Orient Express, Harold’s description of the scene set by this work is critical to our approach in playing it, we must create a mental image of what is happening in order to understand the musical excerpt. We will be revisiting this piece and gradually putting it together and when we do I look forward to not only performing it for a live audience but recording it and making a complete video presentation of it.
Swing the mood is certainly coming along and the movement change at 41 for brass is important….instead of standing and sitting every 2 bars, you now stand up and swing left and right every 2 bars at the discretion of the 1st player in your section. It is important that the instruments are held straight out and the movement is deliberate otherwise the effect is Lost and it looks very average! If you know this will be our final number, then please ensure as we get to it that your stand is a little higher and you have room to move! Lastly there is a section which we are just moving around having a bit of fun…. don’t forget it like I did!
There are a few jobs on the calendar at present and unless we are told they are cancelled they are confirmed. Any performance we do will be subject to covid safety not only from the organisers but I will be arriving early to ensure our membership have everything required. One of the fun things in the book will be our end of year celebration…let’s party the year out and put all the bad stuff behind us.
Thanks again to Dennis Williams for providing another cracker of an Australian medley, I am looking forward to incorporating these in our play out books next year and to performing them at a variety of events in the near future.