Sometimes when we are deciding on show music, an idea is presented that we have all seen or heard before.  This can give one pause, as you could possibly end up competing with the original version that is the judges’ or viewers’ heads.   If a director wants to play music from “West Side Story,” we’ve all seen a hundred of these.  However, my reply is always, “Okay, let’s make it our own.”  In other words, find a way to present the show concept or music in a new, fresh, innovative way that is unique and different.

One of my favorite examples of this comes from the world of Winter Guard International.  Each year there seems to be one song that a lot of groups choose to perform to.  If you sit in Dayton at the Championships and watch hundreds of shows, you might find yourself hearing the same song over and over.  After a while, there can be  a bit of a “groan” that rises from the audience when the song begins.  What is really interesting, however, is what happens NEXT!

Here’s a prime example:  Picture it…..Dayton, Ohio, 1987.  The “chosen” song that year was “Second Rendez-vouz” by Jean Michel Jarre.  The morning of Scholastic World Prelimes we heard it over and over.  In the afternoon the eventual winner, Union HS from Tulsa, OK, took the floor with their show, “Mannequins.”  They were wearing dazzling red-sequined full body leotards and were accompanied by a full compliment of identical mannequin props.

As the show began, so did the strains from Mr. Jarre’s synthesized music.  There was a collective groan throughout the audience, as there had been for several groups earlier that day.  However, in a matter of sheer seconds, like slicing a knife, the auditorium filled with electricity.  The performance was astounding, mind-boggling, artistic, groundbreaking.  In the blink of an eye the entire audience completely forgot they had ever heard this music before, as they were mesmerized by the originality and excellence of the performance.  To this day it remains one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen.  (Don’t believe me, Google it!)

Union HS took this music and made it their own.  It didn’t matter that we had heard this music many times before.  It seemed totally new to us once they took command of the audience.  And this show has gone on to become one of the most famous and best loved shows in WGI history.

No matter what idea you may have for a show, even if it’s been done before, do something fantastic and original.  Be innovative and daring and show the world something it doesn’t expect.

I can still vividly remember the day that my high school band director changed my life.  I can remember where I was standing in the band room.  I remember which friends were near me.  All David Coles did was pull out a dusty LP and put it on the old stereo in the band room.  When the first notes of the Prokofiev “Romeo and Juliet” Ballet Suite began to play, my life was changed forever.

Years later when I was teaching my own band students I decided that one of my main roles was to introduce them to music and, most importantly, TEACH THEM HOW TO LISTEN.  Directors spend hours trying to get their students to play in tune and listen to the other players in the ensemble.  I found that I didn’t have to spend too much time on this because I was teaching listening skills in a different way.  I played them tunes.

Each day I took 4 or 5 minutes out of my band class time and played some music.  The Boosters invested in a good sound system, and I spent time telling the students about the music they were going to hear and what to listen for.  One day it might be the beginning of the Brahms First Symphony (what a great story that is!) and the next day it might be a new selection by Enya.  “Listen to the subtle bass drum Enya added at the beginning of this phrase.”  “Brahms waited until he was 43 to complete this first Symphony, having worked on it for 20 years.”  “Notice how this key change adds excitement to this Pet Shop Boys tune.”  “Listen to the tone quality Branford Marsalis achieves on his soprano sax.”

No one talked, everyone listened.  Some days the students loved the experience, some days they did not.  Every day they learned something.  After listening they would pick up their instruments and play more in tune, play with a better sound.  And many students would go home and buy a disc of the “Four Seasons” or Tchaikovsky’s 4^th Symphony.

If you can’t fathom giving up 5 minutes per class, then at the very least please play the original orchestra versions of any transcriptions you are working on.  When I write arrangements for my marching band clients, I always insist that they play at least a portion of the original selections for their students.  How can they play with the correct sonorities if they haven’t heard the original Shostakovich?  How can they swing correctly if they’ve never heard the original Ellington.

Come on, we’re educators, and most of our students are going to put down their instruments after high school and never play again.  But if we open up their ears to possibilities of all the music out there, we’re teaching them to fish and not just giving them one meal.  Gee, it was my own students who turned me on to Pat Metheny and The Police.  And Mr. Coles introduced me to Prokofiev.

Get out there, put on that recording of “Hello Dolly” and let your students know why it’s important.  Talk about the near riot the first night that Ethel Merman sang “I’ve Got Rhythm” and held a note for 16 bars!  Talk about the real riot over “Rite of Spring!”  But play it for them and open their lives…AND reap the benefits of a band with better musicians who listen and play in tune!  It’s win, win, win!