Band Expressions , Book One: Student Edition [Percussion]

Band Expressions™ takes students' musical knowledge to new heights by bringing the immediacy and dynamics of the real world into the music classroom. Previously learned material is reinforced and given added depth, dimension, and meaning when it is viewed in the context of history, art and culture, and students' own everyday experiences. Unique Elements: * Experience before labeling * Simultaneous quarter note and long tone approach * Systematic breathing exercises and warm-ups * Introduction and reinforcement of 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 meters * "Start and release" (instead of attack and decay) of notes * Legato, staccato, and tenuto articulations * Dotted half note, dotted quarter note, 4 sixteenth notes, and eighth-quarter-eighth syncopation * More than 30 pop, rock, and jazz songs everyone will recognize that will motivate students to practice * Sequenced introduction of 26 percussion instruments, including traditional concert percussion, keyboard percussion, accessory percussion, and world percussion * Existing, well-known supplements integrated into Band Expressions, including The Art of Playing, (101) Rhythmic Rest Patterns, and Treasury of Scales * Introduction and constant reinforcement of concert pitch and sight-reading * Preparation for Other Musical Ensembles and Experiences * Composer Portraits, pictures and biographies, of John Williams, Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, "Duke" Ellington, John Philip Sousa, and Johann Sebastian Bach * Three pieces of fine art to teach concepts and about different cultures * Units focusing on Hispanic, Oriental, and African-American cultures * Introduction of jazz style, swing, and improvisation * Nine full-band pieces by Robert W. Smith