For most amateur bands, (such as schools, community bands, etc.) the abilities of the
performers are not homogeneous. Some possess greater skills than the norm and some struggle to
just to keep up. As a result, some members are bored and others get discouraged.
In schools, directors are faced with the dilemma of selecting music that either does not provide
the educational challenge for many of the students or subjecting the band to the embarrassment of
performing music that they can't truly master.
In order for band directors to provide a rich educational experience for all of the students, the music and the abilities of the students need to match. But, published music is written with the assumption that it will be performed by a band whose members have homogeneous abilities.
"Even though music educators are dedicated to sharing the world of music, when the band has special learners they can be overlooked or "worked around" simply due to a lack of tools, knowledge, and information on how to incorporate special learners into the band program." (William Pearce)
In a perfect world, the director would have the time to tweak the music, reassigning significant portions of the music to appropriate and capable performers within the band, adding supporting instruments to bolster an understaffed section, and re-arranging portions of the selection to maintain the flavor of the composition while staying within the range of being a reasonable challenge to the students.
The next best option would be to have a reliable assistant who could take the music and custom fit it to the band. Scott Office Solutions provides this service.
Examples:
The piece has a significant baritone sax part but the band doesn't have a baritone sax player this year, so portions of the baritone sax part are incorporated into one of the trombone parts and played with a mute.
The clarinet section simply can't handle the licks in this piece, so the parts are re-arranged, simplifying the rhythms and removing extraneous notes but retaining the flavor of the music.
The tuba player is new to the instrument, so the baritone sax and bass clarinet are re-written to double to more difficult passages.
A director simply needs to provide a description of what adjustments are needed in the musical selection and source material. Scott Office Solutions will promptly make the desired adjustments and provide professional looking custom parts.
Materials can be sent to Scott Office Solutions by mail, E-mail, or FAX. Scott Office Solutions will deliver parts by mail or the internet.
Contact us for pricing. You will find that our service is very reasonable, and you will not be billed until you are satisfied with the product.
