UIL Studying - Americana Theme

The arduous task of preparing for UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest has begun. I am excited about the pieces I've chosen for my band to play though - I've chosen to perform an Americana theme. We'll be playing Karl King's "Alamo March" arranged by James Swearingen, my husband Christopher Tucker's "Americans Lost," and Larry Neeck's "Sons of Liberty." We've already begun working on the pieces. I've been building our rehearsals around these three pieces - pulling out rhythms from the pieces and having the students count and play them outside of the pieces focusing on style, as well as working on the "Chester" chorale from the Foundations for Superior Performance book (page 31). "Sons of Liberty" begins with the "Chester" chorale. 

I have created a playlist that I can play for the students as we are learning the pieces more intimately. I don't use the recordings in place of studying the score or teaching the students to read their music. I use them to give the students the opportunity to hear different interpretations of the piece. I've also scoured the internet and found some YouTube videos for the same reason. I've posted them on our website: www.tennysonbands.com/news.html for our students to watch. I will keep searching and keep studying and keep making music with my students. 

I will also have the students do some research on the historical events for which these pieces were written. The battle at the Alamo, the Columbine shootings, 9/11, and the Civil War. I can include the history teachers in our studies. Cross-curricular teaching - it's an awesome thing.