In band class, I enjoy most of the songs we play, but a few really stand out as being really fun or beautiful.
5. Lola Flores by Alfred Sadel- This is by far my favorite march and has an Italian carnival feel that makes it very fun to play and listen to.
4. Vesuvius by Frank Ticheli- Although the event it’s based on is sad, the piece is very driving with a beautiful, sorrowful section in the middle.
3. 3 Wise Guys by Julie Giroux- A jazz mash up of We Three Kings and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, it’s become one of my favorite christmas songs!
2. Arabesque by Samuel R. Hazo/ Strange Humours by John Mackey- I put these two together because they are very similar; Arabian dances with grand endings.
1. Seal Lullaby by Eric Whitacre- My personal favorite, It’s a beautiful, emotional song, that I find very inspiring!
Once you’ve become proficient on your instrument, you can begin to memorize music. Maybe you need to do it for a performance, or marching band, or just for fun. Depending on the person and difficulty of the piece, the amount of time to memorize something varies. One way is to memorize the fingerings, the notes, or to memorize a picture of the sheet music. If you play multiple instruments, it might be helpful to play your piece on each one or if you try to write out the piece from memory. The most important step is repetition. The most ideal form of memorizing music is muscle memory where you don’t have to even think about it. I’ve found that it is easiest to memorize music that you enjoy. Good luck!
