Jeff Girard and Midwest Sheet Music present

The Wind Band Report

Back to school

Vol. 4, No. 7 Aug. 2016

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Credit Card payment on our website

Wind Band Reading Session (Gr. 1-3)

Other new works (Gr 4-6)

New Band Textbooks

Yeah, it's that time of year again. My order boards are already nearly full and many schools haven't even begun yet. I've spent much of the summer entering publisher data into our web site database. It's nearly complete, there are just a few more publishers I have to get info from. But if you're looking for band materials, it should be complete already, since I've incorporated my own personal database into the web site. And by the time you get this, one of our main features of our web site should be live now. More on that below.

Also, after a three year hiatus following the close of Shattinger Music, I finally arranged to hold our first wind band new music reading session for Midwest Sheet Music last week, and we had a very good turnout. I've been listening to a lot of works over the summer and have some things of note for all levels of directors, as well as a few new books that have come out.

But first, the moment I've been waiting for for several months now...

Web site update:

Credit card payment

now available online

While we were able to give the Midwest Sheet Music web site a great overhaul last year, there are a LOT of hoops to jump through if you want to take credit card payments online. We knew it would take a few months of uninterrupted work, so we chose to hold off on that until this last summer. We know it made for some confusion with students who just wanted to buy their scores for their conducting symposiums and for other customers as well, but that's finally been remedied.

Plus - if you are with a school institution that prefers to pay your bill with a credit card, you can now do that online at your convenience instead of calling it in. There's a place on our site for you to enter your invoice number and credit card details. We'll process the card and email a paid receipt back to you. You can also choose to keep the card info on hand for quick future invoice payments if you wish. If you prefer to give the card number each time, that's OK too.

So for you teachers, if you have a music class with required scores and/or books, I can set up a page specifically for your class. Students can then go to the page, order the materials they need, and pay for it on the spot. Just let me know your repertoire list and I'll get the page going for you, plus get sufficient inventory into the store so students can get their music and books right away.

Wind Band New Music

Reading Session

Thanks to Scott Shaw at MICDS in Ladue, we were able to put on a great reading session with about 50 players. There are a few short video clips on our Facebook page. In a 3 hour session we read 37 new works from grades 1 - 3.5. Rather than list them all directly in the newsletter, I'm providing a link below to download a PDF copy of the session. You can listen to any of the titles by either clicking on the QR codes or scanning them with your phone or tablet device with a free QR reader app.

Midwest Sheet Music Reading Session 2016

I have most of these on hand, though a few sold out after the session. I've reordered many of them, so if I don't have it now I should have it very soon. Give me a call or drop me a line to order any of these. Or you can place the order on our website (see below...)

Wind Band Music - Grades 4-6

For you collegiate and advanced high school directors, here are a few more advanced titles that came out this last several months that caught my attention. I'm not posting all the titles on my "best of" list for the sake of brevity, and there are many more likely to come out between now and Midwest, so drop me a line and I'll let you know what else I've found.

Premiere Editions from Midwest Sheet Music

This summer three European publishers, Hafabra, Tierolff, and Hebu, teamed up with me to produce a flyer showcasing some of their best works from the grade 4-6 range. The flyer includes a CD with full length mp3 recordings of all the featured works. To have a copy sent to you, just drop me a line and let me know or remind me to include a flyer in your next order. All of these titles are on our website to listen to, and all are in stock now, so if one of them strikes your fancy you can get it right away before your rehearsals start in.

Click the image above to see a listing of contents on the flyer. Let me know if you want me to send a copy to you.

Other works, grades 4-6

Click on images to listen


In the World of Spirits Bruce Broughton Grade 6 In the World of Spirits was inspired by a paragraph found in Empire of the Summer Moon, a book about the rise and fall of the Comanches. It is not a depiction of a specific spirit world, but instead a representation of the energy in the world of the spirit. It's colorful, rich and engaging. Set $195	Flaher Ben Lee Grade 5 Written to celebrate the life of one of the composer's dearest friends, Flaher features musical "flares" in the percussion showing the ebb and flow of life, celebrating the memories, friendship, crazy shenanigans, and the playful personality of his friend.. Set $120	The Wrangler Carter Pann Gr. 5 This work was originally only available as a rental. Now available for sale, it draws inspiration form Copland's ballets Billy the Kid and Rodeo. shifting through a variety of styles from expansive to western style dances. Regular size and large size socres available. Set $95


Spark! Robert Langenfeld Grade 4.5 Just discovered this the day I was sending this email out. Spark! is an energetic multimeter ride, set around a 6 note motif in the opening measure. It's a fun ride, not too demanding - I can hear this as a good contest piece for an advanced high school, or a showcase piece for a collegiate second band. Set $100	Gone Scott McAllister Grade 4 Gone is a work about loss and the emotions and healing process after a life-changing event. It's a meditative work with no technical demands on the winds. Rather, it's about evoking emotion through complete dynamic control - the entire piece is no louder than piano. Set $145


The Heart's Reflection Daniel Elder Grade 4 The Heart's Reflection was originally written for eight-part mixed chorus as a sort of tone poem to Proverbs 27:19: "Just as the water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another." It's beautifully poignant and moving with great use of colors. Set $70	Shrine of the Fallen Brian Balmages Grade 4 Written in response to the tragic events in Kiev in 2014, this music draws on the old Ukrainian folk song Plyve Kacha, which became an anthem for many protesters as a symbol of national pride while also mourning the fallen. Set $85	Scaff! Berlioz / arr. Wheeler Grade 4.5 Ever wanted to hear what Berlioz's "March to the Scaffold" would sound like if written in a big band style? I wasn't aware of what this was when I went to listen to it and I kind of lost it. This is some guilty pleasure fun. At least listen to it once for a smile. Set $75

Wind Band Resource Books

The Conductor's Challenge

Frank Battisti

This is an extension and expansion of Guide to Score Study, co-authored with Robert Garofalo, which examines the various stages conductors traverse in arriving at an interpretation. Here Battisti takes the next logical step beyond studying the score and shows ways to find expression and meaning in the score and how you can interpret and express it. It uses as examples 2 movements from Lincolnshire Posy, a movement from Stravinsky's Octet, and Copland's Down a Country Lane setting by Patterson.

Book $24.95

The Pursuit of Excellence

Sally Wagner

This book from MEredith Music Publications is full of tips, suggestions, and friendly advice from music teacher and educator Sally Wagner. Inside she has suggestions on how to develop yourself as an effective teacher and leader, and developing your band program. She offers advice on such topics as dealing with missing instruments, having too many percussion players, increasing your feeder program, choosing appropriate music, saving money on repairs, turning parents into allies, and much more.

Book $24.99

Marching Band Techniques

Brian W. Cox

This book can be used to help build a successful marching band program at a high school or as an accompanying text for the collegiate marching band techniques course. Topics range from developing a program handbook to student leadership and sdult staffing, budgets, rehearsal techniques, sample forms, and basic information on the development process of a marching show.

Book $39.99

Rehearsing the High School Band

Stephen Meyer

In this book 12 teachers who have each taught at prominent high school programs for decade share their insights on how they work on improving their band and the students' musical education. There's a wide variety of insights and opinions, and it's all geared specifically toward High School directors. With all the multiple viewpoints being offered, there are bound to be insights that you haven't thought of before that will inspire you to implement in your own rehearsal.

Book$19.95

OK, that should get you started. As always, give me a call if you need further suggestions. Also, use our website to search for recordings or scores or works you've heard about. If they're crossed my path at all, they should be listed here. If you don't find it, call me and ask about it and I'll track it down for you.

Hope the start of your school year goes smoothly, and I'll talk with you later.