“Chorales and Beyond” band books allow students to focus on their fundamentals of sound and intonation.
Written by Timothy Loest and Chip De Stefano with percussionist Kevin Lepper, “Chorales and Beyond” can be used by bands to vary their daily warmup routines through a variety of scales and long tones, Bach harmonizations, and 30 chorales.
De Stefano and Loest have been using the various warmups and chorales with their students for several years. “We know it’s very well vetted,” Loest says.
The chorale books primarily target middle school and high school groups, but Loest says that college bands could also utilize them. Since the chorales are written in four-part harmonies, full ensembles or quartets can play the chorales.
The books also have instrument-specific warmups, scales, and musical terms, which set these books apart from other similar pieces of work, De Stefano and Loest say.
The chorale books “strike a nice balance between difficulty and development for kids,” De Stefano says. “We thought … the current available chorale books were too difficult, and the kids were having to focus on too many things. … We want them to focus on creating the most beautiful sound they could and playing in tune.”
The conductor’s scorebook costs $29.95 while each student book costs $6.50.
Visit fjhmusic.com/band/bb211.htm for more details.
