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Band directors' comments re Bb vs G?


CozyChopsCom

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The "controversy" of Bb vs G w/in corpsdom has been/may be debated elsewhere, please. I'm curious to know what band directors have said since the rules change.

Have they said it's important and beneficial that corps have similar instruments/keys? Are they more receptive to corps? Encourage their members moreso than in the ol' G days? Too busy preparing "Appalachian Spring" for spring to think of corps? Thanks!

Cozy

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My dad is the band director at my high school, and he's totally into the whole switching thing.. and so am i.. i feel that it'll bring more people to drum corp.. before i knew much about drum corp, i was afraid to try-out because of the keying of the instruments.. but that's all changed now.. i also like the sound and so do many other band directors in this area.. i feel it's a great thing..

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I really don't think it should make a Big diffrence what key insterment you play. Its not that hard to switch from your band Bb or F instrement to a G.

I agree here.

I had no problem going from a Marching Band Mello to a bugle.  

But maybe that's just me

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My dad is the band director at my high school, and he's totally into the whole switching thing.. and so am i.. i feel that it'll bring more people to drum corp.. before i knew much about drum corp, i was afraid to try-out because of the keying of the instruments.. but that's all changed now.. i also like the sound and so do many other band directors in this area.. i feel it's a great thing..

So...you were afraid to try out because of the key difference.

Why?   What is so horrible about learning to play in a different key?  Isn't that a part of music education?  Isn't that why those going for music ed degrees have to learn to play not only their major instrument but all others?  Isn't playing a G instrument AND a Bb (or whatever key) instrument an educational experience???  Or isn't education what drum corps is about?

Besides...how do you think us trombone players felt about having to learn to play with valves???

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  • 2 weeks later...
I really don't think it should make a Big diffrence what key insterment you play. Its not that hard to switch from your band Bb or F instrement to a G.

I agree.  I had no problems switching from G Mello to  F Horn or Bb Trumpet.

When I first heard the Cadets with thier new Bb horns in 2000 I was sold.  But don't get me wrong, I will always enjoy the more "meaty" sound of the G bugles.

No matter what key it's in it's still drum & BUGLE corps to me!

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Not sure why the key change to any-key, well, Bb, would be that big a deal to band directors. I agree that playing different keys is great for one's music education. Am I to understand that we're all to play something like a Bach on a Bach 7C? That's going to extremes, but the point is that I expected to hear more regarding schedule conflicts between corps and band than the key issue.

Cozy

Cozy Chops

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The first time I played a bugle, and read music with it, it was a real pain in my ###!

At first, I could not stand how if I played a Bb on top of the bass clef staff, it sounded a G. That was the weirdest thing ever, playing concert instruments my whole life. That took me awhile to get used to, especially when we would play notes that used valves because I would think, "Oh ok, 3rd space Eb, first valve." Of course it didnt work. That was real annoying. I just had to realize it wasnt a concert © instrument, and know that the note written would never be the note that sounded.

The sound of a G hornline is no doubt thicker than a Bb line, but the Bb/F horns are way easier to tune, IMO, but it still just doesnt have that thickness. It is a different sound, but I think in years that will be compensated for. In ways, we are already doing that by playing on Bb/F instruments that are the same bore size as the G counterparts we used to use.

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