London Bridge for Young Band (Grade 1.5)

London Bridge for Young Band

• Composed 2010, rev. 2021
  
• Grade c. 1.5
  
• Duration: 2m

This arrangement of London Bridge does a couple of things uncommon in Grade 1 band music: 1) it sets up a contrast between woodwinds and brass—using some rudimentary, but practical orchestration; and 2) it explores some extended harmonies, going beyond simple triads. You’ll hear the occasional 7th or 9th, and even an enigmatic 6/9 chord.

The opening material uses the final motive of the melody for soft bell tones on the dominant, which set up the first complete, straightforward statement of the melody, primarily in the woodwinds beginning at bar 9. This is followed by a brief transition using the same bell tone material as the beginning, and leading us into the key of the dominant (Bb) with a new texture dominated by brass and percussion.

This choral-like brass-dominated statement uses occasional 7ths and 9ths for added interest and complexity, which will gently stretch the ears of young musicians, hopefully without breaking them!

Finally, in bar 37, we are back in the original key of Eb for one final statement before the enigmatic coda, which introduces a bit more chromaticism and a penultimate 6/9 chord that resolves with a simple triad stinger.

London Bridge was my first attempt at writing Grade 1 band music back in 2010. At the time, I had not yet studied many Grade 1 band scores, so I had some misconceptions about how to orchestrate for such a young ensemble.

As a result, the work, while containing all the same notes and rhythms as the present edition, was not very useful to the majority of young bands. I was still thinking too much like an orchestrator rather than taking the more practical and educational approach of using lots of doublings, especially for the rarer and more difficult instruments like Oboe and Horn.

By the time 2021 rolled around, I had seen a bunch of Grade 1 band scores and had a much better idea of how to score for young band. So I decided to brush the dust off this work and give it a more practical re-scoring.

I hope your band enjoys working on it!