Author: Dutchy
Date: 2008-06-18 17:34
Well, if all you want is something to get them playing, there is a ton of music out there that's written for high school level orchestras. It's not (quote unquote) classical music as such, although some of it is arrangements of the classics, so if your group doesn't have its heart set on playing (quote unquote) classical music, that might suit them very well.
I'd think that Grade 3 or Grade 4 levels would suit your mix of "very good" and "mediocre", with possibly a couple of Grade 2 pieces thrown in for the benefit of the mediocre player who is feeling overwhelmed and not having a good time.
Grade 4 tends to have more complex time and key signatures, and more things like sixteenth note runs and tricky syncopation.
You can browse on websites like sheetmusicplus or music44 under something like "orchestra level 3" to see what they have. Sheetmusicplus sometimes has mp3 clips of the pieces. Make sure it's for "Orchestra" and not "Concert Band", as concert band doesn't include string parts (dunno if you knew that already, hope I don't offend by the implication but I'd rather tell you and risk offending than not tell you and have you end up with the wrong sheet music. And neither sheetmusicplus nor music44 does refunds--they do store credit or exchanges only).
|
|