Percussion ensemble music is (or, arguably, at least should be) the centerpiece of many groups’ work in the spring months.  So it stands to reason that our primary curricular material would merit careful consideration in its selection.  However, I find that often, educators don’t know where to look for pieces beyond, perhaps, their state’s “selected repertoire” list.  State lists can be a fantastic starting point, but with the enormous quantity of high-quality music being produced right now, the lists just can’t keep up with the great rep for our art form. 

So how does a successful ensemble director go about sourcing and selecting ensemble music?  

I believe that each director has to find a process or method that works for them; I can only share my own, which involves spending a lot of time looking at publisher websites and also some time checking out new rep on YouTube and other social media channels, as well as talking to my colleagues.  I verrrrrry occasionally also crowdsource (via social media) when I can’t find exactly what I need, in the hope that someone will know of something self-published, or a great piece I’ve overlooked (or rejected erroneously).  But the vast, vast majority of pieces I’ve selected, I’ve sourced after spending hours looking at pieces from composers and publishers.  The great part about this process is that I come across a lot of pieces that, while they might not be right for my group right now, I can file in my mental music cabinet to play later, and I come across a lot of pieces that I might not have otherwise seen.  As I have often said to my students, one of the most incredible parts about being a percussionist is that our art form is a modern one, and we have the chance to participate, as composers, arrangers, and performers, in the creation of its canon. No other single instrument or instrument family can say that!  

Criteria for selection

First, for better or for worse, we generally have to select pieces based on how many students we have in the ensemble.  There are a few exceptions/workarounds… which I’ll cover later – but usually we need to restrict ourselves to what’s been written for what we have.  Secondarily, many of us are limited by what gear we have on hand.  Whether it’s that we only have one 5-octave marimba – or only one marimba, period – this can be a limiting factor.

Next is, of course, the level of challenge.  Who is playing this – your beginners?  Your middle school top group?  Your high school second group?  And as we all know, given the varying skills of our students, a group that can pull off a fairly hard drummy piece may need to stay on the easier side of the keyboard literature, or vice versa.  

Then we should consider what type of music we’re after – both in terms of what will work well for the individual group as well as how the piece will fit in to the concert as a whole.  Do these students need a pop-style piece – something with groove?  Do they need to do a classical transcription?  Or are they mature enough to do something esoteric? Do you already have too many keyboard ensembles or drummy pieces or groovy pieces or transcriptions or classical percussion ensembles on the concert?  Much like a great meal, every concert should offer a variety of flavors – a mini-tour of the different types of repertoire, if you will.

Lastly, you have to consider the skills and needs of the individual performers.  Do you have a student who can be featured as a soloist? Do you have a killer drumset player? Or do you lack a solid timpani player, or have a player who needs a remedial-level part?  How long do you have to prepare, and how much rehearsing will you be able to do in that time?  

Sourcing material

All of these questions create a giant jigsaw puzzle.  Thankfully, I really like puzzles!  So every year, around the end of marching band, I’d start scouring publishers’ websites and composers’ SoundCloud channels.  I like to start with Tapspace and C. Alan; Jim Casella and Nathan Daughtry, respectively, have done a great job of curating and publishing a wide variety of high quality pieces.  I also look for certain types of music over at Row-Loff.  I use the search filters to narrow down the field, and then… I listen to a LOT of music.  I take a big Post-It Note and write down every ensemble I’m programming for, and list all the possibilities I come across for each group. I’ve learned over the years to check the provided scores/score samples as well – what sounds easy on composer-produced audio can be deceptively difficult in reality; looking at the score will alert you to an individual part with a complicated rhythm, or to ensembly challenging moments that are not auditorially obvious.  

Since so many composers self-publish these days, it’s worth checking out YouTube as well.  YouTube’s “next up” and “suggested video” features may lead you toward pieces or composers you didn’t otherwise come across, as can looking up old concert programs online, or reaching out to other teachers in your area. 

Of course this process can take hours, but you shouldn’t feel required to listen to the entirety of every piece you ‘audition;’ often I know just by reading a description, or by listening to the first thirty seconds, that a piece is not right for my group: maybe I don’t have access to steel drums, or I don’t have a drumset player (and the part can’t be split up, or I don’t have the personnel to split it up); maybe it’s a wintery piece and this concert is in May!  Whatever the reason, this can drastically shorten the amount of time I spend clicking around.  I try to go into the puzzle with an idea in mind: for example, a “centerpiece” piece for my top group, something esoteric for the second group, a “special effects” piece for my third group, etc. – not a formula, but some idea of what I’m looking for, to shorten the hunt.  It often doesn’t take very long to check the first couple of selections off on my list, and at that point the concert as a whole is starting to take shape, which makes it easier to include or exclude potential pieces for the next group on my list.

Other solutions

On the odd occasion I have resorted to social media in order to crowdsource programming suggestions, I try to do it with a very specific set of needs, for example, “A drummy piece for 5, no longer than 5 or 6 minutes, top high school ensemble of a very good program.”  I try to include other pieces the group has played for reference, since one person’s ‘moderately good’ is another person’s ‘outstanding.’ If you find yourself doing this too, just remember that the more specific you are in communicating what you need, the better the information that’s offered will meet those needs.    

Last but not least, when there’s a piece I really, really want to play (or that the students really want to play, or that I think would be particularly good for our program) that requires more students than we have available in any given class period, I consider whether it’s possible to get creative with rehearsing the piece.  Can the students master the piece rehearsing only after school?  Can you split up the part assignments such that all keyboards are in one period, everyone else in another period, to enable some extra rehearsal?  If there are more students than parts, can you double or split a part while maintaining ensemble balance and the educational value of the music?  If you lack an instrument, can you find a workaround – perhaps use synth to replace steel pan, split drum set into bass and snare/hi-hat, or replace timpani with bass marimba?  Getting creative about dealing with personnel and instrumentation challenges can really open up the variety of musical experiences we can offer our students.  

This process does take time, but considering that – especially for high school students – the percussion ensemble pieces they play form the backbone of our curricular material for the spring semester, I consider it time invested in my students’ skills and experiences, and therefore time invested in the growth of the program. There is a particular joy in teaching a piece that is a good fit for your students, that they are capable of performing at a high level, that pushes them as musicians and as performers, and that they and you enjoy working on.  

Happy programming!

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