Amazon Explorers

Amazon Explorers is a captivating and evocative composition designed for young bands, taking young musicians and audiences on a thrilling journey deep into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. With a lightly programmatic approach, the piece artfully incorporates a rich array of wooden percussion instruments, including maracas, claves, and hand drums, to emulate the soundscape of the jungle. Mallet parts should be played on available wooden instruments like xylophone or marimba. The piece utilizes modal melodies and harmonies to create a unique texture for the beginning band. Examples include non-scalar patterns and open fifths at times. This can be beneficial to change things up for the young performer when learning various note patterns. There are no written dynamics, but add them in if the group is ready! This piece directly correlates with the Foundation Warm-Up Series, specifically set two. The series is designed to follow most beginning band methods. The early sets focus primarily on airflow, common patterns, and reinforcing concepts presented in the method books. As the series develops, the sets become more like a traditional band warm-up, including long tones, flexibility exercises, articulation, scale patterns, and a chorale.