Building Blocks

Building Blocks is a bright and engaging beginning band piece designed to support students in their earliest stages of music-making. Like a child stacking colorful blocks, this piece builds musical foundations one layer at a time. Using the first seven notes most commonly learned on band instruments, the music introduces essential patterns—basic notes and rhythms, scalar passages, and ascending and descending thirds—that serve as the “building blocks” of ensemble playing. Each section of the band—brass, woodwinds, and percussion—gets a turn to play melodic or melodic-like material, while also learning to support one another through simple harmonies and accompaniments. The brass and woodwind parts use whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and rests, reinforcing steady rhythm reading and tone production. The percussion section adds variety and texture, while remaining accessible for first-year players. vWith its focus on fundamental scales and early harmonic patterns, Building Blocks is both educational and rewarding. Perfect for first-year concerts or classroom learning, Building Blocks offers young musicians an opportunity to stack their skills—note by note, measure by measure—into something greater than the sum of its parts. This piece directly correlates with the Foundation Warm-Up Series. This 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.