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Thread: Happy U.S. Independence Day!

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  1. #1

    Happy U.S. Independence Day!

    Happy July 4! In 1992 The U.S. Coast Guard Band helped the Today Show celebrate the holiday. We were with the show on Governors Island (NYC), which was a Coast Guard base at the time:

    https://youtu.be/h9cVKIqJzEI

    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
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    I do believe I see you Dave towering over your bandmates! Playing a 4-valve inline Conn perhaps? I see that your band, as did mine (The U.S. Army Band) (TUSAB) played with no music on outside/parade type jobs. Oops, I take that back, I relooked, and some/all are using music on some of the pieces. Guess you pretty much knew the National Anthem and the Coast Guard piece by memory!! I know that I had to memorize about 30 or more marches when I joined TUSAB. And when we played for some of the annual summer things like "Spirit of America", we had to have all the music memorized. Seeing as how some of it was with the band standing in the middle of a big event place with no lights on for a portion of it. Just spotlights on the actors.

    Anyhow, thanks for posting. Very nice hearing your band playing as we celebrate the 4th!
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  3. #3
    I was never in a premier military band, but I certainly served in the U.S. Army as a euphoniumist and I well remember those mega-ceremonies. These were especially noteworthy in Berlin while the city was still occupied.

    I decided early in my career that I didn't like marching and reading music at the same time. So while it wasn't a requirement, as John mentions above, I took it upon myself to memorize what I call the "standard" marches we customarily played. There were exceptions, of course, but off the top of my head, these are the pieces I still have memorized:
    - U.S. National Anthem
    - German National Anthem (but not to be played in Berlin!)
    - Army Goes Rolling Along (short version)
    - Washington Post
    - Semper Fidelis
    - National Emblem
    - American Soldier
    - Colonel Bogey
    - American Soldier
    - Bravura
    - Hosts of Freedom
    - El Capitan
    - Stars and Stripes Forever
    - Berliner Luft

    Probably a few more that I'm forgetting.
    -
    U.S. Army, Retired (built mid-1950s)
    Adams E2 Euph (built 2017)
    Boosey & Co. Imperial Euph (built 1941)
    Edwards B454 Bass Trombone (built 2012)
    Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Eb tuba (built 1958)
    Kanstul 33-T lBBb tuba (built 2010)

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Eupher6 View Post
    I was never in a premier military band, but I certainly served in the U.S. Army as a euphoniumist and I well remember those mega-ceremonies. These were especially noteworthy in Berlin while the city was still occupied.

    I decided early in my career that I didn't like marching and reading music at the same time. So while it wasn't a requirement, as John mentions above, I took it upon myself to memorize what I call the "standard" marches we customarily played. There were exceptions, of course, but off the top of my head, these are the pieces I still have memorized:
    - U.S. National Anthem
    - German National Anthem (but not to be played in Berlin!)
    - Army Goes Rolling Along (short version)
    - Washington Post
    - Semper Fidelis
    - National Emblem
    - American Soldier
    - Colonel Bogey
    - American Soldier
    - Bravura
    - Hosts of Freedom
    - El Capitan
    - Stars and Stripes Forever
    - Berliner Luft

    Probably a few more that I'm forgetting.
    -
    Nice list! You reminded me that in my earlier days in the band we used some of those for marching, and I had them memorized (National Emblem, Semper Fidelis, Washington Post). And from playing them in various concerts I was close to having El Capitan memorized. The same is true for S&S, but we only had to play from memory one time, and that just took a little touch-up practice to make sure I didn't need music (we played after sunset with no lights for a fireworks gig).

    But Colonel Bogey!?!? I suppose I could memorized that easily enough because we played it in college and in the CG. Regardless, all the tune's bouncing around might not be compatible with my horn bounding around on the march!
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by davewerden View Post
    Nice list! You reminded me that in my earlier days in the band we used some of those for marching, and I had them memorized (National Emblem, Semper Fidelis, Washington Post). And from playing them in various concerts I was close to having El Capitan memorized. The same is true for S&S, but we only had to play from memory one time, and that just took a little touch-up practice to make sure I didn't need music (we played after sunset with no lights for a fireworks gig).

    But Colonel Bogey!?!? I suppose I could memorized that easily enough because we played it in college and in the CG. Regardless, all the tune's bouncing around might not be compatible with my horn bounding around on the march!
    I should clarify - I don't recall playing Col. Bogey while marching - static only, or in concert. But I have it memorized, even today.

    ETA: One Alford march I certainly memorized to play while marching - The Standard of St. George. We played this piece during the Sound Off portion of the Army's ceremony. In addition, some genius got the bright idea to incorporate the British Army's "Queen Anne" step. Needless to say, we had to work on that one!
    Last edited by Eupher6; 07-05-2022 at 10:23 AM.
    U.S. Army, Retired (built mid-1950s)
    Adams E2 Euph (built 2017)
    Boosey & Co. Imperial Euph (built 1941)
    Edwards B454 Bass Trombone (built 2012)
    Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Eb tuba (built 1958)
    Kanstul 33-T lBBb tuba (built 2010)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867
    Quote Originally Posted by Eupher6 View Post
    I was never in a premier military band, but I certainly served in the U.S. Army as a euphoniumist and I well remember those mega-ceremonies. These were especially noteworthy in Berlin while the city was still occupied.

    I decided early in my career that I didn't like marching and reading music at the same time. So while it wasn't a requirement, as John mentions above, I took it upon myself to memorize what I call the "standard" marches we customarily played. There were exceptions, of course, but off the top of my head, these are the pieces I still have memorized:
    - U.S. National Anthem
    - German National Anthem (but not to be played in Berlin!)
    - Army Goes Rolling Along (short version)
    - Washington Post
    - Semper Fidelis
    - National Emblem
    - American Soldier
    - Colonel Bogey
    - American Soldier
    - Bravura
    - Hosts of Freedom
    - El Capitan
    - Stars and Stripes Forever
    - Berliner Luft

    Probably a few more that I'm forgetting.
    -
    That list has a bunch I had to know by heart. The ones I can remember (pun): National Anthem, Army Goes Rolling, Washington Post, National Emblem, El Capitan, S&S Forever, Americans We, Grandioso, Thunderer, Semper Fidelis, Hands Across the Sea, Fairest of the Fair (I love that march), Colonel Bogey, Liberty Bell, America the Beautiful, God Bless America, Bravura, and more.

    I also played in the Herald Trumpets and had to learn maybe 20-25 fanfares and assorted pieces. We never used music when playing the Herald Trumpet.

    I remember spending most of my first month(s) there before I got what they called a "White House Clearance" (a security clearance) learning those pieces from memory. We even had a piece(s) to play on parades when it was freezing outside and your valves froze. Some sort of piece with all open positions, but I can't quite remember how that went.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  7. #7
    John,
    You probably picked me out correctly! In my early band days we marched a couple of really long parades, and I make up my mind that a lighter marching horn would be a blessing. So we got a couple of King Cleveland upright 3-valve horns. MUCH better! Good tone and intonation, and I only missed the 4th valve when we had a long time before a parade and I was practicing some "normal" lit.

    We had a few marches that we used for parades, and memorizing them was very convenient. So we truly did not need lyres for some tunes in the show. We had our own arrangement of "This Is My Country," and that was simple enough in form. Then we used "Americans We," "St. Julien," and "Bravura" as I recall, plus the CG marching song "Semper Paratus."
    Last edited by davewerden; 07-05-2022 at 07:56 AM.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  8. #8
    March Grandioso was another one I had memorized - we used it to march with quite a bit in the various bands I was in.
    U.S. Army, Retired (built mid-1950s)
    Adams E2 Euph (built 2017)
    Boosey & Co. Imperial Euph (built 1941)
    Edwards B454 Bass Trombone (built 2012)
    Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Eb tuba (built 1958)
    Kanstul 33-T lBBb tuba (built 2010)

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