Accent on Achievement, Book 1: 2 CDs

This method book arrives with complete accompaniment recordings, which means you can move faster through material without relying on piano support. The full-color format keeps younger students visually engaged over months of daily practice, and the built-in band arrangements give your ensemble repertoire that actually matches their reading level.

Opening these pages feels like stepping into a musician's world that's already alive with color and variety. The repertoire ranges from folk melodies to classical miniatures to global music traditions, so students discover early that bands play far more than just marches and scales.

This is the entry point for beginning band students in grades 5-8, whether they're just picking up an instrument or starting their first year in ensemble. Directors using this method get a complete curriculum built around the USA National Standards, so you spend less time hunting for supplementary materials and more time actually teaching.

• Use the recorded accompaniments in rehearsal to establish steady tempo and musical phrasing, especially when introducing a new line or key area.
• Isolate the rhythm and rest exercises as standalone warm-ups before diving into full pieces; these brief cycles establish muscle memory that transfers immediately to new material.
• Layer the chorales across your section work: treble voices can focus on intonation in one rehearsal segment while lower voices tackle articulation in another, then combine them with the recorded accompaniment.
• Loop the scale exercises within your daily routine rather than treating them as one-off drills; repetition with the recordings helps students internalize key signatures before they encounter them in actual repertoire.

Progress through Books 1 and 2 across your first year or first 18 months, using the built-in arrangements as your primary concert repertoire for fall and spring performances. Move into Book 3 once your ensemble is secure with mixed keys and ready for the technical and rhythmic depth that prepares them for intermediate-level arrangements.

• Reading in treble and bass clefs with growing fluency across multiple keys
• Interpreting rhythm notation including rests, ties, and dotted rhythmic patterns
• Maintaining steady tempo and intonation while playing with recorded accompaniments
• Blending dynamics and articulation within a full band setting
• Understanding major and minor scale construction (progressively introduced across all three books)
• Range extension and flexibility through structured lip slur and technical exercises (emphasis in Book 3)