Belwin Very Beginning Band Kit #2: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

This kit gives your earliest ensembles a legitimate concert program that doesn't sacrifice musical substance. Finlandia is an iconic work that students recognize and respect, and pairing it with folk material and a percussion feature creates genuine variety in a single rehearsal session. You get a complete, cohesive concert without scrambling for supplemental pieces.

Sibelius' Finlandia carries the noble, stately quality of Finnish national music, with a memorable melody that soars even in simplified form. The folk songs bring warmth and cultural color, while the Marching Machine captures the snap and forward motion of a concert march. Together, the four pieces create a satisfying arc from grand to intimate to rhythmically engaging.

Beginning band directors with Grade ½ ensembles who want a legitimate concert program without oversimplifying musical content. This kit serves programs that perform four pieces in a single concert and need full instrumentation parts for typical beginning band instrumentation. It's ideal for directors who want to program Finlandia without having to arrange it for young ensembles.

• Balance the flute section feature in Finlandia by adjusting surrounding band voices during rehearsal; these young players need space to sing their melody without being buried.
• Bring out the rhythmic character of the Marching Machine by letting the percussion section lead the tempo and pulse; beginning percussionists benefit from the confidence of owning a spotlight feature.
• Shape the Jewish folk melody in The Dreydl with clear phrasing at the phrase level rather than note-by-note; young musicians respond well when they can hear where phrases breathe and resolve.
• Lock in the time signature and meter changes in Twinkle Variations by conducting the patterns with exaggerated clarity; this builds metric security for players still developing rhythmic independence.

Build a complete first-semester or first-year concert around this kit, opening with Finlandia to establish musical authority, moving through folk material for variety, and closing with the percussion feature to energize the audience. Alternatively, use individual selections to punctuate longer programs: Finlandia works as a powerful opener or closer, while the march and folk songs function well as pacing pieces alongside other beginning band repertoire.

• Reading melodic lines with longer phrase shapes across multiple measures
• Balancing ensemble sound when featured sections carry the melody
• Maintaining steady pulse through meter changes and rhythmic variation
• Executing articulation and dynamic shaping in simplified orchestral contexts
• Ensemble entrances and cutoffs across multiple instrumental families