Come Fly With Me: Marching Band Conductor Score & Parts

Murtha and Rapp have captured the essential swagger of this tune without sacrificing the sophistication that makes it work. The scoring variety keeps sections engaged throughout, and the big band idiom translates surprisingly well to the marching field, giving your band a legitimate concert number with genuine popular appeal.

Confident and urbane, like stepping into a first-class lounge in the late 1950s. The energy propels forward naturally without forcing, and the orchestration feels spacious despite plenty of happening textures. There's real joy in the music, the kind that comes from musicians knowing they're playing something both timeless and genuinely fun.

Grade 4 bands with solid fundamentals in both technical execution and style. This work rewards groups ready to tackle swing articulation and coordinate dynamic nuance across multiple sections simultaneously. It works equally well for competitive marching programs and concert bands seeking accessible material with genuine sophistication.

• Balance the melodic voices against the harmonic backdrop; the tune's strength depends on clarity, not volume. Let the arrangement breathe in quieter passages.
• Study recordings of the original Sinatra version and more recent interpretations to internalize the phrasing. Jazz inflection and rhythmic lift matter here.
• Lock the brass section's attack on syncopated figures, particularly in the background voicings that define the swing feel.
• Shape phrases with slight dynamic pushes on strong beats rather than playing straight mezzo-forte throughout; this reinforces the natural groove.

Use this as a centerpiece for a standards or American songbook concert program, pairing it with other popular era material to create thematic coherence. Its accessibility makes it an excellent choice for pops or family concert contexts where you want to reach audiences beyond typical band repertoire enthusiasts. The length and energy also serve well as a strong closer or anchor piece in a longer program.

• Swing articulation and rhythmic subdivision in big band style
• Dynamic control and phrase shaping in popular music idioms
• Ensemble balance when melody, harmony, and accompaniment figures occupy similar ranges
• Interpretation of standard notation with stylistic inflection and lift