Comegys Creek: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

$70.00 USD

Comegys Creek: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Comegys Creek: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-49513
Price: 70.00 USD
Availability: InStock

By Brian Beck

Grade: 3

Item: 00-49513

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One moment…

Kick off your shoes, jump in, and ride down Comegys Creek. This North Texas creek is named after Dr. C. G. Comegys, a prominent family who lived in Mckinney, TX in the early 1900s. Composer and fellow Texan, Brian Beck captures the southern rowdiness of frolicking in the water with friends and family. Comegys Creek is a fun piece that will expand your student's harmonic vocabulary and is perfect for introducing and reinforcing accidentals that create interesting harmonies, all within a comfortable range. It also explores the many permutations of the 8th and 16th note combinations, as well as introduces and reinforces 7/8 time signature. Groups performing this piece will become "multi-meter masters" in no time! (2:24) This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Comegys Creek: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.

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Series: Young Symphonic

Publisher: Alfred Music

ISBN10: 1-4706-4958-6

ISBN13: 978-1-4706-4958-6

UPC: 038081570365

SKU: 00-49513

More about this title

About the Composer: Brian Beck

Brian Beck is a Texas-based composer and arranger whose music has appeared on TMEA Honor Band concerts, regional clinics, and state competitions throughout the Southwest. His compositions have received recognition from The Instrumentalist, J.W. Pepper, and Tom Lee Music, and several have been included in the GIA Publications series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. His works populate prescribed music lists in Texas, Ohio, Florida, and the Pacific Northwest.

Beck has directed bands at both the middle and high school levels in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where his ensembles earned consistent Superior ratings at UIL contests and were selected for the TMEA State Honor Band competition. He holds degrees in music education from Texas A&M University-Commerce and the University of Houston.

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Why we love this

Beck writes with a keen ear for what intermediate students need to learn, and Comegys Creek delivers harmonic vocabulary growth through musical storytelling rather than exercises. The piece's exploration of mixed meters and rhythmic combinations feels organic to the narrative, making meter work feel like part of the musical experience rather than a technical checklist.

What to expect

The piece captures the carefree energy of summer days splashing in a creek, with harmonic colors that shift and surprise like light on moving water. There's infectious joy in the orchestration, paired with just enough rhythmic complexity to keep players engaged and thinking.

Who it's for

Grade 3 concert bands seeking music that teaches harmonic color and rhythmic independence without sounding like a study piece. Directors building meter literacy will find this especially valuable, as students experience 7/8 in a musical context rather than an abstract one.

How to get the most out of it

Shape the melodic phrases to suggest the water's movement; let the pacing breathe rather than pushing the tempo forward, especially through sections with syncopation.
Balance the accidentals prominently enough that students hear how they color the harmony; overstating them slightly in rehearsal helps the band recognize these moments.
Lock the rhythmic figures between upper and lower voices during the 7/8 sections; having them count together initially, then independently, solidifies confidence before performance.
Use the variety of note combinations (8th and 16th rhythms) as a dynamic tool; subtle changes in articulation can highlight the contrast between sections.

How to use it

This works beautifully as a festival or contest piece for bands developing their technical foundation; the 2:24 length fits easily into most competition formats. Program it alongside a contrasting ballad or march to showcase range, or use it as a spring concert opener to energize an audience.

Skills your students will build

Reading 7/8 time signature in an ensemble context
Identifying and performing chromatic alterations (accidentals) that function harmonically
Executing varied rhythmic subdivisions (8th and 16th note combinations) with accuracy
Hearing and balancing chromatic harmony within a functional harmonic framework
Coordinating independent rhythmic lines across sections in mixed-meter sections