Grandmother Song: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
By Brent Michael Davids
Grade: 3
Item: 35-PK00444393
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Description
"Grandmother Song" is an introduction to the Mohican tradition of "sung syllables," or what Native Americans call "vocables." Combining them with traditional wood flute songs, composer Brent Michael Davids offers a fresh look at the "sound" of Native American songs. Band instruments are performed less as musical instruments and more as talking sticks, singing reeds, rustling winds and shooting thunder. Through this beautiful ballad, students are given the materials to understand how Native Americans celebrate the world around them through the blending of words and song. (Includes score and parts.)
BandQuest, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies.
Learn more on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ComposersForum/search?query=brent+michael+davids+%29
Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email bandquest@composersforum.org to request a free downloadable audio catalog.
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Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK00444393
More about this title
About the Composer: Brent Michael Davids
Brent Michael Davids is a composer deeply invested in bringing Native American musical traditions into contemporary concert music. His work centers on authentic representation of Indigenous soundscapes, moving beyond superficial appropriation to create pieces that honor the cultural roots of American music. Davids has become a leading voice in the field, collaborating with educators and communities to develop compositions that serve both artistic and educational purposes.
Why we love this
Davids sidesteps the tired "exotic" tropes that plague so much band music by treating vocables and traditional flute songs as legitimate musical material worthy of serious compositional treatment. Your students won't just play notes; they'll engage with how language and music intertwine in Native American tradition, making this both musically substantive and culturally respectful.
What to expect
A quiet reverence that gradually unfolds. The piece moves with the deliberateness of a traditional song, where each phrase has weight and meaning. Textures shift between sparse and layered, creating moments of genuine beauty rather than spectacle.
Who it's for
Middle school band directors seeking repertoire that expands students' understanding of American musical heritage while maintaining solid technical challenges. This works equally well for ensembles ready to explore music that asks them to listen and think differently about what instruments can express.
How to get the most out of it
- Spend rehearsal time with the recorded examples so your band hears how vocables function as musical content, not decoration. This reshapes how they'll approach phrasing and tone.
- Encourage players to listen for the "talking stick" concept during sectionals. Wood flute passages need a conversational quality; reeds should rustle rather than blare.
- Build dynamic contrast slowly. The ballad's power comes from restraint and space, not volume. Resist the urge to swell early.
How to use it
Program this as the centerpiece of a concert focused on American voices or cultural perspectives in music. It pairs beautifully with other contemporary works that challenge conventional instrumental roles, offering students a substantive intermission piece that leaves the audience reflecting rather than applauding on reflex.
Skills your students will build
- Differentiating articulation and tone quality to convey semantic meaning (instruments as voices rather than sound sources)
- Balancing ensemble blend when traditional melodic hierarchies dissolve
- Sustaining musical intention in sparse textures with minimal harmonic support
- Understanding vocables as linguistic and musical elements with equal weight