Sandpaper Ballet: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
By Leroy Anderson
Grade: 3 (Medium Easy)
Item: 00-PK-0001955
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Description
Remember sand blocks? Leroy Anderson wrote a wonderful tribute to those little covered wood blocks. Here's his original, re-released with a new full score for the first time for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Complete with the soft-shoe style . . . it's easy to listen to and a joy to perform. 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, Sandpaper Ballet: 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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Additional Details
Series:
Leroy Anderson Classics
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
100
SKU:
00-PK-0001955
More about this title
About the Composer: Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) was an American composer and conductor whose gift for accessible, unpretentious orchestration made him one of the most performed composers of the mid-20th century. His output includes over 150 original works, many of which became staples of light concert programming and popular culture, recorded by everyone from Arthur Fiedler to Andre Kostelanetz. Anderson's genius lay in finding musical humor and charm in everyday objects and scenarios, then crafting them into pieces that delight both audiences and performers without condescension.
Why we love this
Sandpaper Ballet captures Anderson's signature ability to transform something ordinary into concert music that actually sounds like fun. The Grade 3 level means your band can perform a work by a genuinely sophisticated composer without drowning in technical demands, leaving room to focus on style, balance, and those essential soft-shoe rhythms that make the piece work.
What to expect
Charming and playful, with a vaudeville spirit that feels like watching a clever tap dance in sound. The sandpaper block creates a distinctly nostalgic texture, evoking the early days of American musical theater with warmth rather than kitsch.
Who it's for
Concert bands at the middle school and early high school level looking for a Grade 3 piece that combines entertainment value with genuine musicianship. Any director seeking a light concert selection that audiences know and love, performed by a composer whose craftsmanship invites serious interpretation.
How to get the most out of it
- Treat the sandpaper block sound as a percussion feature, not a gimmick. The rhythm section's precision here determines whether the piece grooves or just ticks.
- Shape the melodic lines with gentle direction rather than straight dynamics. Anderson's writing rewards careful voice leading in the middle voices.
- Lock the tempo early in rehearsal and keep it conversational. This piece lives in its straightforward quarter-note pulse; rushing kills the soft-shoe character.
- Balance the woodwinds and brass so that the sandpaper block remains audible without overwhelming the ensemble. The texture is lean compared to heavier Grade 3 pieces.
How to use it
This works beautifully as a closing selection on a concert where you want to send the audience out smiling, or as a palette-cleanser between heavier contemporary works. Pair it with other Anderson classics or march-adjacent pieces to build a cohesive light concert program.
Skills your students will build
- Maintaining consistent pulse and groove in a light-concert idiom
- Balancing texture with active percussion elements
- Performing with stylistic awareness of early 20th-century American popular music
- Voice leading and inner-part independence in a lean orchestration