Strike Up the Band!: Choral SoundPax
Music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin / arr. Mark Hayes
Item: 00-PK-0004022
$50.00
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Description
The fabulous Mark Hayes arrangement is all-American, all the way! Opens with a martial verse, which sets the drums rolling and the trumpets sounding. Concert band-style SoundPax available separately, or use the SoundTrax CD. Hooray!
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Strike Up the Band!: Choral SoundPax 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:
Alfred Pop Choral Series
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
64
SKU:
00-PK-0004022
Instrumentation:
SoundPax
More about this title
About the Composer: George Gershwin
George Gershwin (1898, 1937) was an American composer who bridged the worlds of concert music and popular song with unprecedented sophistication. His gift for memorable melody and orchestration shaped American music for generations, and his work remains central to the repertoire precisely because it speaks across audiences and skill levels without compromising craft.
Gershwin's partnership with his brother Ira, a lyricist of rare wit and intelligence, produced some of the twentieth century's most enduring songs. For choral directors, Gershwin's music offers an entry point into arranging that honors both popular accessibility and musical substance, a balance that Mark Hayes captures beautifully in this setting.
Why we love this
Mark Hayes understood exactly what makes this material sing in a choral setting. His arrangement respects the iconic opening, that martial verse with drums and trumpets cutting through, while building vocal lines that sit naturally across a range of voices. This is a piece that brings genuine energy to a concert without requiring your singers to work around clumsy voicing.
What to expect
Energetic and forthright. The opening verse establishes a confident, almost ceremonial mood, military in spirit but playful in execution. As the arrangement develops, the harmonic richness Hayes brings to Gershwin's melody creates something that feels both familiar and freshly orchestrated, with the kind of sophistication that keeps singers and listeners engaged.
Who it's for
Choirs preparing concerts or festival programs who want a showstopper with genuine musical substance. This arrangement works for intermediate to advanced high school choirs, community choruses, and college ensembles seeking a piece that combines accessibility with harmonic and rhythmic sophistication.
How to get the most out of it
- Lock the martial character of the opening verse before layering in the harmonic detail. The drums and trumpets need to feel inevitable, not busy.
- Balance the recorded accompaniment carefully in rehearsal so your singers can hear themselves against the SoundPax. The arrangement is rich enough that underbalancing the track will help your ensemble stay confident.
- Shape the dynamics phrase by phrase rather than section by section. Gershwin's melodies breathe, and Hayes's writing follows those contours, honor them.
- Treat the patriotic sentiment as celebration rather than solemnity. The energy in this arrangement comes from joy and pride in the music itself.
How to use it
Position this as a concert closer or anchor a program celebrating twentieth-century American music. Its upbeat character and broad appeal make it ideal for spring concerts, pops concerts, or community events where you want to end on a note of pure celebration.
Skills your students will build
- Rhythmic precision in syncopated, jazz-influenced passages
- Balancing melody and harmony in thickly voiced choral textures
- Coordinate with recorded accompaniment and instrumental parts
- Sustaining forward momentum and energy across a full arrangement