The Best of Big and Easy, Volume 2: Conductor Book

This collection gives you 15 proven crowd-pleasers that your students will actually want to play and your audiences will recognize immediately. The Grade 2 level means you can pull together a solid-sounding performance without spending weeks drilling fundamentals, yet the arranging is sophisticated enough to keep mature musicians interested. The rhythm section instrumentation (keyboard, electric bass, drumset) lifts these pieces out of the typical marching band sound and into something that feels contemporary and fun.

Opening these arrangements reveals the joy of recognizable tunes arranged with style and intention. There's a swagger to pieces like Bad to the Bone and Gonna Fly Now, a relaxed groove in Twisting the Night Away, and genuine charm in the holiday staple Sleigh Ride. The collection swings between eras and moods without losing musical coherence, giving your program real personality.

This conductor book serves directors who need reliable, engaging marching band charts that fit realistic rehearsal schedules. It works equally well for standalone performance, pep band contexts, or concert programming where you want immediate musical payoff. Your students get to play real music with legitimate arrangements, not simplified exercises.

• Lock the rhythm section first during rehearsals. The keyboard, electric bass, and drumset create the pocket; once they're locked, the rest of the band sits in naturally and intonation improves.
• Emphasize the style and groove of each chart rather than clinical precision. These are pop and rock tunes at heart; allow the band to feel the swing or funk of pieces like Funkytown and Jump.
• Use the conductor book to establish clear visual cues for section entrances and dynamic shifts. With such a collection of recognizable melodies, audiences notice when transitions feel confident versus muddled.
• Balance the front-of-house sound by checking your drumset and bass placement during early rehearsals. A distant or buried rhythm section will flatten the whole arrangement regardless of how well the melody plays.

Build an entire pep band or pop concert around this collection. Select three or four contrasting pieces (pairing upbeat funk charts with a ballad, for instance) and you have a complete, polished half of a concert. These arrangements also work beautifully as filler material during the school year, allowing you to program something substantial on short notice without compromising quality.

• Reading and interpreting style markings specific to pop and rock idioms
• Playing with a locked rhythm section and maintaining ensemble groove
• Balancing melody and accompaniment parts in non-traditional instrumentation
• Responding to dynamic and textural variety within single arrangements
• Managing intonation and blend when rhythm section instruments are prominent