Thrills and Trills!: E-flat Alto Saxophone
By Scott Watson
Grade: 2 (Medium Easy)
Item: 00-PC-0015323_AX1
$3.00
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Description
When it comes to trills, why should the woodwinds have all the fun? Not so with this circus-style march, "Thrills and Trills!" In this rambunctious, thrill-a-minute crowd-pleaser, trills are the main event and every player in band gets into the act. (2:05)
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Thrills and Trills!: E-flat Alto Saxophone 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:
Challenger Band Series
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
124
SKU:
00-PC-0015323_AX1
More about this title
About the Composer: Scott Watson
Scott Watson has spent four decades shaping young musicians as a teacher, conductor, and composer. After 35 years directing instrumental music programs in the Parkland School District near Allentown, Pennsylvania (where he built the elementary band and strings curriculum from the ground up), he moved into higher education as Associate Professor of Music at Cairn University in Pennsylvania. His compositional output spans more than 120 works across concert band, string orchestra, and chamber ensembles at every level.
Watson's voice as a composer draws from two distinct worlds: the contemporary concert music he studied in academic settings and the practical demands of the school band room. This dual perspective makes his music both musically sophisticated and genuinely playable for student ensembles. His works have been performed internationally and at venues including the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and the White House. He serves as an exclusive composer and clinician for Alfred Publications, contributes to their Sound Innovations series, and authored the music education text Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity (Oxford University Press, 2011).
Why we love this
Watson writes for the whole band, not just the soloists. "Thrills and Trills!" puts ornamental technique into every section's hands and makes the result feel like genuine fun rather than a technical exercise. The circus-style march energy keeps students engaged while they're actually building serious articulation and precision skills.
What to expect
Infectious, rambunctious energy with the feel of a carnival or street parade suddenly breaking into coordinated ornamentation. The trill work creates a shimmer and sparkle across the full band while the march framework keeps everything grounded and moving forward.
Who it's for
Grade 2 bands seeking a high-energy concert piece that builds technical facility without sacrificing musicality or ensemble fun. Directors programming a crowd-pleasing closer or looking to feature every section (not just the usual solo voices) will find this especially valuable.
How to get the most out of it
- Balance the ornamental figures across sections so the trills read as a unified effect rather than competing textures; clarity matters more than volume.
- Establish a steady tempo baseline early in rehearsals and lock it in before adding the trill passages, which tend to cloud meter when players haven't internalized the pulse.
- Emphasize the rhythmic placement of trills against the march's forward motion; students should feel trills as part of the harmonic rhythm, not as decorative flourishes outside it.
- Record a sectional rehearsal and play it back so students hear how their ornaments combine; this builds ensemble awareness that individual trill accuracy has real impact.
How to use it
This lands perfectly as a concert finale when you want to leave an audience smiling and send students off stage with momentum. It also works well as a midseason morale booster during the stretch when technical work can feel repetitive; the novelty of full-band ornamental writing reinvigorates student interest.
Skills your students will build
- Executing clean, even trills across sustained passages
- Maintaining pulse clarity while executing ornamental figures
- Balancing individual technique with full-ensemble texture awareness
- Rhythmic precision in march style articulation
- Coordinating ornamental writing across multiple sections