Tuning Chorales for Band, Volume 2: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
By Richard L. Saucedo
Grade: 3
Item: 35-PK00445194
$50.00
Pickup currently not available
Buy Extra Parts (Digital PDF Download)
Parts Added to Cart!
Description
Incorporating the concept of drones (included on every part), here is the second volume of tuning chorales from Richard Saucedo. These will become invaluable to helping your players strive for tone development, balance and blend, in addition to the focus on intonation.
Tuning Chorales for Band, Volume 2: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.
Request This Title
Tell us you want it.
Start Your Free Trial
Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Audio
No sample audio found.
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK00445194
More about this title
About the Composer: Richard L. Saucedo
Richard L. Saucedo spent 31 years as Director of Bands at Carmel High School in Indiana, where he built one of the nation's most decorated high school band programs. His ensembles earned state, regional, and national recognition across concert, jazz, and marching categories; Carmel's Wind Symphony performed at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival three times and claimed the Indiana State Championship title in 2013, while the Marching Greyhounds secured BOA National Championships in 2005 and 2012.
Beyond his classroom work, Saucedo has shaped the field as a composer and arranger, contributed to five Drum Corps International world championships as brass arranger for the Cavaliers, and served as music ensemble coordinator for the Blue Devils. He was named Indiana's Bandmaster of the Year in 1998-99, received the Outstanding Music Educator award in 2010, and was inducted into both the Music for All Hall of Fame (2015) and DCI Hall of Fame (2022). Saucedo is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association and continues his work as a Senior Educational Consultant for Music for All and Bands of America.
Why we love this
Saucedo's approach to tuning work moves beyond mechanics into music-making. The drone concept embedded in every part creates a continuous reference that sharpens intonation awareness without feeling like a drill, while the choral writing itself demands the tone quality and balance your students need to develop. This second volume gives you material that works equally well as a daily warm-up or as a focused rehearsal block on blend and resonance.
What to expect
Anchored, focused, and deliberate. The drone underneath each phrase creates a sense of tonal gravity that makes pitch relationships immediately clear. The writing has a quiet dignity that encourages players to listen inward and adjust together rather than push harder.
Who it's for
Concert band directors working at grades 3 and up who want systematic, musical material for addressing intonation and tone development. These chorales suit ensembles preparing for festival adjudication or those building foundational listening skills in younger sections.
How to get the most out of it
- Have the ensemble sustain the opening unison passage before adding harmonic material; this establishes a collective reference pitch and reveals individual tuning tendencies early.
- Rotate which section holds the drone across different rehearsals to shift responsibility and ensure all players internalize the relationship between their part and the harmonic center.
- Layer in dynamics and vibrato gradually as intonation stabilizes; resistance to adding expression too early pays off in cleaner, more focused sound.
- Record the group during a run-through and play it back immediately; students hear blend issues in playback that they miss in the moment, especially in the upper register.
How to use it
Open rehearsal with a chorale as your listening centerpiece for 5 to 10 minutes; the sustained focus sharpens ears before moving into more complex repertoire. Pair these across a season with your concert band's other tuning-related work, or use them alongside lyrical passages in your festival repertoire to reinforce the tone quality and balance those pieces demand.
Skills your students will build
- Sustained intonation in unison and harmonic contexts
- Listening for and matching reference pitches provided by drones
- Balance and blend across all instrumental voices
- Tone control and resonance in the middle and upper registers
- Harmonic awareness and sensitivity to chord tuning