Scott Rogers

It smells like the sea, adventure, and excitement when the pirates arrive! Pirates Ahoy has a stabile rhythmic character with simple syncopations. The piece is built upon just a few basic figures, som...

ODE TO JOY (German: An die Freude) is a poem written by the german poet Friedrich Schiller. Ludwig van Beethoven wrote music to this poem, and the theme is also used in his Symphony no. 9. Ode to Joy...

It is not often that we get to play a really dramatic piece with a young band. The Dark Castle creates a solemn and regal atmosphere with its slow puls and stately percussion.

It is important for young bands to play in minor keys. Elvish Dance is not only a minor key piece suitable for young bands, it also has a hint of dorian and lydian modes to give it that real elvish fe...

A trip to Coconut Island is always enjoyable! Soft Latin rhythms, a relaxing tempo, and tutti rhythm figures combine to create the perfect vacation. Coconut Island introduces young musicians to Latin...

This march uses simple diatonic patterns and call-and-response melody to create an accessible introduction to march style. The melody is also easy to whistle. Try performing the march by whistling the...

Rock the Streets is a march based on a dialog between the winds and percussion. The piece is build up on ostinato figures, something that makes mastery of the individual parts easier and faster. The f...

'Big Big World' is a ballad by Swedish pop artist Emilia Rydberg. The song won the Swedish Grammis, the prize for 'Song of the Year 1998', and the Swedish 'Rockbjörnen' prize. The song's simple and vu...

'Aura Lee - the Maid with Golden Hair' is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (lyrics) and George R. Poulton (music). The tune is familiar to modern audiences fr...

This little melody leaps up and down giving young musicians the opportunity to practice ascending and descending intervals up to a perfect fifth. Short diatonic scale patterns create contrast to all t...

You Really Got Me' was written by Ray Davies, and became The Kinks big break. It is a genuine rock classic, and one of the most distinctive and easily recognizable tunes from the 1960s. The tune's cat...

Tielman Susato was a renaisance composer, performed on most of the known wind instruments of his time, and one of the first publishers of music. The dance tune 'La Mourisque' was included in his colle...

Den siste mohikaner ('The Last of the Mohicans') is originally a German song ('Da sprach der alte haeuptling der indianer'). In Norway it's made famous by singer Arne Bendiksen who performed it a nume...

This little march is very short, but includes many of the most characteristic elements from the march form: introduction, clearly delineated form, contrasting melody in the bass instruments, del segno...

One of the worlds most widely known melodies, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is based on a French melody (Ah! Vous dirai-je, maman) first published in 1761. The lyrics were first published in 1806, in a...

The song, known in Norway as 'Blåmann, Blåmann bukken min', is one of Norway's best known children's songs, and a clear case of art imitating life. The poem by A.O. Vinje was written in 1860, and is b...

Who has been taking all the cheese? There must be a mouse in the house. I think I can hear his little feet running around in the kitchen. Maybe we should set a trap! This little piece of program music...

Who isn't fascinated by the pageantry of a royal procession? The marching quarter-note motive leads to a more peaceful middle section where the rhythmic feeling is based on half-notes. This piece can...

My neighbours used to have a great big grandfather clock that ticked rather loudly. My brother and I would sit and wait patiently for the hour to strike, and the little bird to come out to say "koo-ko...

'Miss Crow's Fabulous Orchestra' is taken from Hogne Moe's popular musical of the same name. Miss Crow is going to put on a show, and she does it by starting her own orchestra - and everybody can tak...

There are many melodies called "Springtime Melody". This melody is originally from an old folksong fragment known as a "stubb". The basic melody is extended with a short interlude. This piece features...

This melody comes from Hogne Moe's book, 'Jonas Almost Schoolboy', which many schools in Norway have performed as a musical. The song has a toe-tapping groove, and a melody which encourages everyone t...

The song about Tom Dooley has been a part of American folk tradition since the 1860's, but became famous worldwide in 1958 when the Kingston Trio made a popular version that became wildly successful....

The melody known as 'A Ya Zain' (also 'Aya Zein' or 'Ayazein,') is most often credited as an Egyptian folk song. The tune is easily recognizable as having Arabic origins by its use of the double harmo...

What do marching trolls look like? This piece can spark the imaginations of young players into action, so that they can picture it for themselves. It is important to introduce minor tonality to beginn...