The Jericho Brass

Chattanooga, TN

What is a British Style Brass Band?

The brass band is a type of musical group which has its roots in England and in the United States of the 1840s. Brass instruments had, by this time, evolved into the shapes and forms we recognize today. Village bands, both formal and informal, were reasonably common. Most every military regiment included some sort of marching, musical group. Traditional fife and drum bands, common since the 1700s, were being replaced by groups that included other wind instruments. Since they were capable of producing more volume than woodwinds, brass and drums tended to dominate the groups. The volume was important, as the bands were often called upon to make music in an out-of-doors venue: a parade, a concert in the park, a graveside service, or even a battlefield.

At the time of the American Civil War, town bands had become fairly common in most areas of the United States. Regimental bands were often formed from these town bands, with members occasionally enlisting “en masse.” There are many wartime accounts of troops maneuvering and even charging into battle to the accompaniment of band music. After that war, those military bandsmen returned to civilian life, but they continued to pursue band playing by reforming town bands and forming new ones as America expanded westward. Metallurgy and tooling had improved to the point that quality instruments were readily available and affordable. Banding became the rage, and, by 1900, there were an estimated 25,000 bands active across the country. One instrument maker in Boston offered 61 different models of cornets in his inventory! From the Sears Catalog, one could purchase all the brass instruments, drums, and music necessary to outfit a small group for only $225. Professional bands, like the ones led by Gilmore and Sousa, gained international fame as they toured the world. Some lucky town bands approached professional status and enjoyed the generous financial support of factories, civic organizations, mines, railroads, and unions.

In England, the Salvation Army, organized in 1868, quickly adopted the brass band as a primary missionary vehicle. After all, what better way to draw a crowd on a street corner than with a brass band playing a snappy hymn tune? (Queen Victoria herself was a champion of brass bands. She suggested that mines and factories sponsor bands in order to bring “culture” to the people and foster company spirit. The great factory bands became the source of much civic and professional pride.) As the brass band vogue begin to wane in the rest of the world, the Salvation Army continued to emphasize the musical form and elevate it to higher levels of proficiency. Through missionary efforts, the SA spawned brass bands around the world: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and even South Africa. Even today, it is fairly common to see a Salvation Army brass group playing around their donation kettle at Christmas time. Select bands drawn from SA musicians are among the finest in the world.

By the 1920s, recorded music was becoming available to the general public, radio was in its infancy, and the era of the town brass band was coming to a close. It was no longer necessary to produce one’s own music, since music was available “canned.” In the USA, people spent money on Victrolas, player pianos, and radios, and not on cornets and band lessons. Schools and colleges took on the roll of band instruction, and the community brass bands began to vanish. The concert or wind band, including a full compliment of woodwind instruments, gradually replaced the brass band in most areas.

However, the towns of England, ever the traditionalists, chose to hold on to their brass bands. Few towns were affluent enough to support a symphony orchestra, but every village could have a brass band! The band had become a source of community and professional pride. Coal mines, textile mills, car builders, and other factories sponsored their own bands and saw them as a source of company spirit and as a morale benefit to their employees. Youth bands were organized to nurture players and provide a ready source of replacement musicians. A very competitive attitude began to develop. Beginning around 1860, national competitions were organized, where bands played specially composed “test pieces” for a panel of judges. Winning bands gloated, and losers plotted revenge for next year. Bands achieved a remarkable level of musicianship, rivaling that of major orchestras. Winning the prestigious “open” competition and performing at the Crystal Palace- and later the Royal Albert Hall in London- became the grail for brass bands everywhere. This practice of  “contesting” pushed brass bands toward a common set of instruments, and provided a wealth of brass band literature written specifically to challenge to best groups during the contests. Since so much civic spirit, reputation, pride, and prize money was on the line, organizers had to develop a system of registering players and bands. These regulations helped to inhibit various forms of cheating, such as hiring “ringers” to play the difficult solo parts, bribing judges, etc. This led to a well-regulated “community” of players, directors, and judges. Contesting bands in Great Britain are now organized into well defined “sections,” with bands ranked from first to forth section depending on their level of ability (first section being the highest.)

Why did brass bands evolve and become such a cultural factor in England and especially in the West Yorkshire district? Historians have offered many explanations, most of which boil down to a few basic considerations. First, brass instruments were cheaper, easier to maintain, and more dependable than delicate woodwinds or stringed instruments. They seemed to fit the hands of a “working man” (miner, miller, blacksmith, or bricklayer) better than a violin or an oboe. Harsh Yorkshire winters are unkind to less robust instruments. Second, musical education was “home grown.” Fathers taught sons, and they taught grandsons. The simple 3-valve arrangement of a brass instrument comes easier and quicker than more complex woodwind fingering patterns. This is especially true if the musician is missing a couple of digits: Victorian mills and mines were not the safest places to work! Finally, a very few brass players can make a good racket…good for the dance hall or the parade ground. Entertaining music could be produced with a minimum of trained people and a minimum of expensive instruments…more bang for the buck!

In the 1960s and 1970s, Americans began to rediscover the brass band as an exciting and challenging musical venue. Recordings of the fine British groups were circulated, and several colleges and universities began to form brass bands from their student population. The Salvation Army, which never abandoned its brass tradition, became the incubator for community brass bands all across the country. By the mid-1980s, America had several professional brass bands capable of rivaling the great British groups. To support the growth of this musical movement, bands formed national organizations (like the North American Brass Band Association) and began to hold meetings and competitive events (like their British cousins.) 

Authentic brass bands on both sides of the Atlantic use a common set of instruments. The soprano voices are played by cornets in the keys of E-flat and B-flat.

The cornet section may be divided into as many as five parts, sometimes played by only one player per part. Cornets are preferred over trumpets due to their mellower tone quality. The accompanying alto parts are played by the flugelhorn (evolved from the bugle) and by the tenor horns (descended from the saxhorn and the brass band version of the more temperamental French horns.) The tenor and baritone parts are covered by baritone horns, euphoniums, and trombones (both tenor and bass versions.) Supporting the whole group with the bass voice are the tubas, commonly called “basses” in the brass band. Percussionists number from one to four (or more) depending on the complexity of the arrangements. Most fully instrumented brass bands number 25 to 30 players in total.

With the exception of the trombone, the standard instruments of the brass band are all “conical bore” instruments. This means that the metal tubing which makes up the instrument gradually widens in cross section throughout some 70% of the instrument’s total length. This imparts a tone quality which is described as darker, richer, and more mellow than the tones produced by tubular bore instruments. The trombone is the lone exception. By the nature of its slide system, the trombone must be tubular or, mechanically, the slide would not work.

Another interesting musical “oddity” is that, with the exception of music for the bass trombone, all brass band parts are written in treble clef-even tuba parts! The rational here is that players can more readily switch instruments and cover parts if everyone plays in the same clef. Tuba and trombone players who join authentic brass bands are usually faced with the challenge of learning to read from a new clef.

Any music is fair game for the brass band. In addition to a wealth of music written specifically for that group of instruments, there are many pieces originally scored for other groups (orchestras, string ensembles, organ, piano) which have been artfully arranged to fit brass instruments. British brass band contest organizers annually commission notable composers to write new “test pieces” to challenge the finest groups. (Even the British “greats”-Holst, Elgar, and Walton- have all written test music for brass bands.) The Salvation Army employs several very talented composers and arrangers who generate wonderful music requiring various levels of musical ability. A contemporary brass band concert will likely include marches, orchestral transcriptions, pop tunes, Latin, and even swing, jazz, and rock and roll. Even though all the instruments are brass, the finer bands can produce a wide variety of dynamic contrast and musical expression. Whatever the chosen musical selection, the brass band performs it with enthusiasm, emotion, and that special tone quality unique to conical bore brass instruments. It is a wonderfully captivating sound the listener is not likely to forget!