Book 1

Book 1 Learning Sequence

Real Music Notation: Lines from page 6 of the student book are presented in real music notation for additional reinforcement. This will help the transition from shape note reading on page 4-6 to real music notation on page 7.

Extra Reinforcement of First Three Notes: This extra page is designed to serve as reinforcement of the first three notes learned in the Yamaha Advantage. This is especially effective if using the book with younger beginning students that need a little more work on long note values before moving on to page 7. The order of note presentation on this is D, Eb and then F, to give the teacher another option to begin the whole band if desired.

Theory - Five Note Challenge: Have students name all notes on the page in less than one minute.
Designed to reinforce note names.

Theory Worksheets

After Page 6 - Clefs and Names of Notes

After Page 7 - Musical Symbols , Notes and Rests

After Page 8 - Drawing Clefs and Note Names

After page 9 - Repeats and Musical Symbol Review

Lesson Plans for Book 1, Pages 2-8 - These helpful plans written by Dr. Ruth Brittin will help you to develop a successful start to your program. Each lesson contains a wealth of information and ideas on the structure of the lesson and how to assess student progress.

Book 1 Assessment Exercises: These exercises correlate to specific pages in Book 1.
They can be used for extra practice or for assessing student progress.

Book 1 Assignments:

Supplemental Rhythm Studies: An extra two pages of rhythm exercises correlated with pages in Book 1.

Correlated Band Music for Book 1

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Primus - can be performed after page 9
May be used after page 15 of Primer or after page 9 of Book 1. Primus has the most limited range and technical demands of any piece in the series. It only uses 5 notes Concert Bb to F and is a great first performance piece.

Name The Christmas Carol - can be performed after page 10
Name That Christmas Carol, which uses only 6 notes from concert Bb to G, is designed to be an audience participation game that will add some fun to your first Christmas concert.

Christmas Surprise - can be performed after page 12
Christmas Surprise is a perfect composition for your first Christmas Concert. It only uses the first 7 notes introduced in most beginning band methods; concert Bb to G plus the low A. This arrangement uniquely combines Jingle Bells and Jolly Old Saint Nicholas with Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. It also includes a unique section where the band sings.

Prestige March - can be performed after page 13
Prestige is designed to introduce March style and form to the young band. Although it only contains the first 7 notes found in most band methods, Concert A to G, it provides a meaningful march experience.

Geology - can be performed after page 15
Geology: The Study of Rock combines a rock bass line, percussion groove and a melody with a little twist into a fun to play crowd-pleasing composition.

Festival Chorale and March - can be performed after page 16
Festival Chorale and March is design to reinforce newly learned eighth note rhythms and to give students a contest/festival style piece that will improve their musicianship.

Achievement (Chorale and March) - can be performed after page 17
Achievement is a chorale and march using the first 7 notes found in most beginning band methods.

Conquest - can be performed after page 18
A true "contest" style piece for the beginning band that uses limited note and rhythm resources, but is very creatively written. Your youngest students will feel like they are playing serious music, as the piece is bold, aggressive and sounds more difficult than it plays. This is the type of exceptional music you have come to expect from two of the most popular composers of beginning band music. This piece is correlated to The Yamaha Advantage band method book 1, but can be used with any band program of study.

Variations on a Theme by Grieg - can be performed after page 18
Variations on a Theme by Grieg is designed to give your best players an opportunity to play a solo with band accompaniment. Using the famous Morning theme from the popular Peer Gynt Suite as the basis, a new composition is created that is a set of variations on this theme.

Sentinel - can be performed after page 21
Sentinel is designed to reinforce the key of Eb after the note concert Ab is learned. It contains contemporary harmonies, tuneful melodies and exciting percussion.

A Natural Blues - can be performed after page 22
A Natural Blues is composed in a traditional 12 bar blues form. The use of the A natural is a perfect way to reinforce this note when it is taught.

Honor March - can be performed after page 22
Honor March is written to introduce the March form and style to young musicians. Playing marches is part of the heritage of the band and is an importance style that the students should learn to play.

Reflections - can be performed after page 25
Reflections combines chorale-style playing with contemporary harmonies. It is a perfect piece to reinforce the teaching of phrasing and overall musical performance.

Shaker Settings - can be performed after page 26
Shaker Settings is a combination of two shaker songs Father James’s Song and the famous Simple Gifts. This is a very playable and effective arrangement for contest use.

Christmas Stomp - can be performed after page 27
Christmas Stomp is a perfect composition for a beginning band’s Christmas Concert. It features three percussion soloists that play on different sounding buckets. The piece is written in a swing style, which will make it more enjoyable to play.

Flourish - can be performed after page 30
Flourish is a great concert opener or closer. This fanfare style piece is perfect for contests and festivals and excellent for teaching form.

Antiphony - can be performed after page 31
Antiphony is a serious composition that will highlight your budding percussionists. This bold and harmonically progressive piece has an extensive percussion section that is placed antiphonally around the band to give the piece a stereophonic effect.

Fanfare Acclamations - can be performed after page 31
Fanfare Acclamations is a contest style piece that is bold and energetic. As the title implies is begins with a bold maestoso fanfare with punctuating percussion that leads to the active main theme in an up-tempo allegro.

Impressions - can be performed after page 31
Impressions is a heartfelt composition in a lyrical style. Beautiful melodies are given numerous orchestrational and harmonic treatments to create a musical journey that will be pleasing to performers and audiences.

Legends - can be performed after page 31
Legends is designed to reinforce eighth-note patterns and 3/4 time. The composition is a perfect contest/festival style piece and as the title implies, is reminiscent of swashbuckling heroes.

Talons of Fire - can be performed after page 31
Talons of Fire is an aggressive, energetic contest style composition that everyone will enjoy performing. It contains bold fanfares, strong percussion interjections and angular rhythms that will be thrilling for students and audience alike.

Elite March - can be performed after page 33
Elite March is written to introduce the march form and style to young musicians. Playing marches is part of the heritage of the band and is an importance style that students should learn to play. The form of this composition includes the traditional modulation to the subdominant at the Trio

Fleur-de-lis March - can be performed after page 33
Fluer-de-lis March is written to introduce the march form and style to young musicians. Playing marches is part of the heritage of the band and is an importance style that the students should learn to play. The form of this composition includes the traditional modulation to the subdominant at the Trio.

The Ash Grove - can be performed after page 35
The Ash Grove is designed to give your best trumpet, trombone, baritone or tuba player an opportunity to play a solo with band accompaniment. It should serve as the culmination of study for the soloist at the completion of any method book 1. The piece also has all of the solo material cued in the band so if a soloist is not available you can perform this piece with band alone.

Genesis - can be performed after page 35
Genesis is a contest style piece that can be used as the culmination of study at the end of The Yamaha Advantage or at the end of any band method book 1. This popular performance piece from the back of book 1 has been requested by directors to be available separately so that they can perform the piece at contest. It is a real winner!

Jupiter (Full Band) - can be performed after page 35
Jupiter the famous Gustav Holst composition is arranged for flute or clarinet or alto saxophone soloist with band accompaniment or it can be played by band alone.

Jupiter (Solo with Band) - can be performed after page 35
Jupiter the famous Gustav Holst composition is arranged for flute or clarinet or alto saxophone soloist with band accompaniment or it can be played by band alone.

Symphony No.1 Theme - can be performed after page 35
The Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 1 Theme is designed to give your best players an opportunity to play a solo with band accompaniment. This solo is the same one that appears on page 36, book 1 of The Yamaha Advantage® for oboe, bassoon, alto clarinet, tenor saxophone and horn. This arrangement also includes solo parts for Flute, Clarinet and Alto Saxophone. This piece can also be performed by band alone.

Band-o-rama
Band-o-rama is a wonderful march designed for combined performance of beginning, intermediate and high school bands. The composition is available in two versions; one for high school band and one with parts for both elementary and intermediate bands. Each publication is designed so it can be performed separately but when you put them together for a mass band concert, it will bring the house down.

Book 2

Book 2 Assessment Exercises: These exercises correlate to specific pages in Book 2.
They can be used for extra practice or for assessing student progress.

Correlated Band Music for Book 2

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Chorale Warm-ups for Young Bands - can be performed after page 8
Four effective warm-up chorales to build musicianship and work on tone quality, intonation, balance and blend with a young band. These chorales are based on popular hymns or songs like "Chester" and "In the Bleak Midwinter" and are scored for success by younger groups and will help to build their confidence and increase the beauty of tone produced by your band. These chorales are a perfect way to improve the legato and lyrical playing of your ensemble. This piece is correlated to The Yamaha Advantage band method book 2, but can be used with any band program of study.

Snarendipity - can be performed after page 8
Snarendipity features solo snare drum with band. This piece can be performed by one snare drummer or with multiple snare drum soloists. The snare drum part includes contemporary sounds as well as many rudiments.

Winter Holidays - can be performed after page 8
Winter Holidays is unique in that it combines four favorite holiday songs of both Christmas and Hanukah. The songs are heard alone and together, at one point combining three of the melodies in a musical celebration exemplifying both the uniqueness and the unifying forces of the holiday season.

Christmas Gloria - can be performed after page 17
Christmas Gloria begins with a snare drum solo snares off which sets the tone for a bolero style arrangement reminiscent of the Little Drummer Boy but based on the all time favorite Pat-a-Pan. The arrangement builds to a climax that brings in the melody of the Gloria section of Angles We Have Heard On High.

The Bells of Christmas - can be performed after page 22
The Bells of Christmas, a medley of popular Christmas carols, incorporates the sounds of ringing bells and chimes as a unifying theme. The piece presents O Tanenbaum, Deck the Halls, Joy to the World and other snippets of holiday favorites in a variety of styles from fanfare gestures to beautiful chorale type settings.

The Fifers - can be performed after page 22
The Fifers is designed to give your best players an opportunity to play a solo with band accompaniment. Originally composed for harpsichord by Jean-Francois Dandrieu, this lively piece is written in a Baroque style and is perfect for reinforcing sixteenth note rhythms.

Lullaby for Christmas - can be performed after page 22
Lullaby for Christmas is a unique combining of popular lullabies such as the Brahm’ Lullaby and Hush-a-bye Baby with the favorite Christmas carols Away In a Manger and O, Holy Night. A beautiful and subtle arrangement to celebrate the Christmas season!

Christmas Toyland - can be performed after page 24
Christmas Toyland is a clever new arrangement that combines the famous march from the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker with the Victor Herbert classic Toyland. It is perfect to reinforce triplets and 3/4 time. The combination of these two wonderful compositions is certain to be an audience favorite.

Intervalic - can be performed after page 29
The essence of improving the aural skills of your students is by teaching them to recognize melodic intervals as part of the structure of music. This contest/festival style piece is also designed to teach most of the major and minor melodic intervals through the two main themes of the piece. As an added bonus, the back page of the parts includes both of the melodies written out for all of the instruments so that you can use the piece to teach this concept. Lesson plan materials are included with the score. This piece is correlated to The Yamaha Advantage band method book 2, but can be used with any band program of study.

Outback Rhapsody - can be performed after page 29
Outback Rhapsody introduces the delightful music of Australia in a contest style piece. It is perfect to reinforce 6/8 time in 2. It combines 3 popular folk songs from Australia and would be great to use in a multicultural presentation.

Meet the Band - can be performed after page 31
Meet the Band is intended to be used as a recruitment piece at a recruitment concert. It introduces young students to all of the instruments and sections of the band. The narrator "Sam the Snare Drum" takes the students on a musical journey through the instrument of the band. Many of the instrumental themes will be familiar to the students from their use in the Yamaha Advantage Recorder Plus method. Each section and then the whole band get a chance to shine in this excellent recruitment tool.

Rock America - can be performed after page 31
Rock America opens with a full band lyrical statement of America the Beautiful leading to a restatement of America the Beautiful in a hip new style reminiscent of the great Ray Charles version. The arrangement includes You’re a Grand Old Flag, which has elements of the rock feel, interspersed with a traditional march style.

Whispers - can be performed after page 31
Whispers is a lyrical composition that will be a perfect vehicle to teach musicianship, elegant phrasing, balance, blend and beauty of tone. Beautiful melodies are given numerous orchestrational and harmonic treatments to create a musical journey that will be pleasing to performers and audiences.ight. A beautiful and subtle arrangement to celebrate the Christmas season!

Equinox - can be performed after page 35
Equinox is a tour-de-force for the young band and can serve as the culmination of study at the end of The Yamaha Advantage Band Method book 2 or any band method book 2. It is a contest piece with driving rhythms, bold fanfare gestures, lyrical lines and climatic moments that will help to show off your band to their best abilities.

Band-o-rama
Band-o-rama is a wonderful march designed for combined performance of beginning, intermediate and high school bands. The composition is available in two versions; one for high school band and one with parts for both elementary and intermediate bands. Each publication is designed so it can be performed separately but when you put them together for a mass band concert, it will bring the house down.

Recorder Rag
Recorder Rag was composed to feature members of your elementary recorder class playing along with the band for recruitment purposes. The ragtime style was chosen for its fun appeal to both player and audience alike. Place the recorder section at the front of the band so they can be heard and seen by their parents. This will be a smash hit and a great recruitment tool.

Teachers Page

Book 1

Book 2