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Hi all,

Looking for any leads on a good arrangement for college or HS level wind band for US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard theme songs as one piece - I know I have heard a few over the years, but a web search does not turn up any immediate hits. Not too fancy - just interesting!

If you know of something, please let me know on or off list (probably a few others might want to know!)

(Not a high budget item, BTW

"Armed Forces Salute" is the most popular .

oldbandnerd wrote:"Armed Forces Slaute" is the most popular .

it is seemingly not currently available ...
"Permanently Out of Print" is what turns up in the web catalogues.

I was wondering why I could not find it. I went looking for a link to a publisher to post here to help you out. But, I think almost every band around has a copy of this. Surley, someone can help you here. ..... I corrected my spelling BTW .

Armed Forces '72 by Thomas Knox is a great arrangement but may be a bit difficult, depending on your band's skill level. You could also just play the melody sections out of the DoD versions (or any version, for that matter) of each march. Give the drums a simple, military-sounding cadence to play before each tune (in 6/8 before the Air Force) and voila: instant medley! That slight break between tunes also gives you or your MC a chance to introduce the next song. Sounds hokey, but it's quite effective. I can send you a recording of both instances if you like, just let me know.

I like the one by Jari Villanueva.

The link below does not mention full band publications, but Jari can be contacted by phone or email and he is responsive. He may be able to send it as a PDF file.

Your woodwinds need to be proficient and there are keys like G, Db, and Gb.

Not expensive, as I recall.

http://www.jvmusic.net/index.html

USMCTuba wrote:Armed Forces '72 by Thomas Knox is a great arrangement but may be a bit difficult, depending on your band's skill level. You could also just play the melody sections out of the DoD versions (or any version, for that matter) of each march. Give the drums a simple, military-sounding cadence to play before each tune (in 6/8 before the Air Force) and voila: instant medley! That slight break between tunes also gives you or your MC a chance to introduce the next song. Sounds hokey, but it's quite effective. I can send you a recording of both instances if you like, just let me know.

We do that in two bands I am in - by ear! However, the need is for a fully worked out arrangement with transitions, printed on marching band size stock. What I have found so far from DoD sites are just melody lines - not full band arrangements. If I were better at it I would do it myself, but I found out the hard way that my skills for even slightly complicated arrangements are weak...

Just checked out a sample of the Knox arrangement on Amazon- we can do it! Now the hard part will be finding it on paper!

oldbandnerd wrote:"Armed Forces Salute" is the most popular .

This is probably the one by Bob Lowden, available for concert band or orchestra.

Stephen Bulla wrote a very fine Armed Forces medley for brass band. I don't know if he also made it available for concert band.

Steve Marcus wrote:

oldbandnerd wrote:"Armed Forces Salute" is the most popular .

This is probably the one by Bob Lowden, available for concert band or orchestra......

This arrangement is POP. That's too bad because it seems to be the one that all others are compared to.

I know of two that might do the trick:

1. Armed Forces Medley, arranged by Buckley. Available at Cimmaron Music Press and you can hear an mp3 at http://nationalsonsofamvets.homestead.c ... medley.mp3

2. Armed Forces - The Pride of America, arranged by Clark and Gilpin. Available at Hal Leonard and you can listen to their .mp3 at their site http://www.carlfischer.com/Fischer/2006 ... edeasy.cfm

Tom

One thing I did not consider when I suggested the Knox arrangement (which sounds curiously identical to the Buckley that Tom suggested...) is the order of the songs. The senority of each service determines the order the songs should be played: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard. When a service band plays a medley they traditionally save their own for last; that medley was arranged for The Marine Band, so "A Marine's Hymn" is last. The Clark and Gilpin has the Air Force last, making it also technically incorrect for unaffiliated performance. Perhaps Villanueva's arrangement has the songs in the proper order. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Armed Forces '72 and I don't think any of the Marines in your audience will complain about being "saved for last," so to speak! Likewise with whatever you choose to play, I suppose...just a little FYI.

U.S. Military Medley by Collette Hausey, the best arrangment I've ever played, a bit challenging but do-able by a good HS.

We use a piece called the "Armed Forces on Parade", the five service songs in their march arrangements. We omit the intro's on all of them using a cadence as the intro and a roll-off between songs. Works very well.