Tips from Frank Erickson's Arranging for the Concert Band	Instrument Items   William Wieland
Arranging for the Concert Band. by Frank Erickson. New York: Belwin-Mills, 1983. MT73 .E74 1983
(The book is in the NSU library.)
TRANSPOSITION When a treble clef instrument plays its written C, the note of its key name is sounded. When the key name of the instrument is in flats, add the same number of sharps to the concert key signature; when the key name of the instrument is in sharps, add the same number of flats to the concert key signature.
WOODWINDS The extreme registers are easier to play in louder passages. The extreme registers are better approached by small intervals. Large intervals are easier articulated than slurred. Restrict the notes on which a player enters to those lying within the suggested limited ranges. Avoid intricate, tongued passages in the low register.
THE WOODWIND SECTION The bass line should not be doubled above its orginal pitch. The melody usually can be doubled an octave lower. The largest intervals should occur between the lowest voices. Avoid large gaps. Chords should be voiced as completely as possible in each section. Omit the piccolo in slower passages.
THE BRASS SECTION Notes from low B flat on down should be doubled in the upper octave. Notes from middle line D on up should be doubled in the lower octave. Trumpets and horns usually should be voiced in closed position. Open voicings for the trombones are rich and sonorous. Chord roots and 5ths are more safely doubled than 3rds and 7ths. When the chord 3rd or 7th of a major chord is in the bass, it should not be doubled in the upper voice. When a section is divided into two parts, 3rds, 5ths, and 6ths are better intervals than 2nds, 4ths, and 7ths.
NOTATION OF PERCUSSION In individual percussion parts, write no more than two parts on each staff and write each instrument on a separate line (or space).
THE FULL BAND Melody in the woodwinds can be supported by harmony in the brass, but melody in the brass cannot be supported by harmony in the woodwinds. When the chord 4th resolves to the 3rd, the 3rd should not be present in other voices.
POLYPHONIC MUSIC Emphasize entrances and restatements of the subject, a prime consideration in the scoring of fugal passages. Moving lines can contrast other voices, but more sustained chordal parts of the ensemble should blend.
THE MECHANICS OF SCORING AND COPYING PARTS It is better to have too many rehearsal letters (or numbers) than too few.