Pit Tunes for Marching Band

In my tenure as the Percussion Director at Beavercreek HS, one of the yearly marching band traditions we had was to develop an arrangement of a 'pit tune' for the season. I say develop, because I didn't always write out an arrangement of a song and hand it to the students. What made it special was that it was a full ensemble project.

The pit tune project would often not only break up the monotony of extensive front-ensemble-only rehearsal hours, but would provide an opportunity for us to work together in compiling a full song arrangement. Some years, I'd transcribe the arrangement into music notation, and there were other years when everyone just learned their parts by rote.

I have a specific memory of sitting in big front ensemble group blob in an air conditioned hallway during an afternoon block of summer band rehearsals. We would all listen to the pre-chosen song together, stopping the recording periodically to talk about the phrasing, which instruments would play the melodies and accompaniments, and other details. I would take notes in my notebook as everyone gave their ideas.

We'd then bring it outside and gather each sub-section together to figure out what the actual parts would be during each musical phrase. Maybe there would be opportunities for solos, or we'd sneak in a musical quote somewhere from another endearing song loved by the group.

Once the pit tune was learned and solidified, the only "practice" they'd get in was to play it in full once or twice a week during an extended full ensemble water break. Performances of the tune would be at the start of our Friday night Pep Rallies, as an introduction for the band as they walked in.

As I said before, not all the pit tunes from my time at Creek were transcribed. However, I'm excited to share the arrangements of Pay No Mind and Victorious. Since these songs are copyrighted, the arrangements are available to be purchased via Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus.

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