TromboneChat

Are there guitar parts in modern concert band music? I see lots of electric bass.

Schools sometimes use electric bass and string bass in addition to tuba; often because the latter may not be avaiable.

Where would a guitar fit in the concert band?

Parts specifically for double bass are pretty standard and their part is often independent from the tuba's. Electric basses are often used as a substitute in schools, but they rarely have parts that are specifically for electric bass, they usually play the double bass part. The only pieces with guitar parts I've seen are arrangements of pop music or when guitar is used as a solo or featured instrument.

I've seen a few guitar parts on arrangements of rock/pop music. Specific electric bass/bass guitar pops up more often, but also normally in rock/pop stuff. OTOH, String bass is pretty much part of the standard concert band instrumentation; some pieces have distinct parts but most of the time they just play the generic "Basses" part.

Individual band directors, who are creative, and have the skills, do their own arrangements. One “concert” band in my area regularly features up to 10 guitars and sometimes a vocalist or two in the teacher’s own charts of all sorts of classic and modern pop. A couple other schools just throw all the kids together in “show bands” so a small choir, a small concert band and a rhythm section kick out the jams.

Publishers are also putting out “flex band” arrangements that allow for any instrumentation to cover the four basic lines of music. A guitar could cover a line in a flex band chart.

I can’t personally point to standard pieces with guitar but it is being done by individuals.

VJOFan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:51 pm Individual band directors, who are creative, and have the skills, do their own arrangements.

There are some that are neither but still do their own arrangements.

Here's an arrangement of Paul Simon's (by way of Disturbed) The Sound of Silence that has electric bass, piano, and guitar parts. It's also got a Bb tenor horn part (different from the euph part) and two flugelhorn parts.

https://www.rundel.de/en/the_sound_of_silence/a-1/8942


(Word of warning - you may not be welcomed back to the trombone section with open arms after this one. The trombone parts consist mostly of rests and pads.)

Usually speaking there's a Double Bass Part that plays in unison w/ the Tuba to act as a "Bass Booster", but most Concert Bands substitute the Double Bass w/ a Bass Guitar these days (it can play the same part because it has the same tuning) because it's easier to carry, the frets make it easier to play in tune, & you can also use a pick.

No.

A colleague tells a great story about being asked to adjudicate for a festival when he was teaching at a University for a year. The festival was in a rural area with some struggling band programs. He was surprised to find a concert band with a section of electric basses instead of tubas and low woodwinds. He says that it was a whole new experience hearing the "dogfight" section of a Sousa march being played by 3 or 4 bass guitars! My favorite part of the story is when he describes the teacher helping all these basses tune before they played - holding a tuner a having each of them play one string at a time with the instructions -"tighten...loosen."

JS

The band version of Bernstein’s Slava! Calls for electric guitar.