When The Saints Go Marching In - Lesson
With
James RaeJames Rae teaches "When the Saints Go Marching In," the first well-known tune in the book and a longer piece for building your reading on saxophone.
Copyright © 2023 Universal Edition (London) Ltd., All compositions by James Rae except where otherwise indicated.
What's in the course
30 lessons (0h 35m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Introduction to "O When the Saints Go Marching In"
Now, to our first well-known song in the book: "O When the Saints Go Marching In," which everybody knows.
Overview
- I'm sure this is quite a long piece; in fact, it's the longest piece in the book so far.
- However, it is a well-known tune.
Reason for Delay in Introducing Well-Known Tunes
The reason I haven't included well-known tunes earlier is to encourage people to:
- Read music carefully
- Avoid playing by ear and developing bad habits at this stage
It's a very good skill to eventually play by ear, but it's also essential to read music accurately.
Key Features of "O When the Saints"
Opening Remarks
- The opening of "O When the Saints" involves a three-note pickup or upbeat before the first complete bar.
- Up until now, the pieces have started on beat one, but here, there is a lead-in.
Structure
- The first proper beat and proper bar in the piece starts on beat one.
Introduction to First and Second Time Bars
In this piece, we introduce first and second time bars, which are used in conjunction with repeats.
- They are indicated by brackets and can be one bar or several bars in length.
- In this particular piece, they are only one bar long.
Playing Instructions
-
First Time Bar:
- Play what's written.
- Afterward, do the repeat.
-
Second Time Bar:
- When you come around the second time, do not play that bar; instead, play the second time bar.
- On the repeat, skip from the bar before the first time bar straight into the second time bar, omitting whatever is written in the first time bar.
Quote: "It's gone. It's musical shorthand. It saves writing out the whole piece twice if there's only a slight change at the end."
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
James Rae was born on Tyneside in 1957. He studied clarinet, bass clarinet, piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1975 to 1979, under professors Yona Ettlinger, Stephen Trier, Meriel Jefferson and Patric Standford respectively. Since leaving the Guildhall, he has pursued a highly successful and varied career across three areas: performing, writing and teaching.
James Rae has worked in many West End and Royal National Theatre productions, including Sir Peter Hall's award-winning Oresteia with music by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and has received many freelance engagements with some of the country's leading orchestras and ensembles. He is the leader of the Phoenix Saxophone Quartet, who over the years have given many recitals and BBC broadcasts, and have recorded the complete works of Carey Blyton on two albums, 'The Return of Bulgy Gogo' and 'Sherlock Holmes meets Dr Who'.
As a composer, James Rae is one of Europe's most published writers of educational wind music, with over 250 publications to his credit, mainly published by Universal Edition. His music includes instrumental study books, sonatas, tutors, baroque, classical and jazz transcriptions, plus many volumes of duets, many of which feature on all the major wind examination syllabuses worldwide. He has also written four musicals for schools with Mike Cornick, and his larger commissions include The Turn of a Wheel, a major work for concert band that premiered in November 1999 for the North Tyneside Concert Band, of which he was a founder member as a boy, and the overture Moving On in 2012.
James Rae has worked extensively as a syllabus consultant and composer for both the Associated Board and Trinity College London, and has been highly involved in developing the woodwind sight-reading requirements for both exam boards. As a teacher, he has held many posts in both the state and independent sectors, and currently works at King's College School Wimbledon, where he directs the Wind Orchestra and Concert Band, and Shrewsbury House School in Surbiton, where he coaches three large bands and a chamber group. That teaching experience runs right through his saxophone series for MusicGurus, which takes you step by step from your very first notes to a confident, stylish player: First Notes, New Keys & Low Notes, Expanding Your Range, Scales & High Notes, Extended Range & Rhythm, and Polish & Style.
