This sequence comes from Stevie Wonder‘s song Sir Duke, off of his iconic album, Songs in the Key of Life. History After climbing to the peak of the music industry with back to back top 5 albums in 1974 and…
Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke Sequence
Ravel – L’Enfant et les sortilèges Sequence
One thing that is remarkable about orchestral music is its ability to create sounds that are perfectly suited to a story. A great example is Berg’s opera Wozzeck, where the atonal music is both beautiful and twisted, perfectly expressing the…
Kansas – Carry On My Wayward Son Sequence
Inspired by the arrival of my son, Dante Rockwell Baker, this sequence comes from the hit song, Carry On My Wayward Son by the rock band Kansas.
Grainger – The Brisk Young Sailor Sequence
As all Northwestern University SWE Alums know, Percy Grainger‘s Lincolnshire Posy is an incredibly important piece in the wind band repertoire. It is so important that every year, each student of Dr. Mallory Thompson‘s conducting class leads the band through…
Hovhaness – And God Created Great Whales Sequence
Perfect your pentatonics with this week’s sequence, inspired by a wild whale piece by Armenian/American composer Alan Hovhaness.
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 – Sequence 1
This week’s sequence is a beautiful romantic melody from Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s 2nd piano concerto. This concerto is such an incredible piece of music. The piano solo is ridiculously virtuosic, and the orchestra parts are also well crafted. I love the…
Earth Wind and Fire Sequence 1
My first job out of music school was at a gym called Know No Limits (imagine answering the phone with a business name like that…). It was a small business that started in the owner’s garage, and over about 15…
John Williams – Harry Potter Sequence 1
I was one of those kids that read each Harry Potter book in about a day. I would get so locked in to the stories that I would forget meals and stay up through the night reading, always hungry for…
Take Me Out To The Ball Game Sequence
It’s springtime. Birds are chirping, the sun is shining, the grass is growing, and its BASEBALL SEASON. I grew up a Bay Area sports fan, and continue to root for the Giants and the A’s, but my baseball fan-ship is…
Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade Sequence 1
This sequence focuses on a chromatic fanfare that the trombones and trumpets play in the second movement of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov‘s Scheherazade. This orchestral work is a shimmering masterpiece that is full of life, spinning tales of the sea, princes, and…