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Many thanks to Mark Fonder for his "Defining and Realizing Your Band's Ideal Tone" (November 1998 Music Educators Journal). It's MEfs most practical article pertaining to bands in many years. Fonder's explanation of pyramid balance should be required reading for every band director. For the sidebar on "Varied Model Band Sounds," I suggest adding Bach for Band, Columbia M-31126 (LP), and Sunday in Spain, Capital 10022 (LP). For the sidebar on "Music for Optimizing Tone," I suggest adding "Blessed Are They" (Brahms-Buehlmann), published by Fox. I agree with Ann Kay (Readers' Comment, July 1998 Music Educators Journal), and I am firmly in the "traditionalist" camp, believing that performance is the ultimate indication of musicianship. My criterion for music selection is, "Has it lasted or is it likely to last?" I programmed several arrangements of the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, for example, and my students were, in turn, receptive to Brahms and Wagner.-Ernest E. Allen, Jr., band director (retired), J.

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