First Things First provides 16 elementary pieces for a four-part ensemble. The music is varied in genre and offers a superb resource for those musicians at an early stage of development.
The scoring is as follows:
SOPRANO 1st Cornet Bb, Part I in C
ALTO 2nd Cornet Bb, 1st Horn Eb, Part II in F
TENOR 2nd Horn Eb, Baritone or Trombone in Bb, Part III in F, Part III in C
BASS Bass Eb, Bass Bb, Part IV in C
The following additional parts are also available:
Euphonium Bb, Part V in C - This adds extra colour to the scoring, but is not essential for the arrangements to work.
Percussion - Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Ride Cymbal, Tom-toms and Triangle.
Piano Accompaniment - This includes all four essential parts in piano format to accompany, or rehearse, the performers.
The Full Score does not contain all the instrumentation shown above, but only includes the Bb and Eb pitched instruments and Percussion.
In addition to the pieces there are basic exercises, musical terms and symbols which can be found at the back of each book. These are also included in the score.
First Things First provides a useful resource that will become a stepping stone in the musical development of many musicians.
