Berryhill Trail

Description

Violin 1, Violin 2, Violin 3, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Piano — Roy H. Berryhill (1938–2011) was a musical trailblazer. He absolutely loved teaching beginners. Every year, he taught the lowest sixth-grade group at the Sam Houston University Music Camp and got more out of those kids than their teachers could have ever conceived. No matter what the obstacles were, he never gave up on a kid or a group and always succeeded. He did it with boundless energy, a positive outlook on everything he did, sheer will and an overflowing love for young people. I have no idea how many thousands of students he led there over the years, but he changed every one of them for the better. He was one of the most influential teachers in my life. Even though I was never his student, but rather a faculty colleague at the University, I certainly was his pupil.Berryhill Trail is designed to capture the positive spirit which pervaded his groups, without exceeding what his students with that experience level could do. As with all hiking songs, the tempo and the pulse should reflect the footfalls of a happy, carefree, hiker. Taking too fast a tempo can make you lose that feel. Velocity mustnot overshadow the music.Care must be taken to accomplish the rests and the dynamics, which are essential for the sense of forward momentum. The more softly your group can play at the key change, the louder it will sound at the end without having to sacrifice tone and quality of intonation. Your group must show restraint in both dynamics and tempo.I would suggest that you have your students write for an assignment what they imagine the music is supposed to describe, or, put another way: if this is the background music to a movie, what is the action on the screen? No two students will match, but each must work to “play” their own scenario. It will really make themusic come alive for them and be more fun to perform in the process, too. If they have this in mind, you can refer to mistakes as “stumbles,” which are not necessarily “falls.” When one stumbles, they quickly regain their balance and go on like nothing happened, but are more careful to not stumble again. Roy H. Berryhill was a musical trailblazer, teacher, and mentor at Sam Houston University Music Camp who inspired thousands of young musicians. Berryhill Trail is designed to capture the positive spirit of this remarkable teacher. The tempo and the pulse should reflect the footfalls of a happy, carefree, hiker. It has the form of a standard march and is incredibility tuneful.

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