I have old recordings (one of those cd's I bought at Loupot's 20 or 30 years ago) of the FTAB and while listening to one recently I caught a subtle difference between the way they played the War Hymn back then and the way they play it now.

For any of you current or former BQ's - when did they change and why?

I can't tell you which instruments sound different to me, but it coincides with (when we're singing) the second "Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem"

quote:

---

I have old recordings (one of those cd's I bought at Loupot's 20 or 30 years ago) of the FTAB and while listening to one recently I caught a subtle difference between the way they played the War Hymn back then and the way they play it now.

For any of you current or former BQ's - when did they change and why?

I can't tell you which instruments sound different to me, but it coincides with (when we're singing) the second "Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem"

---

This question intrigued me, as I always half expected the current director to rewrite or rearrange some of the music - especially "that part" in the Spirit that never sounds that great.

The Aggie War Hymn was arranged by Col. R.J. Dunn in the 1930s, if I recall correctly. Certainly no later than when Adams became director in 1946. The version the Aggie Band plays today is still his arrangement, as far as I can tell. Here is a site where you can download much of the sheet music: https://wiki.nps.edu/display/DMB/Aggie+War+Hymn

After checking a couple of brass parts against what they are playing today on a couple recordings from this year I found on youtube, it seems to me that they are still playing the same version.

We played it as written in 1999 - 2003, and that still sounds like the version played today - especially the Chig-ga-roo" part, which is essentially in unison so it would be easy to tell if it was much different.

There may have been a tradition of playing it differently for some time period before my time, but the short answer is that as far as I know, it was arranged by Dunn during his time, and it's being played as written today.

quote:

---

I can't tell you which instruments sound different to me, but it coincides with (when we're singing) the second "Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem"

---

Here's one recent recording, where you can hear the band and not just the crowd. The second "chiggaroogarrem" is around the 6:00 mark. Do you hear the difference you are talking about? I think they are playing it as written.



One factor in the stands may be that in the second time through, the band is also getting ready to sway. That part is always a little shaky when band members interlock to get ready to saw varsity's, while they should be playing.

There's an Aggie Urban Legend that when Colonel Adams took over from Dunn, Dunn's one request was "don't change the War Hymn". Adams repeated that request to Haney.

When I was at A&M, an old Ag kept insisting that we had changed part of the Spirit. I kept listening and could never hear it myself.

Dunn's instruction to his new replacement was 'Don't change the National Anthem'. LTC Adams told us this many times.

The change in the War Hymn is that they have modified the 2nd Chigarugarem to a minor chord. I noticed it right off the bat, been a few years doing it that way. As a purist it is not something I care for. Kinda like the new kids elevating the "S" on the end of some of the yells. Sounds weird to me.

quote:

---

The change in the War Hymn is that they have modified the 2nd Chigarugarem to a minor chord. I noticed it right off the bat, been a few years doing it that way. As a purist it is not something I care for. Kinda like the new kids elevating the "S" on the end of some of the yells. Sounds weird to me.

---

Unless you can find a recording that sounds different than the one I posted above, I think you are hearing the trumpets finally playing it as written. Trumpet 1 (cornet 1) stays on a C, and Trumpet 2 has a G in the first "Chigarugarem", then a B flat against the Trumpet 1's C during the second. That sounds a little weird, but it's how Col. Dunn wrote it.

Now that I look at the music, I seem to remember that in my time, lots of Trumpet 2's stayed on the G as it was easier to remember, and may have seemed to sound better to some. Maybe we were even told by section leaders to play it that way.

Here are the two offending measures:
Trumpet 1 (for you non-musical types, the little symbol in the second measure means just repeat the previous measure):


Trumpet 2 (I cleaned up the staffs because it was a bad scan):


I don't know what the entire chord is, but you will note that if you play those two parts together, in the second measure the C in Trumpet 1 will clash against the B flat in Trumpet 2. That gives it a bit of a minor chord sound, or at least a dissonance that is resolved in the third beat of the second measure. As the band is definitely focusing more on music now than they did under previous directors, maybe the different sound we are hearing is more reflective of kids actually playing the written music. I linked the full score (broken out by parts) in a previous post.

Listened to the above video to check on the chording as discussed. Went down to my keyboard and I am thinking the second chord on the chigarugarem goes from a C Major to a C Augmented, meaning the 5th (G) goes up to an Ab. It's not a C Minor, nor a C Diminished 7th. The actual key doesn't matter as much as the pattern.

Definitely not the way we played it in ancient times. LTC Adams was quite a purist and if Dunn had told him to play the AWH this way it would have been played that way. He only relayed to us that the NA was not to be changed, which is good because I have NEVER heard any other musical organization play the ending like the Aggie Band has always done.

Just one Old's opinion.

quote:

---

Listened to the above video to check on the chording as discussed. Went down to my keyboard and I am thinking the second chord on the chigarugarem goes from a C Major to a C Augmented, meaning the 5th (G) goes up to an Ab. It's not a C Minor, nor a C Diminished 7th. The actual key doesn't matter as much as the pattern.

Definitely not the way we played it in ancient times. LTC Adams was quite a purist and if Dunn had told him to play the AWH this way it would have been played that way. He only relayed to us that the NA was not to be changed, which is good because I have NEVER heard any other musical organization play the ending like the Aggie Band has always done.

Just one Old's opinion.

---

I think you are hearing the same thing I am. The 2nd trumpet is playing a concert Ab - the trumpet music says Bb, but keep in mind it's a B flat instrument, so a concert A flat is transposed to a B flat in trumpet music.

That's all I got. Maybe a more current BQ can come along and shed some more light on what they are currently playing.

Good thing I played clarinet and no one actually cared what we played. All I ever heard was trumpets and drums.

quote:

---

Dunn's instruction to his new replacement was 'Don't change the National Anthem'. LTC Adams told us this many times

---

Arrgh. You are correct. Wish I could have been part of an Adams Band. But not so badly that I would have wanted to be part of the class of '76.

quote:

---

There's an Aggie Urban Legend that when Colonel Adams took over from Dunn, Dunn's one request was "don't change the War Hymn". Adams repeated that request to Haney.

When I was at A&M, an old Ag kept insisting that we had changed part of the Spirit. I kept listening and could never hear it myself.

---

When Col Haney came on board as asst director in 1972, he added the bugle call to the second verse (the yell) of The Spirit. If you listen to recordings of The Spirit made before that date, you don't hear the bugle call.

That's the only change that's been made in the song, to my knowledge.

quote:

---

That's the only change that's been made in the song, to my knowledge.

---

Wasn't the change I recall that he complained about. Been a long time, I couldn't even get the "don't change the National Anthem" story straight. So it might not have been Spirit he complained about.

quote:

---

quote:

---

That's the only change that's been made in the song, to my knowledge.

---

Wasn't the change I recall that he complained about. Been a long time, I couldn't even get the "don't change the National Anthem" story straight. So it might not have been Spirit he complained about.

---

I have a copy of what I believe is the first "full size" 33-1/3 RPM record made by the FTAB.... the one that has the cover with a pic of the Band doing a two-step interval mid-field cross through at the sip game in Austin. I believe that album was made in the late '60s, it lists Col Adams as an LTC, rather than as a COL. Anyway, the arrangement of The Spirit on that recording is the one done by Col Dunn. The next album "Live From Kyle Field" was recorded in the Fall of '73 as you know, and the arrangement of The Spirit on that recording is listed as the one written by COL (then MAJ) Haney.

I would be curious to know what the gentleman thought had been changed about The Spirit if it wasn't what we're talking about here. Like you, I've been following the Band pretty closely since the '60s and if there was a change made it must have been before that time.

Somewhere I think we have some FTAB 45s, dating at least to when I was in grade school. Will have to find them and digitize.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Dunn's instruction to his new replacement was 'Don't change the National Anthem'. LTC Adams told us this many times

---

Arrgh. You are correct. Wish I could have been part of an Adams Band. But not so badly that I would have wanted to be part of the class of '76.

---

Then you should have been a part of the class of '75.

For what it's worth, they also rewrote the French Horn part to something that is not entirely upbeats. That happened about 3 years ago.

That would have been a better alternative. Except for having to start at age 16.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

That's the only change that's been made in the song, to my knowledge.

---

Wasn't the change I recall that he complained about. Been a long time, I couldn't even get the "don't change the National Anthem" story straight. So it might not have been Spirit he complained about.

---

I have a copy of what I believe is the first "full size" 33-1/3 RPM record made by the FTAB.... the one that has the cover with a pic of the Band doing a two-step interval mid-field cross through at the sip game in Austin. I believe that album was made in the late '60s, it lists Col Adams as an LTC, rather than as a COL. Anyway, the arrangement of The Spirit on that recording is the one done by Col Dunn. The next album "Live From Kyle Field" was recorded in the Fall of '73 as you know, and the arrangement of The Spirit on that recording is listed as the one written by COL (then MAJ) Haney.

I would be curious to know what the gentleman thought had been changed about The Spirit if it wasn't what we're talking about here. Like you, I've been following the Band pretty closely since the '60s and if there was a change made it must have been before that time.

---

I have that album as well

I always thought that part of the 2nd trumpet part sounded odd. I can't tell you what I played 10 years ago, but it probably wasn't what was on the page.