W. Francis McBeth was born in 1933 in Lubbock, Texas. He is a professor of Music and resident composer at Ouachita University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and has held this position since 1957. He is the Conductor Emeritus of the Arkansas Symphony, and was appointed Composer Laureate of Arkansas by Governor Bob C. Riley in 1975.

Canto was commissioned by the All-Japan Band Association to be used in their contest by the Japanese Junior High School bands. It was also in dedication to the 40th anniversary. The Sony Band premiered it first in 1978. Canto is Italian for song and is also defined as a section or division of a poem.

Rhythm is a very important part of this piece. Much of the excitement from the piece comes from this running eighth note pattern.

Throughout the piece, McBeth varies this pattern by putting accents on different eighth notes. In this example, found in the fourth measure of letter B, the accents come on the first, fourth, and seventh eighth notes.

Another variation in this pattern comes at letter C. In this pattern, the accents are placed on the first and sixth eighth notes.

By varying this rhythm throughout the piece, McBeth forces the ensemble to pay close attention to the rhythms. The score warns that the major rehearsal problems will be rushing in the percussion and clapping parts. This piece will give the instructor many opportunities to work on internal pulse, watching the conductor, and also syncopation. Here are some rehearsal strategies the instructor can use.

                1. Syncopation.
                         A. Write one of the eighth note rhythms on the board.
                         B. Have class clap through rhythm, using louder claps to represent accents.
                         C. Use different rhythm each day.
                         D. Use eighth note pattern in a scale during warm-ups.

All of the melodies in this piece are fairly simple and use step-wise motion a majority of the time. The first melody is in measure 6, and is played by the flutes and clarinets.

 The next melody begins at letter A and is played by the bass clarinet, tenor sax, trumpets, euphoniums, and tubas, and is picked up by the full brass section 5 measures later.

At letter F, a new melody is brought out to the forefront by the trumpets. The woodwinds vary this melody a measure later.

The trumpets and horns introduce a new melody the measure after G. The whole band plays with this melody and eventually starts reintroducing the other rhythms from the piece.

Perhaps the most interesting melody is shown in the fourth measure of B. The syncopation of this passage makes it exciting, and it brought back at the end of the piece at letter J. This melody is played by the entire band, and is shown here with the 1st flute part.

This piece is in broad ABA form. The A sections are at a quick tempo, with the quarter note equaling 132 beats per minute. The B section is slower. It begins at letter D and has a tempo marking of quarter note equaling 92 beats per minute. The A section returns with the tempo primo at letter G. This piece could be a good instructional tool to teach ABA form. The teacher could ask the students where each section begins, and also what makes each section different.

Here is a visual representation of the form.

This piece travels through a few different keys. It is in E-flat at the beginning, then travels to F major at letter C. The piece then moves to B-flat at letter H, where it stays at for the rest of the piece. The final chord of the piece is a C major triad.

The big definitions that the students will have to learn for this piece are molto, rallentando, and simile. Molto means a lot, or much, while rallentando means to get slower. Simile is used a lot when it comes to rhythmic patterns. It basically means to do something the same way. In this piece, it is used often with all of the different clapping sections.

1. Play rallentando sections. Ask the students what happens in music.
2. Play through same sections doing rallentando at varying speeds. This will force the students to watch.
3. To teach simile, play through section, and ask students what simile means. Once they figure it out,
    teacher can clap rhythms with different styles and have class imitate. This will force students to play or
    clap rhythms with precise style.

1. Teacher will write one of the eighth note rhythms from the unit on the board, and band will use in scale.
    Must make sure group places accents on correct notes.
2. Teacher will have students clap rhythmic patterns daily. Emphasis on rhythms with syncopation.
3. Since canto is Italian for ìsongî, have students sing scale before playing. This will develop ear training
    skills.

Strategies for Assessment

1. Playing test. Students will clap rhythmic patterns. Must clap with 90% correct style and rhythms.
2. Students will listen to piece and identify the form. Then, class will listen to other pieces, and identify
    which ones also have ABA form.
3. During a playing test, students will be instructed to play sections with a rallentando. Students must play
    correctly by slowing down.