In this episode we are focusing on Beginnings - both how we begin playing our instruments, as well as the beginnings of the brass band music in Scotland! We speak to Alistair Gibson from big noise about his work and practice tips, and reminisce on some of our own stories from when we first started to learn a brass instrument.

References for the historical section:

French, G. (2014) ‘Follow the band: community brass bands in the Scottish Borders,’ Doctoral Thesis, Edinburgh College of Art, available online at: https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/9482

Herbert T. (1990) ‘The Repertory of a Victorian Provincial Brass Band’, Popular Music, 9(1), pp. 117-132

Herbert, T. (1992) ‘Victorian Brass Bands: The Establishment of a 'Working Class Musical Tradition’’, Historic Brass Society Journal, 4, pp. 1-11

Holman, G. (2019) Brass Bands of Scotland: a historical directory, available online at: http://www.ibew.org.uk/GH035-bbscotland.pdf

McLaren, A. (No date) ‘A brief history of brass bands in Scotland’, SBBA Website, available online at: https://www.sbba.org.uk/music-score-library/collection (this one is a bit tricky to read as its in the sidebar on the page!)

Newsome, R. (2006). The Modern Brass Band: From the 1930s to the new Millennium. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited.