Shamus Noir

Sean Kennedy

General Info

Year of Published: 2014
Publisher: Alfred Music

Instrumentation

Snare Drum

Description

This is a piece for you to use your creativity. I have always been a big fan of detective movies from the 1940s featuring actors such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. This genre is sometimes referred to as “film noir.” The word “shamus” is an old slang term for detective.

Sound Advice

• The piece should sound like the backing track for a foot chase through a major city like New York or Chicago on a cold rainy night. Shamus Noir, our detective, is on the trail of the bad guys.
• This piece uses many subito (sudden) dynamic changes.
• Beginning at measure 13, the composition uses many different surfaces to get as many colors out of the drums as possible (drumhead, stick clicks, playing on the rim, etc.). Sometimes the changes are really quick, so practice very slowly until all of the shifts are smooth and connected.
• Did you get the bad guys? That’s for you and the audience to decide.