OMG!!!!!
I did not personally play the song but the Symphonic Band at my high school did. OMG!!!!! My friend played first part and the solo. OMG!!!!!!!! I copied the part a luv playing the solo on my own. (at least trying to ) When he played the solo at the concert the entire band was so turned on that all of them almost missed their enterances. Ha ha. My other friend copied the recording that they had to listen to for me so i can hear it any time i want. YES!!!!
P.S. Ticheli is an AWESOME composer.
the band that i was in played other song by him and i luved them too.

Im a Junior in high school (I play 3rd B flat Clarinet) and we are playing it right now. Its tough, but fun to play and has a great jazzy sound. Its totally worth playing! The clarinet solo for first chair is awesome!!

I am a FRESHMAN in High School. I am playing Bule Shades... 1st Clarinet. I dont think it is difficult.It sounds AMAZING!!!!!!!

its a grade 4.5. Im sure. We are playing it for a concert. Like i said im a FRESHMAN and the soloist. Not difficult. I love the whole jazz feel. I cant believe im playing it my first year in high school!!! WOW!!! The piece is just... WOW!!! The solo is... AWESOME, OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I can even compare it to... RHAPSODY IN BLUE!!!

Hi, I have never been in a band before but my best friends plays the clarinet and she played this in high school. She is looking for the sheet music for this song if you have any information on where I could find it (for free would be great) please e-mail me! Thank you so very very much, It will be a great surprise to her! thanks again!
~Sarah~ ditzy_blond_13@hotmail.com

i think that this was a very easy pice im in 7th grade and play 1st clarinet this song was nothing we need sumthing more challenging. this is a 3rd grade pice

yea i play the clarinet this pice is too easy u ppl who r in hiogh school who think that it is hard need to realy try sumthin ur age and im in 7th grade and played 1st clarienet and played 4 solos on this pice

I think immature little 7th graders should learn more about music. It is a grade 5 piece for UIL. THe Texas All-State Band played it and if you know anything about Texas you would know we have the best musicians in the country....honest truth...the clarinet solo is amzing. THe sychopated rythms alone make this piece harder than most others. IF you knew anything about band or in this case the clarinet you would know that this is a very difficult fun piece

P.S.
Never insult Frank Ticheli. He`s a personal friend and i hate it when people talk trash about him and oh yeah...My high schoo band teacher named the song Vesuvious for Frank....BEAT THAT!!!!

I play trumpet and I didn`t think the piece was all that hard, but our clarinet player is AWESOME and she can play that solo like it`s the easiest thing ever in the world! Both of us are seniors and most of our band is. I go to Clear Lake HS in Houston, TX and last week, we got to play this piece in Symphony Hall in Chicago. Talk about a once in a life time experience!

Thats cool...im the best clarinet at my school whish is a little 4A school...i go to Cleburne High School in Cleburne Texas. Our Marching band is the only thing we are known for. We suck at concert band heh. Im gonna be attendning the University of North Texas for Music school and its gonna be awesome. its nice to see somebody else from texas on here...and remember
TEXAS RULES IN MUSIC!!!!

I love this song. I play 1st for it. Our instermentaion (or however it is spelled) is very bad because its 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd. Since its only 5 of us..it kinda puts alot of pressure on us. THE SOLOS ARE SOO MUCH FUN!

If any of you guys in high school think that Blue Shades is easy, then chances are, you`re not playing it how it`s supposed to be played. Here`s a link to a recording - tell me how hard it sounds.

http://members.aol.com/mbmband/html/mp3.html

(It`s about the 12th one down in the table)

The Florida Bandmasters Association rates the piece as a Grade 6, the highest possible. It is a very challenging piece indeed, and like people have noted, the clarinet solo seems very hard. But last year when our high school symphonic band played it, our 1st chair clarinet, a sophomore played it superbly. I being a trumpet can only wish we got a cool part to play like that...

Okay, I am a freshman. At my school they dont allow fish in the top band. But, they want to feature the All-Staters. :s so I have to play the minute long solo. I am a classical music person and the whole jazzy feel is new and odd for me. If anyone has played this before I could use some tips. Its is an AMAZING song. I dont want to ruine it. PLEASE HELP!!!

Well, that`s good that they don`t allow fish in the band, because I don`t think that fish would be very good at playing instruments. (...?)

About the whole jazz feel of the piece, well, it is just that. Frank Ticheli intended the piece to be reminiscent of the jazz tradition. However, there is no improvisation, even though some parts may sound like it. Everything is meticulously notated, and a classical musician like you will appreciate that. Just play the solo as it is written, and you`ll sound fine.

Thomas