“Serious Fun” was commissioned by the Northern Beaches Performance Band for their tour to Taiwan and Singapore in April 2025.

The piece was composed as a “jazz” or “showtune” style march. The structure is based on traditional American march form with 1st and 2nd strains, trio, and “break strain” or “dog fight”. To offset the traditional aspects of the march style, some of the melodies are more jazz influenced, and in some cases where the melody is fairly traditional (like the trio), the harmonies are completely reworked and might resemble parts of a 12-bar blues or other common jazz chord progressions. The harmonies often feature modern jazz chords with multiple extensions and altered extensions for some dissonance or somewhat “outside” sound. The same melodies are often reharmonised on repetition.

Regardless of the more serious or traditional aspects of the composition including the form, harmonies and somewhat “tongue-in-cheek” tip of the hat to well known traditional march characteristics, this piece should be fun to perform, and certainly fun to listen to.