Choir
A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with face gestures. A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a chorus; the former term is often applied to groups affiliated with a church and the second to groups that perform in theatres or concert halls, but this distinction is far from rigid. Choirs may sing without instrumental accompaniment, with the accompaniment of a piano or pipe organ, with a small ensemble, or with a full orchestra of 70 to 100 musicians; the term "Choir" has the secondary definition of a subset of an ensemble. In typical 18th- to 21st-century oratorios and masses, chorus or choir is understood to imply more than one singer per part, in contrast to the quartet of soloists featured in these works.
Choirs are led by a conductor or choirmaster. Most choirs consist of four sections intended to sing in four part harmony, but there is no limit to the number of possible parts as long as there is a singer available to sing the part: Thomas Tallis wrote a 40-part motet entitled Spem in alium, for eight choirs of five parts each. Other than four, the most common number of parts are three, five and eight. Choirs can sing without instrumental accompaniment. Singing without accompaniment is called a cappella singing. Accompanying instruments vary from only one instrument to a full orchestra of 70 to 100 musicians. Many choirs perform in many locations such as a church, opera house, or school hall. In some cases choirs join up to become one "mass" choir. In this case they provide a series of songs or musical works to celebrate and provide entertainment to others. Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as a choral concert, by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms and head.
The primary duties of the conductor or choirmaster are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble. The conductor or choral director stands on a raised platform and he or she may or may not use a baton. In the 2010s, most conductors do not play an instrument when conducting, although in earlier periods of classical music history, leading an ensemble while playing an instrument was common. In Baroque music from the 1600s to the 1750s, conductors performing in the 2010s may lead an ensemble while playing a harpsichord or the violin. Conducting while playing a piano may be done with musical theatre pit orchestras. Communication is non-verbal during a performance. However, in rehearsals, the conductor will give verbal instructions to the ensemble, since they also serve as an artistic director who crafts the ensemble's interpretation of the music. Conductors act as guides to the choirs they conduct, they choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make certain adjustments, work out their interpretation, relay their vision to the singers.
Choral conductors may have to conduct instrumental ensembles such as orchestras if the choir is singing a piece for choir and orchestra. They may attend to organizational matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions, promoting their ensemble in the media. Eastern Orthodox churches, some American Protestant groups, traditional synagogues do not use instruments. In churches of the Western Rite the accompanying instrument is the organ, although in colonial America, the Moravian Church used groups of strings and winds. Many churches which use a contemporary worship format use a small amplified band to accompany the singing, Roman Catholic Churches may use, at their discretion, additional orchestral accompaniment. In addition to leading of singing in which the congregation participates, such as hymns and service music, some church choirs sing full liturgies, including propers. Chief among these are the Roman Catholic churches. Mixed choirs; this is the most common type consisting of soprano, alto and bass voices abbreviate
Beat (music)
In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse, of the mensural level. The beat is defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a piece of music, or the numbers a musician counts while performing, though in practice this may be technically incorrect. In popular use, beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: pulse, meter, specific rhythms, groove. Rhythm in music is characterized by a repeating sequence of stressed and unstressed beats and divided into bars organized by time signature and tempo indications. Metric levels faster than the beat level are division levels, slower levels are multiple levels. Beat has always been an important part of music; some music genres such as funk will in general de-emphasize the beat, while other such as disco emphasize the beat to accompany dance. As beats are combined to form measures, each beat is divided into parts; the nature of this combination and division is. Music where two beats are combined is in duple meter, music where three beats are combined is in triple meter.
Music where the beat is split in two are in simple meter, music where the beat is split in three are called compound meter. Thus, simple duple, simple triple, compound duple, compound triple. Divisions which require numbers, are irregular divisions and subdivisions. Subdivision begins two levels below the beat level: starting with a quarter note or a dotted quarter note, subdivision begins when the note is divided into sixteenth notes; the downbeat is the first beat of the bar, i.e. number 1. The upbeat is the last beat in the previous bar which precedes, hence anticipates, the downbeat. Both terms correspond to the direction taken by the hand of a conductor; this idea of directionality of beats is significant. The crusis of a measure or a phrase is a beginning; the anacrusis doesn't have the same'explosion' of sound. An anticipatory note or succession of notes occurring before the first barline of a piece is sometimes referred to as an upbeat figure, section or phrase. Alternative expressions include "pickup" and "anacrusis".
In English, anákrousis translates as "pushing up". The term anacrusis was borrowed from the field of poetry, in which it refers to one or more unstressed extrametrical syllables at the beginning of a line. In typical Western music 44 time, counted as "1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4...", the first beat of the bar is the strongest accent in the melody and the likeliest place for a chord change, the third is the next strongest: these are "on" beats. The second and fourth are weaker—the "off-beats". Subdivisions that fall between the pulse beats are weaker and these, if used in a rhythm, can make it "off-beat"; the effect can be simulated by evenly and counting to four. As a background against which to compare these various rhythms a bass drum strike on the downbeat and a constant eighth note subdivision on ride cymbal have been added, which would be counted as follows: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 —play eighth notes and bass drum alone 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4—the stress here on the "on" beat play But one may syncopate that pattern and alternately stress the odd and beats, respectively: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 —the stress is on the "unexpected" or syncopated beat play So "off-beat" is a musical term applied to syncopation that emphasizes the weak beats of a bar, as opposed to the usual on-beat.
This is a fundamental technique of African polyrhythm. According to Grove Music, the "Offbeat is where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar"; the downbeat can never be the off-beat. Certain genres tend to emphasize the off-beat, where this is a defining characteristic of rock'n'roll and Ska music. A back beat, or backbeat, is a syncopated accentuation on the "off" beat. In a simple 44 rhythm these are beats 2 and 4."A big part of R&B's attraction had to do with the stompin' backbeats that make it so eminently danceable," according to the Encyclopedia of Percussion. An early record with an emphasised back beat throughout was "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris in 1948. Although drummer Earl Palmer claimed the honor for "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino in 1949, which he played on, saying he adopted it from the final "shout" or "out" chorus common in Dixieland jazz, urban contemporary gospel was stressing the back beat much earlier with hand-clapping and tambourines.
There is a hand-clapping back beat on "Roll'Em Pete" by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner, recorded in 1938. A distinctive back beat can be heard on "Back Beat Boogie" by Harry James And His Orchestra, recorded in late 1939. Other early recorded examples include the final verse of "Grand Slam" by Benny Goodman in 1942 and some sections of The Glenn Miller Orchestra's " Kalamazoo", while amateur direct-to-disc recordings of Charlie Christian jamming at Minton's Playhouse around the same time have a sustained snare-drum back-beat on the hottest choruses. Outside U. S. popular music, there are early recordings of music with a distinctive backbeat, such as the 1949 recording of Mangaratiba by
Concert band
A concert band called wind ensemble, symphonic band, wind symphony, wind orchestra, wind band, symphonic winds, symphony band, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind and percussion families of instruments, including the double bass or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, synthesizer, or electric guitar. A concert band's repertoire includes original wind compositions, transcriptions/arrangements of orchestral compositions, light music, popular tunes. Though the instrumentation is similar, a concert band is distinguished from the marching band in that its primary function is as a concert ensemble; the standard repertoire for the concert band does, contain concert marches. During the 19th century, large ensembles of wind and percussion instruments in the British and American traditions existed in the form of the military band for ceremonial and festive occasions, the works performed consisted of marches.
The only time wind bands were used in a concert setting comparable to that of a symphony orchestra was when transcriptions of orchestral or operatic pieces were arranged and performed, as there were comparatively few original concert works for a large wind ensemble. Prior to the 1950s, wind ensembles varied in the combinations of instruments included; the modern "standard" instrumentation of the wind ensemble was more or less established by Frederick Fennell at Eastman School of Music as the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952 after the model of the orchestra: a pool of players from which a composer can select in order to create different sonorities. The wind ensemble could be said to be modeled on the wind section of a "Wagner orchestra," an important difference being the addition of saxophones and baritone/euphonium. While many people consider the wind ensemble to be one player on a part, this is only practical in true chamber music. Full band pieces require doubling or tripling of the clarinet parts, six trumpeters is typical in a wind ensemble.
According to Fennell, the wind ensemble was not revolutionary, but developed out of the music that led him to the concept. A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions for the armed forces. A typical military band consists of wind and percussion instruments; the conductor of a band bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching band in the world, dating from the 13th century; the military band should be capable of playing ceremonial and marching music, including the national anthems and patriotic songs of not only their own nation but others as well, both while stationary and as a marching band. Military bands play a part in military funeral ceremonies. There are two types of historical traditions in military bands; the first is military field music. This type of music includes bugles, bagpipes, or fifes and always drums; this type of music was used to control troops on the battlefield as well as for entertainment.
Following the development of instruments such as the keyed trumpet or the saxhorn family of brass instruments, a second tradition of the brass and woodwind military band was formed. Professional concert bands not associated with the military appear across the globe in developed countries. However, most do not offer full-time positions; the competition to make it into one of these concert bands is high and the ratio of performers to entrants is narrowly small. Examples of professional non-military concert bands include: Dallas Wind Symphony, led by Jerry Junkin Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, led for many years by Frederick Fennell, as of 2006 conducted by Sir Douglas Bostock Osaka Municipal Symphonic Band Royal Hawaiian Band, created by royal decree in 1836 by King Kamehameha III A community band is a concert band or brass band ensemble composed of volunteer amateur musicians in a particular geographic area, it may be sponsored by self-supporting. These groups rehearse and perform at least once a year.
Some bands are marching bands, participating in parades and other outdoor events. Although they are volunteer musical organizations, community bands may employ an Artistic Director or various operational staff. Notable community bands include: U. S. A; the American Band, Rhode Island, conducted by Brian Cardany Brooklyn Wind Symphony, Brooklyn, NY, conducted by Jeff W. Ball San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, San Francisco, conducted by Pete Nowlen. Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps, New York, New York, conducted by Kelly Watkins Northshore Concert Band, Illinois, conducted by Mallory Thompson Salt Lake Symphonic Winds, Salt Lake City, conducted by Thomas P. Rohrer The TriBattery Pops, New York, NY, conducted by Tom Goodkind East Winds Symphonic Band, Pittsburgh, PA, conducted by Susan SandsUnited Kingdom Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen Newark and Sherwood Concert Band, Nottinghamshire, conducted by Colum J O'Shea North Cheshire Wind Orchestra, Cheshire, conducted by Catherine Tackley Nottingham Concert Band, conducted by Robert Parker National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain, various conductorsCanada Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Vancouver.
David Branter, Resident Conductor and Acting Music DirectorAustralia North West Wind Ens
Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve as breaks in the storyline as elaborate "production numbers." The musical film was a natural development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. The biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater. In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it; the 1930's through the early 1950's are considered to be the golden age of the musical film, when the genre's popularity was at its highest in the Western world. Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the earliest Disney animated feature film, was a musical which won an honorary Oscar for Walt Disney at the 11th Academy Awards.
Musical short films were made by Lee de Forest in 1923–24. Beginning in 1926, thousands of Vitaphone shorts were made, many featuring bands and dancers; the earliest feature-length films with synchronized sound had only a soundtrack of music and occasional sound effects that played while the actors portrayed their characters just as they did in silent films: without audible dialogue. The Jazz Singer, released in 1927 by Warner Brothers, was the first to include an audio track including non-dietetic music and diegetic music, but it had only a short sequence of spoken dialogue; this feature-length film was a musical, featuring Al Jolson singing "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face", "Toot, Tootsie", "Blue Skies", "My Mammy". Historian Scott Eyman wrote, "As the film ended and applause grew with the houselights, Sam Goldwyn's wife Frances looked around at the celebrities in the crowd, she saw'terror in all their faces', she said, as if they knew that'the game they had been playing for years was over'." Still, only isolated sequences featured "live" sound.
In 1928, Warner Brothers followed this up with another Jolson part-talkie, The Singing Fool, a blockbuster hit. Theaters scrambled to install the new sound equipment and to hire Broadway composers to write musicals for the screen; the first all-talking feature, Lights of New York, included a musical sequence in a night club. The enthusiasm of audiences was so great that in less than a year all the major studios were making sound pictures exclusively; the Broadway Melody had a show-biz plot about two sisters competing for a charming song-and-dance man. Advertised by MGM as the first "All-Talking, All-Singing, All-Dancing" feature film, it was a hit and won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1929. There was a rush by the studios to hire talent from the stage to star in lavishly filmed versions of Broadway hits; the Love Parade starred Maurice Chevalier and newcomer Jeanette MacDonald, written by Broadway veteran Guy Bolton. Warner Brothers produced the first screen operetta, The Desert Song in 1929.
They photographed a large percentage of the film in Technicolor. This was followed by the first all-color, all-talking musical feature, entitled On with the Show; the most popular film of 1929 was the second all-color, all-talking feature, entitled Gold Diggers of Broadway. This film broke all box office records and remained the highest-grossing film produced until 1939; the market became flooded with musicals and operettas. The following all-color musicals were produced in 1929 and 1930 alone: The Show of Shows, The Vagabond King, Follow Thru, Bright Lights, Golden Dawn, Hold Everything, The Rogue Song, Song of the Flame, Song of the West, Sweet Kitty Bellairs, Under a Texas Moon, Bride of the Regiment, Whoopee!, King of Jazz, Viennese Nights, Kiss Me Again. In addition, there were scores of musical features released with color sequences. Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931. By late 1930, audiences had been oversaturated with musicals and studios were forced to cut the music from films that were being released.
For example, Life of the Party was produced as an all-color, all-talking musical comedy. Before it was released, the songs were cut out; the same thing happened to Fifty Million Frenchmen and Manhattan Parade both of, filmed in Technicolor. Marlene Dietrich sang songs in her films, Rodgers and Hart wrote a few well-received films, but their popularity waned by 1932; the public had come to associate color with musicals and thus the decline in their popularity resulted in a decline in color productions. The taste in musicals revived again in 1933 when director Busby Berkeley began to enhance the traditional dance number with ideas drawn from the drill precision he had experienced as a soldier during World War I. In films such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933, Berkeley choreographed a number of films in his unique style. Berkeley's numbers begin on a stage but transcend the limitations of theatrical space: his ingenious routines, involving human bodies forming patterns like a kaleidoscope, could never fit onto a real stage and the intended perspective is viewing from straight above.
Musical stars such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were among the most popular and highly
Documentary film
A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, mode of audience reception", continually evolving and is without clear boundaries. Documentary films were called'actuality' films and were only a minute or less in length. Over time documentaries have evolved to be longer in length and to include more categories, such as educational and even'docufiction'. Documentaries are educational and used in schools to teach various principles. Social media platforms such as YouTube, have allowed documentary films to improve the ways the films are distributed and able to educate and broaden the reach of people who receive the information. Polish writer and filmmaker Bolesław Matuszewski was among those who identified the mode of documentary film, he wrote two of the earliest texts on cinema Une nouvelle source de l'histoire and La photographie animée.
Both were published in 1898 in French and among the early written works to consider the historical and documentary value of the film. Matuszewski is among the first filmmakers to propose the creation of a Film Archive to collect and keep safe visual materials. In popular myth, the word documentary was coined by Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana, published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer". Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance, with this position at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov's provocation to present "life as it is" and "life caught unawares"; the American film critic Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as "a factual film, dramatic." Others further state that a documentary stands out from the other types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion, a specific message, along with the facts it presents.
Documentary practice is the complex process of creating documentary projects. It refers to what people do with media devices, content and production strategies in order to address the creative and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentaries. Documentary filmmaking can be used as a form of advocacy, or personal expression. Early film was dominated by the novelty of showing an event, they were single-shot moments captured on film: a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called "actuality" films. Many of the first films, such as those made by Auguste and Louis Lumière, were a minute or less in length, due to technological limitations. Films showing many people were made for commercial reasons: the people being filmed were eager to see, for payment, the film showing them. One notable film clocked in at over an hour and The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight. Using pioneering film-looping technology, Enoch J. Rector presented the entirety of a famous 1897 prize-fight on cinema screens across the United States.
In May 1896, Bolesław Matuszewski recorded on film few surigical operations in Warsaw and Saint Petersburg hospitals. In 1898, French surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen invited Bolesław Matuszewski and Clément Maurice and proposed them to recorded his surigical operations, they started in Paris a series of surgical films sometime before July 1898. Until 1906, the year of his last film, Doyen recorded more than 60 operations. Doyen said that his first films taught him how to correct professional errors he had been unaware of. For scientific purposes, after 1906, Doyen combined 15 of his films into three compilations, two of which survive, the six-film series Extirpation des tumeurs encapsulées, the four-film Les Opérations sur la cavité crânienne; these and five other of Doyen's films survive. Between July 1898 and 1901, the Romanian professor Gheorghe Marinescu made several science films in his neurology clinic in Bucharest: Walking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy, The Walking Troubles of Organic Paraplegies, A Case of Hysteric Hemiplegy Healed Through Hypnosis, The Walking Troubles of Progressive Locomotion Ataxy, Illnesses of the Muscles.
All these short films have been preserved. The professor called his works "studies with the help of the cinematograph," and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of "La Semaine Médicale" magazine from Paris, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumiere recognized the merits of Marinescu's science films: "I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of the cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving "La Semaine Médicale," but back I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Not many scientists have followed your way." Travelogue films were popular in the early part of the 20th century. They were referred to by distributors as "scenics." Scenics were among the most popu
Music of Bollywood
Bollywood songs, more formally known as Hindi film songs or filmi songs, are songs featured in Bollywood films. Derived from the song-and-dance routine in Western film circles, Bollywood songs, along with dance, are a characteristic motif of Hindi cinema which gives it enduring popular appeal, cultural value and context. Hindi film songs form a predominant component of Indian pop music, derive their inspiration from both classical and modern sources. Hindi film songs are now embedded in North India's popular culture and encountered in North India in marketplaces, during bus and train journeys and numerous other situations. Though Hindi films contain many songs and some dance routines, they are not musicals in the Western theatrical sense. Linguistically, Bollywood songs tend to use a colloquial dialect of Hindi-Urdu, or Hindustani, mutually intelligible to both Hindi and Urdu speakers, while modern Bollywood songs increasingly incorporate elements of Hinglish. Urdu poetry has had a strong impact on Bollywood songs, where the lyrics draw from Urdu poetry and the ghazal tradition.
In addition, Punjabi is occasionally used for Bollywood songs. The Indian music industry is dominated by Bollywood soundtracks, which account for nearly 80% of the country's music revenue; the industry was dominated by cassette tapes in the 1980s and 1990s, before transitioning to online streaming in the 2000s. As of 2014, the largest Indian music record label is T-Series with up to 35% share of the Indian market, followed by Sony Music India with up to 25% share, Zee Music; as of 2017, 216 million Indians use music streaming services such as YouTube, Hungama and Saavn. Hindi film songs are present in Hindi cinema right from the first sound film Alam Ara by Ardeshir Irani which featured seven songs; this was followed by Shirheen Farhad by Jamshedji Framji Madan by Madan, which had as many as 42 song sequences strung together in the manner of an opera, by Indra Sabha which had as many as 69 song sequences. However, the practice subsided and subsequent films featured between six and ten songs in each production.
Right from the advent of Indian cinema in 1931, musicals with song numbers have been a regular feature in Indian cinema. In 1934 Hindi film songs began to be recorded on gramophones and played on radio channels, giving rise to a new form of mass entertainment in India, responsive to popular demand. Within the first few years itself, Hindi cinema had produced a variety of films which categorised into genres such as "historicals", "mythologicals", "devotional, "fantasy" etc. but each having songs embedded in them such that it is incorrect to classify them as "musicals". The Hindi song was such an integral features of Hindi mainstream cinema, besides other characteristics, that post-independence alternative cinema, of which the films of Satyajit Ray are an example, discarded the song and dance motif in its effort to stand apart from mainstream cinema; the Hindi film song now began to make its presence felt as a predominating characteristic in the culture of the nation and began to assume roles beyond the limited purview of cinema.
In multi-cultural India, as per film historian Partha Chatterjee, "the Hindi film song cut through all the language barriers in India, to engage in lively communication with the nation where more than twenty languages are spoken and... scores of dialects exist". Bollywood music has drawn its inspiration from numerous traditional sources such as Ramleela, nautanki and Parsi theatre, as well as from the West and other Indic musical subcultures. For over five decades, these songs formed the staple of popular music in South Asia and along with Hindi films, was an important cultural export to most countries around Asia and wherever the Indian diaspora had spread; the spread was galvanised by the advent of cheap plastic tape cassettes which were produced in the millions till the industry crashed in 2000. Today Hindi film songs are available on radio, on television, as live music by performers, on media, both old and new such as cassette tapes, compact disks and DVDs and are available and illegally, on the internet.
The various use of languages in Bollywood songs can be complex. Most use variations of Hindi and Urdu, with some songs including other languages such as Persian, it is not uncommon to hear the use of English words in songs from modern Hindi movies. Besides Hindi, several other Indian languages have been used including Braj, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Rajasthani. In a film, both in itself and accompanied with dance, has been used for many purposes including "heightening a situation, accentuating a mood, commenting on theme and action, providing relief and serving as interior monologue." Songs in Bollywood movies are deliberately crafted with lyrics written by distinguished poets or literati, these lyrics are then set to music choreographed to match the dance routine or script of the film. They are sung by professional playback singers and lip-synched by the actors. Bollywood cinema is unique in that the majority of songs are seen to be sung by the characters themselves rather than being played in the background.
In Western cinema a composer who specializes in film music is responsible for the bulk of music on the film's soundtrack, while in some films songs may play an important part
Warrant officer (United Kingdom)
A warrant officer in the British Armed Forces is a member of the highest group of non-commissioned ranks, holding the Queen's warrant, signed by the Secretary of State for Defence. Warrant officers are not saluted as they do not hold the Queen's Commission, however they are to be addressed as'Sir/Ma'am' by subordinates. Commissioned officers may address warrant officers either by their appointment or as "Mister", "Mrs", or "Ms" and their last name, e.g. "Mr Smith". Although referred to along with non-commissioned officers, they are not NCOs, but members of a separate group, although all have been promoted from NCO rank. In November 2018, the most senior warrant officer and most senior other ranks position was created, titled Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Use of the term'warrant officer' dates from the beginnings of the Royal Navy, a time when ships were commanded by noblemen who depended on others with specialist skills to oversee the practicalities of life on board.
Specialists such as a ship's carpenter and gunner were vital to the safety of all on board, were accordingly ranked as officers - though by warrant rather than by commission. These and other specialists retained their distinctive rank and status until 1949, when the rank of warrant officer was abolished. In 1973, warrant officers reappeared in the Royal Navy, but these appointments followed the Army model, with the new warrant officers being ratings rather than officers, superior to the rate of chief petty officer, they were ranked as equivalents to warrant officers class I in the British Army and Royal Marines and with warrant officers in the Royal Air Force. The rank was titled as fleet chief petty officer, becoming warrant officer in the 1980s. In April 2004, the Royal Navy created the rate of warrant officer class 2, superior to the CPO and subordinate to existing warrant officers who were retitled as warrant office class 1; the WO2 replaced the non-substantive appointment of charge chief petty officer in the technical branches.
Prior to this change the CCPO was considered as a NATO OR-8, equivalent to WO2. In non-technical branches, there is still no requirement to hold WO2 rank before promotion to WO1. Warrant officers wear the same rank insignia as their counterparts in the Royal Marines. In 2005, the Royal Navy introduced the appointment of executive warrant officer in all ships and shore establishments; the EWO is the senior warrant officer within the unit, a member of the senior command team. The appointment is intended to be filled by an experienced WO1. Above these are five command warrant officers: CWO Surface Ships, CWO Submarines, CWO Royal Marines, CWO Fleet Air Arm and CWO Maritime Reserves; the most senior warrant officer is the Warrant Officer of the Naval Service, a position held by WO1 Steve Cass from December 2013 and WO1 Nicholas Sharland from 2017. This post replaced the Command Warrant Officer working under the Second Sea Lord in 2010The WO2 rank started to be phased out in April 2014, with no new appointments, with existing holders of the rank of WO2 to retain the rank until they are either promoted or leave the service.
Before 1879, the Royal Marines had no warrant officers, but by the end of 1881, warrant rank was held by sergeant-majors and some other senior NCOs, in a similar fashion to the Army. Warrant officers were given equivalent status to those in the Royal Navy from 1910, with the Royal Marines gunner equivalent to the Navy's warrant rank of gunner. Shortly after the Army introduced the ranks of warrant officer classes I and II in 1915, the Royal Marines did the same. From February 1920, Royal Marines warrant officers class I were once more retitled warrant officers and given the same status as Royal Navy warrant officers and the rank of warrant officer class II was abolished in the Royal Marines, with no further promotions to the rank, although men who held it retained it; as in the Royal Navy, by the Second World War there were warrant officers and commissioned warrant officers. As officers, they were saluted by junior ranks; these all became branch officer ranks in 1949, special duties officer ranks in 1956.
In 1973 the Royal Marines reintroduced the same warrant ranks as the Army, warrant officer class 1 and warrant officer class 2, replacing the ranks of quartermaster sergeant and regimental sergeant major. The insignia are the same; as in the Army, many warrant officers have appointments by which they are known, referred to and addressed. WO2 appointments are: Company sergeant major Regimental quartermaster sergeant Bandmaster Drum MajorWO1 appointments are: Regimental Sergeant Major Bandmaster Corps Bandmaster Corps Bugle Major Corps Drum MajorThe most senior Royal Marines WO1 is the Corps Regimental Sergeant Major. Directly junior to him is the Command Warrant Officer; the rank below WO2 is the Royal Marines equivalent of staff sergeant. The Royal Marines rank of warrant officer class 2 is unaffected by the 2014 phaseout of the rank in the Royal Navy. In the British Army, there are two warrant ranks, warrant officer class 2 and warrant officer class 1, the latter being the senior of the two.
It used to be more common to refer to these ranks as WOII and WOI. Warrant officer 1st class or 2nd class
Media related to Music directors at Wikimedia Commons
