The Big Band Theory: Unraveling the Mystery of the Jazz MPA Russ Weaver, B.M. and Chris Sharp, Ph.D. FMEA clinic, January 2015 This clinic has been designed by actual FBA Jazz MPA judges to address issues commonly observed at district and state jazz MPAs over the past several years. The following strategies will help you avoid and/or overcome many of the pitfalls you may encounter on your way to a successful and musically enriching experience with your jazz ensemble. If you are new to jazz ensemble, you may be asking yourself: 1. Why do jazz band? a. Legacy – jazz is our only indigenous American art form. As music educators in the United States of America, we need to do everything we can to preserve and promote this music! b. Benefits 1) The jazz ensemble is essentially a large chamber group. In it, your players learn to be responsible for covering a musical part solely on their own, not doubled by other players. This ultimately results in stronger individual performers. 2) As in any chamber ensemble, listening is key in the jazz ensemble. Your students will develop a heightened sense of aural communication that will also be a benefit to your larger ensembles. 3) Should your students go on to become professional musicians, it is much more likely that they will be engaged as performers of commercial, jazz‐based styles than as career orchestral musicians. There are far more professional performance opportunities in styles such as top 40, funk, Broadway, Dixieland, rock tribute bands, big bands, theme park bands, small groups, club date bands, etc. Should they become musicians in the armed services, this diversity will help them secure positions in the more prestigious groups. 2. Getting started a. Don’t throw the whole book at your beginners! New styles (especially swing) are difficult concepts for players with little to no experience outside of the concert band. Straight eighth‐note styles such as rock and bossa nova work much better for developing players, and will allow them to first adjust to the jazz ensemble configuration with its heightened individual responsibilities. When you’re ready for the added challenge of swing style, consult the separation “Swing Interpretation” handout. b. Incomplete instrumentation 1) You may not be able to field a full band at the outset. Not to worry – many publishers offer jazz ensemble music with flexible instrumentation that can be performed with as few as three saxes, two trumpets, one trombone and rhythm section. 2) You may also consider combo charts, which can be performed with as few as three horns. Many combo arrangements also have flexible instrumentation and duplicated parts to accommodate different configurations. 3) Please DO NOT attempt to perform fully orchestrated arrangements with only a few players! This rarely sounds good. 4) If you find you have many more players than you need, avoid the temptation to double and triple parts. Extensive part doubling essentially robs your students of the chamber ensemble‐like experience. Either start a second ensemble, or rotate players in and out to keep it one‐on‐a‐part. c. Setting up your ensemble in the proper configuration: 1) Generally, the rhythm section should be set up (as you face the ensemble) to the left of the winds. The piano goes on the far left, turned so the player can easily see the conductor (open side to the ensemble for grand pianos). Acoustic piano is fine for most styles, but an electric keyboard that can produce organ sounds (e.g. Hammond B3) or Fender Rhodes‐type sounds will allow for much more stylistic flexibility, particularly in rock, funk, fusion, and rock ballad styles. 2) The guitar goes in front at the left end of the sax section with the amp behind and to the left. For traditional jazz styles, encourage the use of a proper, hollow‐ bodied jazz guitar, not a solid‐body rock guitar. Consider purchasing one for the school, if the resources are available. Some setups have the guitar in the “niche” of the grand piano. However line‐of‐sight (and communication) between the rhythm players can be obstructed in this configuration. 3) The drum set goes behind the guitar (in the niche of the grand piano, if used). 4) The bass player goes just to the right of the drum set, next to the hi‐hat so the player can lock into the back‐beat. The amp should be slightly behind and to the right. Having both an upright bass (straight‐ahead jazz, standards, etc.) and an electric bass (rock and funk) available for the player is ideal. 5) Winds, front row – saxophones in the following order from left‐to‐right: 1st tenor, 2nd alto, 1st alto, 2nd tenor, bari. 6) Winds, second row – trombones in the following order from left‐to‐right: 2nd (solo), 1st, 3rd, 4th. 7) Winds, third row ‐ trumpets in the following order from left‐to‐right: 2nd (solo), 1st, 3rd, 4th. 8) Line up the lead players (1st alto, 1st trombone, 1st trumpet) front‐to‐back so they can communicate style and intonation to each other. Section players should be trained to always listen up to the leads for style, tuning, note lengths, releases, etc. 9) Players most likely to get solo changes (1st tenor, 2nd trombone, 2nd trumpet) are located closest to the rhythm section for maximum communication. 10) Train trumpet players to lower their music stands and play over the top so the bells are up and the section can be heard. Do not allow them to blow directly into their stand. If they must have stands up, place the stand to the left of the player and have them direct their bells in the space between the stands. Trombone players do the reverse – stands go to the right of the players so slides can go in the space between the stands. 3. Selecting literature a. The right literature can make or break your performance. Things to look for: Properly notated rhythm section parts. If your pianist has no experience reading chord symbols, be sure voiced‐out chords and rhythms are provided, ideally with the chord symbols provided above. A well voiced‐out piano part can serve as a reference for performing other arrangements. For evaluations of the rhythm section writing in several commonly‐performed charts, we have developed a rubric that addresses specific criteria related to the content of each rhythm section part. For a sample of the results, please visit document we have prepared. It’s available on the website of Cyberwinds Music at this address: http://cyberwindsmusic.com/jazz‐education‐resources/ 1) Your guitarist may be provided with a generic chord chart. Most of the time, they will only get chord symbols. If you are not familiar with guitar, consider purchasing a book of jazz guitar voicings. There are several good ones available. Here’s a link to FJH Music’s online guitar chord voicing generator, an interactive tool that produces on‐the‐spot guitar voicings and fingering charts: http://www.fjhmusic.com/guitar/chords.htm 2) Be sure proper articulations are provided that are consistent throughout the ensemble. WARNING ‐ many published arrangements have improper or insufficient articulations! Unfortunately you cannot count on all published pieces to be written properly. See the provided list of recommended pieces to avoid this problem. 3) Arrangements of jazz standards, or originals written in jazz style are your best and most pedagogically sound choice for selections. No matter how much your kids might want to play them, avoid arrangements of pop tunes for MPA performances! If you must perform them, save those for your other concerts. 4) When programming for the Jazz MPA, seek out a variety of styles so your program has the expected level of variety. The major style groups include swing, rock or funk, Latin and ballads. Picking one of each from the categories is usually a safe bet. Including a swing chart is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – avoiding this more challenging style completely will not serve your ensemble well. 5) Established band directors who have had successful jazz bands can be a great resource for literature recommendations. There are also lists of good, solid scholastic‐level jazz pieces available online – here are some from Don Zentz: http://jazzrepertoirelists.weebly.com/index.html 4. But…it’s not on the chart! As it is with much of art (classical) music, the elements of jazz style are not always printed on the music. There are certain practices that experienced jazz performers instinctively include when playing jazz. How are they learned? Mostly through listening, but here are some guidelines: a. Articulations 1) Jazz is a different language from art music. As such, it must be approached differently. Proper jazz articulations are a must. Here is a chart showing the four most commonly used articulations and how they differ in approach between the two styles: As you can see, the same symbol does not necessarily mean the same thing when used within the two different styles. In general, jazz articulations are more pronounced than those used in art music. Whereas the tongue release is not appropriate for most art music literature, it is often used in jazz to define the length of shorter‐duration notes. Be sure your players understand these style differences, and that performing jazz is a different mindset than that of performing art music. 2) Syllables – these are important! Use the following to produce proper jazz articulations: unaccented note = “dah”; accented note = “tah”; staccato note = “dit”; legato note = “doo”; marcato note = “taht”. These syllables translate into physical articulations that your players should apply directly to the instruments.