During the 1930s, Count Basie's band often used head arrangements, as Basie said, "we just sort of start it off and the others fall in." Head arrangements were more common during the period of the 1930s because there was less turnover in personnel, giving the band members more time to rehearse. They experiment, often with one player coming up with a simple musical figure leading to development within the same section and then further expansion by other sections, with the entire band then memorizing the way they are going to perform the piece, without writing it on sheet music. A head arrangement is a piece of music that is formed by band members during rehearsal. Some big ensembles, like King Oliver's, played music that was half-arranged, half-improvised, often relying on head arrangements. Other methods of embellishing the form include modulations and cadential extensions. Many arrangements contain an interlude, often similar in content to the introduction, inserted between some or all choruses. Īn arrangement's first chorus is sometimes preceded by an introduction, which may be as short as a few measures or may extend to a chorus of its own. This development may take the form of improvised solos, written solo sections, and " shout choruses". The first chorus of an arrangement introduces the melody and is followed by choruses of development. Each iteration, or chorus, commonly follows twelve bar blues form or thirty-two-bar (AABA) song form. Typical big band arrangements from the swing era were written in strophic form with the same phrase and chord structure repeated several times. Billy Strayhorn, for example, was a prolific composer and arranger, frequently collaborating with Duke Ellington, but rarely took on the role of bandleader, which was assumed by Ellington, who himself was a composer and arranger. In many cases, however, the distinction between these roles can become blurred. Some bandleaders, such as Guy Lombardo, performed works composed by others (in Lombardo's case, often by his brother Carmen), while others, such as Maria Schneider, take on all three roles. Bandleaders are typically performers who assemble musicians to form an ensemble of various sizes, select or create material for them, shape the music’s dynamics, phrasing, and expression in rehearsals, and lead the group in performance often while playing alongside them. Arrangers frequently notate all or most of the score of a given number, usually referred to as a "chart". The composer writes original music that will be performed by individuals or groups of various sizes, while the arranger adapts the work of composers in a creative way for a performance or recording. It is useful to distinguish between the roles of composer, arranger and leader. Twenty-first century big bands can be considerably larger than their predecessors, exceeding 20 players, with some European bands using 29 instruments and some reaching 50. Jazz ensembles numbering eight ( octet), nine ( nonet) or ten ( tentet) voices are sometimes called "little big bands". Boyd Raeburn drew from symphony orchestras by adding flute, French horn, strings, and timpani to his band. While most big bands dropped the previously common jazz clarinet from their arrangements (other than the clarinet-led orchestras of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman), many Duke Ellington songs had clarinet parts, often replacing or doubling one of the tenor saxophone parts more rarely, Ellington would substitute baritone sax for bass clarinet, such as in "Ase's Death" from Swinging Suites. Duke Ellington at one time used six trumpets. In the 1940s, Stan Kenton's band used up to five trumpets, five trombones (three tenor and two bass trombones), five saxophones (two alto saxophones, two tenor saxophones, one baritone saxophone), and a rhythm section. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxophones, and a rhythm section of four instruments. Typical seating arrangement for a 17-piece big bandīig bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, and drums.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |