Stuart Smith
Scoring for small jazz ensembles
Download 1.17 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Instrument ranges
- Instrumental combinations
Scoring for small jazz ensemblesNow that you have some facility with jazz voicings and voice leading, it will be possible to begin to write for small jazz ensembles consisting of a rhythm section and two to five “horns.”10 The same piano voicing and voice leading techniques we have studied can be applied with little or no modification to small groups consisting of some combination of trumpets, trombones, and saxophones, which are the most common jazz horns. Instrument rangesUnlike writing for the piano, small ensemble writing demands that the composer/arranger into account the limited ranges of the jazz horns. Every horn has a lowest note, below which it cannot physically produce a usable tone, and it also has a somewhat more variable upper limit beyond which even the most skilled player cannot go. Within these extremes lies a practical range where any competent player will feel comfortable and produce a good sound. The chart below illustrates these ranges for the five basic jazz horns. In the left column is the physically possible complete range, in the right the generally accepted practical range. 
If you are using music notation software such as Sibelius®, you will be warned whenever you attempt to enter a note out of an instrument’s range. This is a very useful capability that will help beginning composer/arrangers to avoid common mistakes. Instrumental combinationsCertain instrumental combinations work very well with the voicing and voice leading techniques discussed above. The list below gives many of the more commonly used combinations. Basic Close Position (ranges permitting) alto alto tenor tenor alto tenor tenor tenor alto alto tenor baritone alto tenor tenor baritone tenor tenor tenor baritone alto tenor trombone tenor alto tenor trombone baritone trombone tenor trombone tenor trombone tenor trombone baritone trumpet alto trombone tenor trumpet tenor trombone tenor trumpet alto trombone baritone trumpet tenor trombone baritone trombone trombone trombone trombone trumpet trumpet trumpet trumpet trumpet trumpet trumpet trombone Drop 2/Drop 3 (ranges permitting) trumpet alto trombone baritone trumpet tenor trombone baritone trombone trombone trombone trombone trumpet trombone trombone trombone Axis and Shells (ranges permitting) alto alto tenor baritone alto tenor tenor baritone tenor tenor tenor baritone alto tenor trombone tenor alto tenor trombone baritone trombone tenor trombone baritone trumpet alto trombone baritone trumpet tenor trombone baritone Five horns, any voicing style (ranges permitting) trumpet alto tenor tenor baritone trumpet alto alto tenor baritone trumpet tenor tenor tenor baritone trumpet alto trombone tenor trombone trumpet tenor trombone tenor trombone Note that each sublist is presented with the caveat “ranges permitting.” A given voicing technique doesn’t necessarily work automatically with a given instrumental combination. The composer/arranger still has to make sure that the selected technique doesn’t drive one or more instruments outside their ranges. Exercises Choose a tune from the list in the Form section in Chapter I. Write a piano arrangement of an 8-bar section using any of the parallel voicing styles described above. Add bass and drum parts. Score the arrangement for any appropriate combination of four horns. Do exercise 1 again, but this time using the Arrange feature described in Appendix C if you have access to Sibelius®. Try several different jazz styles and pick the one that gives you what you think are the best results. Complete the score for the tune selected for Exercise 1 and extract the individual parts. Download 1.17 Mb. Share with your friends:
|