big thing: playing in 2/broken time vs walking is a big distinction to make. this goes along with drums too, but this difference in feel is something that can add a lot to an arrangement
Yes. Right on target. The other side of the issue might be what is happening in the piano players left hand. I've seen too many charts where there is a specific walking line for bass, but chords written above. To me, as a bass player, that indicates I'm free to may my choices on the walking line, but if the piano has the same thing and plays that part, it can be a mess with notes I choose. Many band leaders who may not have experience playing in rhythm sections are not really aware of the harmonic mess it creates with low guitar notes, bass trombone, bari sax, pno LH and bass. It's tough to get a good swing sound when the low end is unclear.
What I read when I was studying Swing Jazz years ago is: 1) Without a bass player or equivalent, keep a walking harmony with the left-hand; 2) With a bass player or equivalent, it is NOT okay to play a bass line ; use the left-hand to form open-voicing chords.
@@PandemoniumBigBand The one-to-two octaves around Middle-"C" are what I generally read and typically hear most jazz piano in Big Bands and Small Ensembles. Inversions most often required for good "voice leading."
Great words of wisdom for sure. There are times when I want the player to be quite specific. Other times, let them be the musician. Put up the Billiard rails with chord markings and let them have at it. True for ALL rhythm section parts.
I have one on tritone substitutions and one on 5-chord extensions. Both are important for reharms. Also definitely watch my video called “modern spaceman harmony”
Excellent, Elliot! DANGER... Rambling ahead... Aside from arranging books, it’s really helpful to study actual charts and scores. (My local symphony conductor would often loan me scores, which was HUGE.) Studying big bands, I saw a great many Bob Eberhart transcriptions of Buddy Rich's charts, and others. Downbeat magazine published monthly columns that included excerpts from scores or individual parts. The notation I saw taught me that trust in your players is pivotal, and what you've said and shown exactly matches those thoughts. Especially important with rhythm section players, but a few words and suggestions can go a very long way with any player, when they agree on what they're trying to do. (!) Speaking to a young and inexperienced jazz soloist might sound like "Improvise, while remaining within the structure of the song, play in a free, but emotional, purposeful way, as you try to emphasize and perhaps expand on the structure...", etc., etc..) The real adult, worn, often-altered, big band charts I saw simply had notations like "Wail!" or "Scream!". (or "Sadly", "Sparsely", etc.) I often miss that sort of emotion in modern music, and sometimes think it's "too" refined. As long as the music is in time, in tune, and rhythmic, then I would prefer to hear people in the band taking more chances, doing more things to enchant, excite, and create real art, ranging from somber and nostalgic, to fun and crazy-hyper. "Don't let them see you sweat" is overrated, in my opinion. :)
@@PandemoniumBigBand Thanks, Elliot. I love your relaxed, yet precise approach to discussing music. Great education for new writers, and great reminders for us older ones. :)
A strong, melodic bass line is as important as the main melody. An arrangement could actually consist of just a melody and a strong bass part (if the bass part is actually solid enough) and it would actually work out OK … even as basic as such a thing would be. I’ve done that with young middle school bands before and it really does work.
Absolutely. Thanks for all these videos. As a fellow band arranger (mostly for marching bands & concert bands & younger middle school bands), I continue to learn valuable things & knowledge from you and your terrific videos. You’re a natural teacher at this, in addition to being a killer band arranger & musician. Much respect, my friend!
Being German, it's kinda funny your name is Deutsch inspite of your family probably having lived in the states for generations. Your arrangements have quite a hip sound to my ears, btw. If you are familiar with the music in the videogame Super Mario Odyssey's level "new donk city" - I recently noticed that Nelson Riddles arranging for Frank Sinatras album "swing easy" sounds very similar. It has a lush quality to it that I really enjoy.
Another great video. I have a question. Have you seen the scores of say Glen Miller or Duke Ellington? I'm curious how much of what the musicians played was actually on the page and how much they just played because from experience they knew it would sound good . I think with today's scores we write out every scoop and trill but maybe they didn't write as much out explicitly back then.
I think it was just as specific. I don't have any originals, but I have a couple books of classic big band charts with everything as specific as plunger mutes being closed or open(and falls and trills). The solos back then probably weren't written, or were optional.
@@chipmonkey7266 in Glenn Miller's secrets to band arrangement book from 1942 he writes everything out including the drum hits and bass lines but I wonder if that's how they really did it live
Back in the 1930’s, you couldn’t assume that a bassist would know which notes to play from chord and slashes. But over the past 90 years, bass playing and music education has moved forward a great deal. The advise on the video is meant to apply for music written today, played by bassists today. In another 90 years, the best practice might be totally different!
@@PandemoniumBigBand I'm not sure if big band musicianship is better today than it was 70 or 80 years ago. They just had different skills than we do. Today we can go to school or even hire an tutor to learn jazz. They learned it on the job and I think they had many more live gigs than we have today, which has to help your musicianship. Something like 30 gigs in 40 days, on the train from new york to california that's a lot of work back in 1940. Today's big bands don't do these brutal tours, brutal tours are for struggling rock bands. But in the modern times, best of all are your wonderful youtube videos that explain everything. It's like a cheat code.
