Journals

Journal #16

For my upcoming speech, big idea is the importance that accompaniment and arranging has on a tune. I will try to get the audience to listen more closely to the arrangements of the music they listen to.

I believe my idea is new to my audience because it was new to me. Before I played jazz piano, I never considered how separate arranging and composing were. They can be done simultaneously, which is what I think most people understand arranging to be. However, they are two very different arts, and I would like to highlight the less considered of the two.

I don't think my audience has heard before, however if they do look up the right things, they can find videos and articles that essentially explain the general topic that I would like my audience to dip their feet into. I really want to make sure my video is accessible to non musician viewers, so I will be going much less in depth than the results on Google.

This topic is extremely interesting because it focuses on something I'm sure most people rarely consider yet are unequivocally familiar with it. This would be the music equivalent of a behind the scenes look at the filmmaking process. I feel like anything that pulls back a curtain to reveal something just as spectacular is incredibly interesting.

Journal #15

Here are 3 questions I tend to ask myself while listening to and writing arrangements. A lot of these have come about while hearing something I didn't understand how to accomplish, or while listening to my own work. The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra especially helped to bring some aspect of these questions to light, as their arranging is at a level much beyond my understanding.

1. How do you create an interesting arrangement from the big picture? I have and continue to study harmonizing melodies and creating textures, but I do not know much on the wider level. How do you decide how to develop energy and when to release it? How do you determine which instrument solos?

2. Is it a good idea to write out the bassline? Listening to George Shearing interviews, he discusses how important it is to arrange the basslines, however listening to the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, it is clear that Richard Davis is the one in control - nobody else can think of the stuff that he does.

3. How do you go about accompanying a melody outside of rhythmic unison? I was listening to - you guessed it - the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and noticing that the melody was completely unharmonized, yet so much was going on behind it. Listen here at about the 1 minute mark. That busy yet together sound is one that I would like to have at my disposal.

These questions arise as I find myself trying to arrange for the aforementioned upcoming gig. I feel as if they are some of the things standing in my way. The 1st and 3rd questions in particular feel like they would be breakthroughs once I sit down and really study some recordings. The 2nd, while important, can probably go either way depending on who you ask. I will try to get my eyes on some of my favorite arrangements to see what they write in on that pesky bass part.

Day #3

Today's arrangement is a little different. Notably, it does not feature saxophone at all. It is an arrangement of a blues called Sonnymoon for Two. I didn't write out an arrangement this time, as I was a little rushed.

Here it is.

Day #2

I should probably move these into a new tab on this website. Until then, here is my next arrangement. This is another "Miles Davis Tune" this time written by Bill Evans. When Bill asked Miles for the royalties to the song, which had appeared on the most successful jazz album of all time, Miles gave him a check for $25.

Here is the arrangement, which in total took about 2.5 hours to arrange and record, which is considerably less than last time. Below I have posted the arrangement written out. It might be useful to note that the melody is highlighted as being normal music notation, while the harmony is simply written out in dots. I did this to save space.

Journal #14/Day#1

I have been thinking a lot about where to go next. What goals should I set? Where do I want to be? Where am I not? Where do I struggle? The more I thought, the more I realized I knew very little about where I stood. The more I thought, the more I realized that was intentional. I didn't want to reveal my weaknesses. I would rather allow opportunities to pass me by then to risk exposing a deficiency. I revel in my ignorance, yet I am surprised when I do not progress. Throughout the month of March, I did not learn anything about arranging. I had no motivation to more forward if I was content with my ability. But I was not content. I was tormented by the growth that could be. I was tortured by those better than me, and those more dedicated than me. Most importantly, I was plagued by my own ego. Knowing that I could be better while also knowing that I would not get better until I accepted a weakness of mine drove me to abandon my passion.

Simultaneously, I had begun to discover that many of my favorite musicians have social media pages replete with soul-bearing mistake-exposing weakness-flaunting content. The most mind boggling for me was the page of a saxophonist named Walter Smith III. Every single day of March, he has posted a minute long video of him on Instagram lightly arranging and playing a standard, accompanied by funny gifs that relate to the title of the tune. The last time he skipped a day was February 8. Sometimes, the arrangements aren't great, or the gifs aren't particularly funny. But they are posted every single day without fail. The most remarkable part is that you can tell it was made in a day. That's not to say they are bad - in fact most are amazingly funny and incredibly musically rich. But every single day, without fail, this professional saxophonist posts silly arrangements with silly videos. He says he spends 45 minutes per day on them, 25 minutes recording and 20 minutes finding the gifs. He says the more time he spends on them, the less he likes them.

This was something I needed to hear. Even when Walter Smith III records an arrangement of a standard that he thinks needs more work, he leaves it how it is, and publishes it for his 21,000 followers. The confidence and simplicity is inspiring. I too would like to be unafraid to publish a final product that I do not like. I too would like to be okay with exposing my weaknesses not just to myself, but to the world. So, I have decided to copy what Walter Smith III is doing. I don't have the technology to assemble the gifs and I don't think I can ever relegate my arranging and recording to just 25 minutes per day. However, I will try to replicate the most important part of Walter Smith III's practice: the consistency.

Every weekday, I will publish some sort of arrangement. Each might be my best or worst recording yet, but they will be published. One way or another, I will force myself to face my shortcomings head on and grow either as a musician or as a person.

The first arrangement is a "Miles Davis Tune", meaning it is a tune written by someone else that Miles Davis slapped his name on for royalty purposes. Written by Chuck Wayne, it is one of my favorite standards. I recorded this over the span of two days, but it being my first experiment, I allowed it. I have learned that perhaps playing fast tunes is not a smart idea under a time limit. It took so many takes to get some of the faster parts to sound even somewhat clean. Below, I also have posted the manuscript. I no longer have a computer that can run any substantial music notation software, so I have taken this as an opportunity to re-acquaint myself with a pencil and staff paper.

Anyway, here it is, mistakes and all. I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Journal #13

As long time readers of this journal will know, I am a member of a youth jazz quintet. This combo began between me and another member of EMC over 2 years ago. It started very abruptly, beginning with a group that had never played together having to perform without preparing. Much to our surprise, the gig went smoothly despite the lack of preparedness. In the following months, it became objective me and the other EMC member (a trombonist) to reunite the band. We were having trouble finding musicians who were willing to commit to a group as opposed to a single gig. After searching high and low, we had found a new saxophonist, a much younger but equally skilled student, and gotten the same bassist to play with us again. After yet another while, we found the final member of our group, a drummer who happened to have access to a recording studio. As if the stars had instantly aligned, we began playing everywhere starting in April of 2019, from farmers markets to baseball games to SPAC itself. Sadly, the bassist graduated and was swiftly replaced. The members of this second iteration of the group were coincidentally all members of a larger local youth big band, and as such we were would play together extremely often. At a concert in February of 2020, we were given the opportunity to perform as the small band. Little did we know, this would be one of the last opportunities we would have to play together for a very long while.

Although the pandemic wiped away all the chances we had to play together at gigs, we still played together, often by splitting into smaller groups. It was a very difficult time for the group. It seemed as if the end may have been near. Every once in a while some members would play together to record auditions, and for a time there was a monthly gig where the original bassist and drummer, now home from college, would join me in accompanying a local flautist, but the group as a whole seemed to be falling apart.

About a week ago, the larger big band we are part of asked this combo to play at SPAC once again. Once again, the band experienced a new iteration, with a new drummer and two additional members; the flutist from before and a trumpet player that is the brother of our saxophonist. This is the point where I now stand. There is a pianist, bassist, drummer, trombonist, saxophonist, trumpeter, and a flutist. This is the group that I must learn to arrange.

How do I arrange for a this group? How does a flute fit into a group like this? What techniques can I use that will make this group sound particularly together? How can I make this group sound larger than it is? Knowing that many of the musicians in this group play other instruments, how can I incorporate alternate instrumentations? I will try to use the resources I already have until I exhaust their usefulness, at which point I will search for other sources of information. I am very excited to have a substantially sized group to experiment on, and I anticipate I will learn much about the arranging of a group of this size.

Journal #12

This wasn't the first time I have taught music, and most likely it won't be the last. The other experiences I have had have informed me of the importance of checking in with the student. After every small thing that I discuss, I like to ask the student to try to utilize what I have taught them. It isn't a test of their knowledge as much as it is a test of my communication ability. Depending on the results, I would teach accordingly. However, this essential tool has become but a dream of better days. Given this unfortunate fact, I am still unsure of whether I have effectively communicated the ideas I set out to.

I found the lesson plans to be largely unnecessary, as it was only with the act of scripting the video that I became aware of the topics I would be able to cover. I think the value of lesson plans could be better utilized if every video was planned from the start, thereby allowing me to plan ahead better than I did. However, I could see how all that work planning could be useless, as the videos rarely go as planned. My original plan was to cover all major, minor, and dominant chords in the second of a three part series on arranging, but I soon learned that both the subject matter was far too dense and I was not good enough a teacher. I have never before made video lessons of any kind, so producing these videos proved also to be quite a challenge. I no longer have a desktop or laptop computer that I can use for any significant amount of time besides school provided chromebooks, so that was the primary obstacle. I ended up talking with my father (who himself is a middle school french teacher) about how to create these videos, and used the equipment and software that he used, knowing that they would at the very least do the job. I chose not to edit these videos, which now I see was a mistake. Learning how to use a new editing software is a lot easier than getting a recording right in a single take. However, this has taught me the skill of balancing a script and natural human speech to make something that feels natural without being aimless.

I think I focused most of my efforts on utilizing communication, and left out another very important focus. I neglected to collaborate on this project, which I now see as a considerable flaw. I have many people that I know with the right amount of music knowledge for this video to be effective and for them to thereby provide effective feedback. Despite this, I believe my lessons were somewhat effective at introducing the concepts I mentioned, although I seriously doubt that all of those watching would have a firm grasp on what I taught them. I think the videos could be used to teach a student if they were driven enough to watch them multiple times and play along at home. For those who simply watched the videos once through, I do not think they would be especially effective.

I don't think I underestimated the amount of time it took to plan, however I did begin to tire of the recording process. It is an arduous and time consuming process that I have suffered through, and with the combination of college auditions and these recordings, I began to dread any instance of recording.

Next time, I would try to have complete scripts ready in advance. I think a lot of my issues came from a lack of planning, however having polished scripts from the start would mean that I could edit the first video so that it fits well with the third video without a time machine. For those completing this midterm next year, I would recommend trying out your script on an unsuspecting friend before spending the time turning it into a video, as you want to make sure you don't have a dud before spending hours recording it.

Midterm Video Part #3

Here is the link to the video.

Lesson Plan for Midterm #3

Subject: Introduction to Jazz Theory and Notation

Topic: Exploring dominant chords, and concluding the ii-V-I

Level: Intermediate, as this lesson helps you with the foundation to further explore more advanced jazz harmony.

Time Allotment: I anticipate this lesson being similar in length to the two previous lessons, although if I do this right, I do think I can make it a bit shorter.

Objectives:

• Explain the beginning of chord scale theory

• Explain the beginning of roman numeral analysis and ii-V-Is

• Show what a dominant chord is

• Introduce the half-whole diminished scale and altered scale

Considerations:

1. For this final lesson, I will incorporate a lot of the vocabulary that was used throughout the rest of the series.

2. I will be touching upon many topics without going into the proper amount of depth, as some understanding is necessary to fully grasping dominant chords.

3. This lesson will deal with the most fluid and open ended type of chord there is, and as such it in turn will be a lot less focussed.

Materials & Resources:

• I will be using the same resources as used previously.

• It is highly recommended that you try to attempt the topics I discuss on your own, especially on an instrument or music notation software.

What have you learned about engaging viewers virtually that will help you this week? How will you address any challenges in recording your lesson?

I have learned that a predictable and expected progression of information is the best way to teach. When the students already can expect what is going to be taught next, that is the best case scenario. I will address challenges in the same way that I did so in previous lessons. I will keep trying new things until I find something that works.

Midterm Video Part #2

Here is the link to the video. The beginning cut off a bit, sorry about that.

Lesson Plan for Midterm #2

Subject: Introduction to Jazz Theory and Notation

Topic: Exploring minor chords and their various voicings

Level: Intermediate. This was chosen as you must have a solid knowledge of some instrument to be able to get the most out of these videos. Those who do not know what a chord or scale is will be bored by this video, meanwhile a musician employing upper structure triads will be very bored.

Length: Given how long the previous video was, I expect this video to clock in at around 9 minutes.

Objectives:

• Explain minor chord notation

• Discuss extensions

• Discuss quartal voicings

• Discuss minor/major seventh chords and begin to discuss dominant chords

Considerations:

• This lesson will build on the understanding of extension naming convention, thereby being a lot more complicated.

• This lesson, by the limitations of the 9th upon a minor chord, will to some degree touch upon chords in relation to scale degrees (I, iv, etc.)

• This lesson will introduce the dominant seventh chord as a means to discuss the minor/major seventh chord.

Materials & Resources:

• I am going to make use of music notation software and a keyboard

• The audience should have access to some music notation software or instrument to apply the things I am teaching

How are you going to make this interesting? What did you learn?

I am going to try to make it even more lighthearted and fun than the previous video. It has been pointed out to me the stylistic resemblance to Bob Ross during sections of my previous video, therefore I will try to further imitate and learn from him. This means personifying chords and adding more fun and informal tangents (although I will nonetheless be wary to keep the video focused).

R.I.P Sammy Nestico

Yesterday morning, at 8:00 AM on January 17th, 2021, jazz arranging lost one of its best. Sammy Nestico, born in 1924 and just shy of 97 years old passed away, leaving behind decades of incredible arrangements written for the likes of Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Phil Collins, and countless others.

I will always know Sammy Nestico as one of the best Basie Orchestra arrangers, alongside Thad Jones and Neil Hefti. In 9th grade, I joined my first real big band. We played this Sammy Nestico chart only 3 or 4 times, and each time it struck a chord. While we never performed it, and each time we practiced we didn't play all too good, I will always remember looking up the song and absolutely adoring the arrangement. May I present Queen Bee, written and arranged by Sammy Nestico for the Count Basie Orchestra.

In the words of his Facebook page which announced his passing, "Heaven is going to swing now!" Rest easy, Sammy.

Midterm Video Part #1

Here is the link to the video.

Lesson Plan for Midterm #1

Subject: Introduction to Jazz Theory and Notation

Topic: Naming major chords and their extensions

Level: Intermediate

Length: I expect this video to be around 5-7 minutes

Objectives:

• Explain major chord notation

• Discuss extensions

Considerations:

• The viewer should be familiar with major and minor scales and music notation

• The viewer should be familiar with basic triads

• The viewer should have listened to some music that makes use of traditional jazz harmony

Materials & Resources:

• I am going to make use of music notation software and a keyboard

• The audience should have access to some music notation software or instrument to apply the things I am teaching

How are you going to make this interesting?

I am planning keeping it very succinct and asking the viewer to take some time to experiment, which is where the most fun happens. I will try to be more high energy than I am typically, although I will surely struggle with this.

Journal #11

I enjoyed this SDA, and I think a considerable amount of growth came out of it as a result. I think I designed something that was both challenging yet possible given my skills. I also burned myself out, which is something I find I have a tendency to do. I felt like Victor Frankenstein after having constructed my monster. Perhaps this is the reason It has taken so long to write a proper reflection. It seems unreasonable, yet to reflect fully on that project feels very stressful.

I don't think I properly executed a so what one this assignment. If I had made this rough draft into a final product, I feel that the purpose of this assignment may have became more clear. It would've been a developing a skill that I could use to make actual music. Instead, I displayed that I could arrange, but that the arranging was the furthest point. This is the part of this assignment that I'm most upset about. If I just had the confidence to send out my arrangement as it was on December 7th, I would have been in a much better mental state in regards to this assignment. Instead, I told myself to edit it while lacking the drive to do so, meaning it never got done.

In total, I dedicated anywhere from 10-20 hours on this project. I worked on it pretty consistently and for long stretches of time, which may have contributed to my burnout. My attention management in this instance was my time management - I only worked on the arrangement when I had a desire to. This was a problem once I lost my desire to continue working after I had finished. The revision process is tedious and uninspiring.

I anticipated that this would be a project filled with collaboration, but this has not been the case. In retrospect, this was much more about curiosity and creativity than anything else. I was experimenting with new knowledge, and this was the result. The biggest thing I learned was how to quickly and effectively arrange for 5 voices in a multitude of styles, a skill which I still use and think about when listening to music. Relating to this point, I am very proud of the soli. While it was done relatively quickly in comparison to the pace of the rest of the piece, I think it showed a lot of growth. It was the summit of my knowledge at the time. I still need to work on speeding up the time it takes to arrange something like that, but I'm certain I will try to do it again. This assignment was crafted referencing the theory book that I had recently gotten my hands on. It influenced a lot of the ideas I used, and I'm sure if you were to read it you'd find a lot of the information is right in my arrangement.

I believe if you were to refer to Webb's Depth Of Knowledge in regards to my project, you'd find a lot of level four (extended thinking). The nature of the song that I used and the examples and information I learned required me to be creative, and extrapolate based on what I knew. There was no protocol for how to approach a ii-6 where the melody is the 6, yet I had to figure something out. There was a lot of level one thinking too, with certain spreads copied right out of the book. Overall, however, I think I showed a lot of in depth thinking, which I am certainly proud of.

Journal #10

The project I have labored over for countless is very different from the conception it once was. With my introduction to Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles by Ken Pullig and Ted Pease, I began to realize the different tools I had at my fingertips. I will today present you both the product and the tools used to make it. Keep in mind, this is still a first draft, and many things could use to be improved upon. Namely, the dynamic content, some enharmonic spellings, and many aesthetic formatting issues that are yet to be resolved. Moreover, the recording that accompanies the score uses some bad sounding synthesizers to substitute the real instruments. The program used is a free music notation software known as Musescore. Here is the score and here is the recording.

Onto the music itself. With this book, I learned of different techniques to create four voice harmony. These are applicable to both four and five parts, as with five parts you can simply double the melody an octave lower. Firstly, there is four way close, where you have a melody, and you arrange down with the four closest notes in the chord. If the chord is an F6 and the melody is an F, you would have from top to bottom F D C A (F). This sounds quiet nice, and I employed it quite often with five voices. Take a look at measure 55 on page 14 for a good example of four way close. Next, drop 2. With this technique, you drop the second from the top note when harmonizing a melody. Our last example, F D C A (F) would become F C A (F) D from top to bottom. This is a larger voicing and more open, and leaves more space between the melody and the note right next to the melody. I used this technique a lot. There is also drop 3, which I didn't use at all during this arrangement, and drop 2+4. I used drop 2+4 for the beginning of this arrangement, and I like the sound of it. However, since it is such a big spread of notes, it is often smart to pick a higher note to harmonize. That same chord would be F C (F) D A.

I don't think I have time to go over a lot of what I did in this arrangement, but I'll go over some ideas and revelations I came to. Firstly, I realized the importance of spreads (aka pads), which are chords built from the root up. They sound very big, and any time you see a low and high chord that sounds really loud, you can guarantee it's a spread. That last chord, for example, is most certainly a spread. Another technique I make use of is backgrounds, of which I essentially have three varieties. There are counter melodies (measure 7, page 3), there are nonrhythmic chords often driven by voice leading (measure 11, page 4), and there are rhythmic backgrounds (measure 14, page 4). These go behind the melody, and make the song sound full harmonically. These are where I probably had the most trouble, as the bari sax typically helps in these situations. I didn't have access to a bari sax and as such used the lower ranges of the tenor and trombones to substitute that lower sound.

One of the things I was most excited about this song was the ability for me to quote other melodies. If you listen closely, you can find a couple. For example, at the end of the first chorus, measures 34 and 35 on page 9, I play the melody of Let It Snow! I then have the horns react in surprise are the wrong melody, in some ways as a sort of joke. At measure 45 on page 12, I play the bridge melody over the chorus, which turned out to sound a lot less remarkable than I had anticipated. At measure 53 on page 14, the trombone plays the melody to Jingle Bells, and shortly thereafter the tenor saxophone quotes the start of Let It Snow! at measure 59, page 15. I most likely included more easter eggs like this, although I cannot remember them.

Another technique is one I learned from Thad Jones. I uses it a few times, especially at the end of phrases where there is a break. I harmonize a simple melody using very crunchy and dissonant harmonies. The way I typically do this is harmonize with some sort of diminished chord or triad with the melody doubled but a half step off. This helps to create a more interesting and varied arrangement.

This project has been my greatest focus for the past week or so, and I am overall content with how it turned out. I cannot wait for it to be recorded by real instruments and musicians, who will add their own character to the performance. I wrote each part with the musicians in mind, so I think it will turn out well.

Journal #9

The next project I have planned has been a primary focus for my thought and consideration. All I have set in stone is that it must involve post bop harmony - a subject which I have been and continue to research, both through literature and listening - and that it is to be done by early December. I have been listening to some larger jazz orchestra/big band type arrangements, and I am thinking of doing something akin to that on this occasion. I would like to make this project more significant in scope than my previous endeavors. Collaboration is something I am finally planning on accomplishing, which means giving the participating parties ample time to learn and adequately perform the music. I essentially have to get the details of this project nailed down as soon as possible to allow for solid arranging to take place. I already have the word of a friend of mine, a trombonist, and I suspect I could have access to a flutist and a saxophonist if I ask nicely. This means learning how to arrange for flute, and listening to and studying how other arrangers use these instruments in tandem and on their own to create interesting arrangements.

The thought has crossed my mind that due to this project's proximity to Christmas, I should try my hand at arranging one of the many great Christmas songs, adapting its harmony to fit what I am working towards. Indeed, it poses a new challenge of adapting something that already exists to fit a new style, but it has been done before. John Coltrane famously reharmonized George Gershwin's Summertime to fit his personal style, and I am absolutely in love with that recording. One important thing to be learned from Coltrane's creation is that changing the melody can sometimes be necessary if the chords demand it. Typically, it's commonplace to leave the melody unchanged when performing a reharmonization of a famous melody, but here he changes a note towards the end of the melody, and it is pleasantly surprising.

Journal #8

Last month I began to start to experiment in more modern non-functional harmony and the corresponding arranging. To what extent can I use varied and interesting post bop type harmonic and rhythmic choices to keep an arrangement interesting for extended periods of time?

I am exploring a lot of music currently. I haven't been reading as much as I would like to - the only book I own on any subject relating to this is extremely dull and very unhelpful. I may give it another try or skip to the center, but so far it has been generalizations that don't really apply well to anything I'm working on. I have been listening to a lot of music - some of it applies very well to what I'm talking about, some of is more general big band arrangement that I listen to. Prior to and following the last project, I listened to a lot of a Wayne Shorter album called Speak No Evil. This is no doubt one of the most formative post bop albums, and I listened to it over and over at one point. It's incredible. With this album, I started to get a sense of post bop composition that Wayne employs wherein he creates a simple, singable melody, and embellishes it with harsh, unpredictable chords. Dynamics also play a very important part in creating tension on this album.

Another important album I have been digging into isn't post bop or especially modern, but it is very important in the history of jazz arranging. The soundtrack to Anatomy of a Murder has been on my electronic turntable these past few weeks, and I have been in awe at how unusual and interesting it was considering when it was from and whom it was for. It was composed and arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and the way the build dissonance here is fascinating - it's not like a buildup of dissonance into consonance, rather the dissonance is just present, and it sometimes works itself out and sometimes does not. Also, he likes to have a lot going on at once, like two horn lines and a soloist all building tension and creating intrigue together. It is very fun to listen to.

Sources:

Wayne Shorter. Speak No Evil, Blue Note Records, 1966.

Duke Ellington. Anatomy of a Murder, Columbia, 1959.

Journal #7

In the wee hours of the morning on Halloween, I became extremely sick. Throughout the rest of the day, I was lacking in energy, hunger, sleep, and my ability to keep down food. This project was the result of my pain and sickness. I had a little bit planned out as to the direction of the project and partially how the melody was start, but for the most part I went in with very little preparation or energy. A little over four hours later, I had completed a 30 second jazz arrangement.

This assignment I created was the perfect introduction to this genre. This is both a positive and a negative - I learned and applied the basics of post bop arranging, yet I still didn't go as in depth into post bop as I had hoped in my research process. I had picked up a few tools from some research and a massive amount of listening, but I didn't need to have a varied and diverse toolset if I only had to fill 30 seconds of music. I learned in the process of assembling this product that often doubting yourself is unnecessary to the creative process. Throughout the last project, I double checked every idea I had to make sure it sounded complete, and I believe it did. This time, I didn't doubt any of the ideas I used, and sure, while in retrospect I would have cut out the intro and had the upper voice take the melody at the very end, I don't believe it feels any less complete. I need to allow my ideas to completely form before I should judge them.

I don't think I identified my problem completely. I certainly learned some ideas to begin to tackle it. However, this is a vast genre and a whole language that I must learn the words to, and this project was me figuring out how to pronounce 'hello'. This information will be the building block with which I face the world of post bop, hopefully this time referencing more resources of note that can teach me directly. Overall, I enjoyed this project immensely, and I am very proud of the outcome. I am proud of the way the sax sounds, especially in comparison to the previous project. The amount of freedom afforded was spectacular, and I do not think I took full advantage of it to create this project. Perhaps I will use that next time to allow for multiple sections besides simply alto saxophone - arranging for different instruments is an important skill.

If you are curious as to what this project sounds like, here it is.

Journal #6

For this upcoming project, I plan to delve into the world of modern jazz harmonic language, creating a sound which I am significantly less familiar with than the sound of my previous project. I will most likely be creating a short song demonstrating this skill and this sound. I plan a much shorter song than last time, and completely through composed - meaning it does not repeat. I will not include any solos, just a bit of arranging. I'm fixing to use the instruments lying around my house, namely my alto sax, piano, and drum set to create the sound I am looking for. I plan on primarily aiming to include much curiosity and creativity in this project through the exploration of unconventional harmonic ideas. I am essentially playing with a much larger variety of harmonies with much fewer rules, so I have to try to be creative in a way I'm not all that familiar with. I'm looking forward to having a finished product, and being able to listen to hours of hard work condensed into such a tiny space. I'm also looking forward to recording the piano part, as that is a very fun thing to do after having spent so much time working with my saxophone. I dread the arranging and recording of everything else. I have been especially busy recently, so I'm not exactly filled with energy. Nonetheless, I will try my best to create the kind of music that I like to listen to.

Here's an example in the style I want to make, using the same instrumentation that I'll be using: The Perils of Poda by Phil Woods

Journal #5

Although I can sufficiently arrange three voice harmony, I still lack the knowledge to arrange things without sounding either old fashioned. I am essentially relegated to a somewhat outdated sound. I would like to create arrangements that sounds modern, which is something that I currently can't do. As someone that will have to arrange for groups playing jazz fusion and post bop (two genres of jazz which to some degree abandon the standard chordal and harmonic structure of straight ahead jazz) I will definitely need to have other arranging techniques under my belt. I know this is a problem because I have tried to arrange for these styles, and it comes out sounding uncharacteristic.

My best source of information is the book Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles by Ken Pullig and Ted Pease, which I found the introduction to free of charge through Google Books. I realize this is a phenomenal resource, and I am definitely planning on acquiring it. A good point it brings up at first is that the more trad jazz stylings are founded upon tertian harmony (harmony build on 3rds), while much of modern jazz emphasizes the use of quartal harmony (harmony built upon fourths) and certain modal techniques (modes, in short, are collections of scales outside of simple major and minor). This is a great starting point, as I now know where to look next. It also brought to my attention the importance of testing out a technique once you've learned it, even if it is just a few measures. This seems like a great idea, and I will certainly use that as a technique to make sure I am familiar with the techniques I learn.

This post bop centric approach of working towards quartal and modal harmony in my voicings seems to be the best step forward. Focusing on different types of harmony, working through them, and incorporating them into my arranging is logical and most likely useful. The next logical step to ask how one uses these harmonies in a way that sounds interesting and varied, which is something I hope to learn in the coming weeks.

Here's an example of the style of arranging I hope to learn about: A Shade of Jade - Joe Henderson. This song is an example of post bop, a style that rose into prominence in the mid to late 60's and continues to be a very important style to this day, with musicians like Kenny Garrett, Tom Harrell, and Joe Lovano continuing to play post bop.

Journal #4

In the days leading up to the fateful weekend, I had discovered a love of bossa nova. I don't quite know what it was - my best guess is the changing of the season spurred a change of taste. I had decided for my first escapade into three voice harmony that I would also write and record the song myself. At the time, I had presumed I was skilled enough at saxophone, piano, drums, and bass that I would have no trouble writing, arranging, learning, recording, and mixing a six part jazz ensemble in five days. In retrospect, particularly when writing the previous sentence, I realize the entire project might have been a bit too ambitious.

I began with the composition process. I knew I wanted to create an Afro-Brazilian inspired tune after having fallen in love with the music. Here, my primary influence was a man named Antônio Carlos Jobim, an extremely influential Brazilian composer and musician who helped to create the sound of bossa nova. On such a time crunch, I decided to create a partial contrafact (a song which uses the chords of another song) of Jobim's most famous song, entitled The Girl from Ipanema. This is the second most recorded song of all time, only after Paul McCartney's Yesterday. The song is an AABA form, in which the song repeats a first segment (A) twice, goes to the bridge (B), and then returns to that primary segment (A). For this recording of my composition, I went through the form twice, with the second time being primarily populated by the piano solo. I decided to delay thinking about three part harmony until after I had written the song, as I didn't want to be restricted by my arranging abilities. In total, this writing process took around 20 minutes or so.

I began to plan my arrangement, based partially on the video in Journal #3. The utilization of the concepts in that video taught me a few things. Firstly, if the melody leaps, so should the other voices. Secondly, voice leading in the harmony is especially important when the melody is static/moving by step. I used almost entirely close voicing save for one moment. In terms of the process for arranging, I partially relied upon the resources in the video, although I sometimes deviated to appease my ear. I began on a diminished chord. I stole the idea from another Jobim original, called Corcovado, wherein he lands on an Fdim7 before resolving to an Fmaj7. In my mind, it was a solution to the problem creating interesting motion with the melody being relatively uninteresting. Also, the middle saxophone plays the melody at the end of the second A. This was in an effort to create some more interest, as it sounds (at least to my ear) appealing when the melody comes from an unexpected place.

Next, began the recording process. It was a little complicated, but essentially I played the arrangement on piano and doubled it with the other instruments. I quickly abandoned the idea of me playing bass guitar due to my love of upright bass, so instead I opted to use a synthesizer. I also quickly realized just how lacking my skills on saxophone were. On Saturday alone, I spent upwards of four hours playing sax, and I barely got past the first A section. This was the largest cause of panic. I hadn't played saxophone in many months, and returning to it proved both difficult and painful. By the end of the first day, I had a line imprinted on my lips from where the mouthpiece sat. By the second day, I began to find cuts on the inside of my lips, and found difficulty chewing food. The recording was most time consuming and painful, and I can't count the amount of times I used the saxophone to scream.

I spent the majority of both Saturday and Sunday, as well as a few hours on Tuesday to record, edit, and mix the song. Overall, this project took around 10-12 hours of work. I am somewhat disappointed with the final product, partially due to the absurd amount of time I spent on it. I believe if my lack of technical skill on saxophone hadn't gotten in the way, I could have created a vastly higher quality product. However, I believe it was a very fruitful experience, and I learned very much about the nature of arranging with three voices. I call it: At Home With Three Horns Am I. I have never been especially gifted with titles, as you can see.

Journal #2

What arranging techniques exist for three voice harmony?

Although not nearly as flashy or full-sounding as four or five voice harmony, three voice harmony is incredibly useful. Three voices meana three different musicians (most likely trumpet, tenor sax, and trombone/alto sax) are playing the melody and harmony together. The bassist generally covers the lowest voice of the chord (which is typically the root), so the three voice arrangement has to fill in everything else. One might think the fewer the voices, the easier the arranging. However, with fewer voices, you can't simply give every horn player a note from the chord. Most chords have too many notes, and the melody, taken by the highest voice (generally a trumpet), might make it difficult for the other voices to remain more static. In harmony, generally the less each voice is moving around, the better. This is called voice leading.

Three voices is the most pressing to me as a couple reasons. As previously stated, it's pretty hard. In addition, I have little to no experience with it, as you rarely use only three notes at a time on piano. Perhaps most importantly, I have a group that sometimes plays with three horn players. I have been finding difficulties trying to adapt what I already know to three voices. Learning to create solid and nice sounding arrangements for my friends is a great and potentially very enlightening pursuit.

For those of you who do not listen to jazz, you may be unfamiliar with three voice harmony. Here are some of my favorite examples:

Freddie Freeloader - This is a Miles Davis original, which appeared on the most famous and best selling jazz record of all time. This tune features Miles Davis (trumpet, composer, arranger), Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone), and John Coltrane (tenor saxophone). Listen to how each voice is moving very little, creating a smooth sound overall.

I Remember Clifford - This is a tribute to Clifford Brown, the great trumpet player who passed away at only 25 in a car accident. This recording features Lee Morgan (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto saxophone), and Benny Golson (tenor saxophone, composer, arranger) Listen to how the harmony and melody move independently, creating a strong focus on the trumpet.

Dizzy's Business - This tune is by Ernie Wilkins, and written for Dizzy Gillespie. This recording features Nat Adderley (trumpet), Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone), and Yusef Lateef (tenor saxophone). Listen to how all three horns only play in harmony some of the time, creating emphasis on the areas where the play in unison.

Journal #1

The importance of an education in an artform cannot be understated. All art is derivative to some degree. Understanding other artists choices and influences can make you both a better consumer of art and a more confident artist yourself. This is partially why I want to study jazz theory and arranging - to better my listening and creating skills through analysis and study. That's not to say that I wish to study this topic purely to foster growth. I find it fascinating to study and analyze how things are created, and music is certainly no exception. I have been informally figuring things out that I like on the piano since as long as I can remember, so the only logical step forward is a more formal academic setting.

In terms of sources, there are so many great ones I've found. Recently, I have been reading Sami Linna's Thesis on the late McCoy Tyner's important and thoughtful use of the dominant chord, especially within the confines of modal jazz. It focuses on his playing and harmony mainly from his time playing within the John Coltrane Quartet, and draws very interesting conclusions on the nature of tension and release within modal contexts.

I have many crucial questions that I would hopefully like to answer at some point in the near future.

• How exactly would you arrange a five piece sax soli? Would you exclusively use George Shearing's locked hand technique or are there other options available?

• How do you utilize drop 2 voicings in an interesting and mobile setting? How could you use the voicings to accompany or even include the melody?

• What are upper structures, and how do you use them on other chords besides the dominant in an interesting way?

• How do you arrange pattern based lines for multiple horns, similar to how Oliver Nelson does it?

• How can inner voice movement be utilized, and what effect can it create?

• What arranging techniques exist for three voice harmony? How do you arrange for a three horn combo? How do you arrange for a two voice combo?