New Arranging Book

[Roger Aldridge]

If anyone is interested in arranging for a jazz ensemble or for a sax section, check out this new book published by the Berklee Press. It's called Arranging for the Large Jazz Ensemble. This is one of the BEST arranging books I've seen in a very long time!

Click on this link http://www.berkleemusic.com/store/ then click on Writing and you'll see the book listed.

[gary]

Roger - are you familiar with Sammy Nestico's book, as well as Ray Wright's "Inside the Score" and Fred Sturm's book on the evolution of arranging?

If, so, could you please tell what distinguishes the Berklee book from the othere? I'm always looking for better sources. Thanks.

[Roger Aldridge]

Gary,

I haven't spent much time with the books that you listed. So, I can't give you an educated comparison. The new book from Berklee goes through basic arranging techniques like any other arranging book I've read. However, it goes beyond what I'd describe as "typical" arranging techniques into some much more interesting things. It has more about linear writing than what I've seen in most other books. It also goes into quite a bit of depth about various arranging styles. Thus, you can learn about specific things that Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, and other writers did in their writing. Recordings come with the book so that you can listen to the scores you're studying. It's definitely a good book to check out.

[gary]

Well. There goes another forty bucks! Thanks for the info, Roger. Cheers.

[Paul S]

guys, which of these is your favourite if you had to pick one "text book" to cover all bases?

thanks
Paul

[Paul S]

given the choice, I'd prefer a slant towards composing , more than arranging

[gary]

Paul - you would likely prefer William Russo's Meisterwerk. I think it's called Composing for the Jazz Orchestra...probably available from Jamie Aebersold.

[Paul S]

thanks gary.. no luck on www.jazzbooks.com - will look elsewhere

[Roger Aldridge]

Paul,

Could you please be more specific about what you're wanting to do?

Do you already have an original tune or piece that you want to score for jazz ensemble? Or, do you want to find a book to help you compose some originals? You see, these are two different things. Composition usually comes first in creating the source material, then it can be scored for a particular instrumentation. The second part is where arranging comes in.

In writing a score for a jazz ensemble there's very little difference between using an original that you've written versus a tune written by someone else. Either way, it's essentially arranging.

Whereas, the writing of an original piece is composition. One can write compositions in a lead sheet format and not think about turning them into arrangements for a particular instrumentation. See what I'm getting at?

Please understand that I'm speaking in general terms. Some of the best jazz arrangers -- Gil Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider, etc -- can take other peoples' tunes and arrange them in such a way that their arrangements are more like composition. Thus, distinctions between composition and arranging are not always clear when it comes to writing for an ensemble.

[Paul S]

thanks roger - i understand what you mean.. my primary interest is in writing original compositions. Although most of the time i could just give the lead sheet to the musos i play with, I will however occassionally also need to arrange these for smallish jazz ensmbles (eg. drums, bass. piano, guitar, sax, trumpet)

So, I'd like to understand more about arranging, but my needs are reasonably limited here. Composition is my primary interest - I'm setting up a digital studio at home and doing quite a lot of this - for myself and for some commercial projects (a jingle or two). I don't need the jazz theory 101 on chords etc, but would like some more guidence of composing, the devices, rules, structures, etc. Please remember that i am a self taught musician in both the classical and jazz spheres, I have taken quite an academic approach to my self education, but am not a berklee grad or something like that.

thanks again :)

[Roger Aldridge]

Paul,

I came out of a formal composition background (composition & arranging at Berklee, private composition study with various teachers, M.A. in comp...). However, I hardly ever do what I think of as arranging anymore. All of my originals are written in a lead sheet format. I then give the music to the guys in my group and the music evolves through a process in which everyone contributes their ideas for how to approach and perform it. This is much more fun and creative than simply passing out the music and say "Play it".

The Berklee arranging book might be helpful to you in seeing how you can explore a greater range of possibilities with your sextet. Sax, trumpet, guitar, piano, bass, and drums is a great instrumentation! It's possible to do a lot with a group like this.

Some of the topics in the book include: Basic information (info about instruments, harmony, chord scales, form, and graphing an arrangement), unison and octave writing, concerted writing with mechanical voicings, spread voicings, voicings in fourths, upper structure triad voicings, voicings in clusters, line writing (ie, linear writing in contrary motion), woodwind doubling and muted brass, soli writing, background writing, shout choruses, style (this is cool! It as the Birthday Song arranged in the styles of Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Bill Holman, and Gil Evans.), and finally the analysis of a complete arrangement. As I mentioned before, a CD comes with the book so that you can actually hear every example written in the book.

Composition is a whole other discussion! But, here are some ideas that make sense to me....

From the formal composition studies I've had I know the importance of theory & composition books, teachers, etc. However, one of the things that has been very important to me -- and something is is both traditional and fundamental to jazz -- is LISTENING to and studying the work of other composers. It's exactly the same has studying a great solo by one of your sax heros. The important thing is that you want to go beyond just the notes to getting a sense of the bigger picture of the MUSIC. Tear the music apart and look at it in different ways. Look at the form of the piece, melodic characteristics, what's being done with harmony, rhythm, etc. The idea is to see if you can get into the composer's head. It's like how Duke Ellington talked about "Breaking the code". See what I mean?

Thus, I'd suggest that you focus on the music of a few of your favorite jazz composers. Take a selection of their tunes (ones that really do it for you!), tear them apart, and see what you can learn from them.

There is no "One Way" to become a composer. Some people go the formal route with degree work and/or private study with composition teachers. This approach is extremely valuable. However, some excellent jazz composers have been largely self-taught. For example, did Monk have a composition teacher? :lol: Never the less, the one thing that all of them have in common no matter which path(s) they've taken in their development is that they LISTENED to and studied the works of other writers. Then, over the course of doing a lot of writing and paying a lot of dues, they gradually found their own voice.

Please let me know if this speaks to you or not.

[Paul S]

Roger, thank you for taking the time to give such a great answer :) much appreciated.

I hear what you're saying about the approach of working the arrangment out as a group.....don't think the guys i play with would be too pleased if i just said "play this!". I've never had to arrange for a big band, but imagine this is where a more formal "parts" based approach is needed. This is interesting to me, but not priority for my current development plans.

The approach of tearing a tune apart and figuring out what would happen if you change a chord, melody, rhythm etc is pretty much how I've started out compositions.... take a nice chord progression, play with it and the rhythm...once i've got something nice, i find a melody. Other times, I find a nice line and then work the harmony and rhythm around that. I enjoy this approach, and while I'm probably writing remedial stuff by your standards, its enjoyable and I'm starting to get a few nice tunes out. I've been playing with BIAB and Cakelwalk Sonar, so I can hear the ideas. (what do u use, just the piano or sax or are u into the software route?). If this approach is sound, then I think I'll just stick with it, although a decent text book to broaden my mind would be nice at some stage.

thanks again, have a great weekend 8)

[Roger Aldridge]

Paul,

It sounds like you have a method that's working for you. So, more power to you bro!

You might be able to find a book that can give you some ideas for trying different things. Do you have a good music or book store in your area that has a selection of composition books? If so, I'd suggest that you spend a little time flipping through some of the books and see if you find one that looks interesting to you. Another thought is to see what books the local colleges are using in their music departments.

I just use a piano and pencil & paper for my writing.

[Paul S]

unfortunately music books in shop (or any musical equipment for sax) is rare here in South Africa.

I think I'll keep doing what I'm doing and have a browse next time I'm in the US or Europe. I agree that there's no substitute for flipping through a few to get a fix on which is best for you.

That said, I did just order Patterns for Jazz, Jazz Conception by Jim Snidero and Jerry Bergonzi's Pentatonics volume from JazzBooks :) That should keep me out mischief for a while......maybe :twisted: