Build
Your Own
Jazz
David
Gueulette
Combo
Ashbury College
Ottawa, ON
Why a Jazz
Combo?
• Helps to strengthen your jazz band by
developing a strong core of improvisors
• Can become self directed, thereby taking
the onus off you
• Highly “transportable”. Great for taking out
into the public and promoting your
program.
• It’s fun!!
Instrumentatio
n
• 1 to 4 horns: Good combinations include
tpt/alto, tpt/tenor, alto/tenor, tpt/alto/tenor,
tpt/alto/tenor/trombone
• Bass: An upright is great, but an electric
will do
• ONE chordal instrument: piano or guitar
• Drums
Listening,
Listening
• Get at least one recording of each tune
you are working on
• Students should know (and have listened
to) at least five players of their instrument
• A great way to develop a sense of style
and generate improvisation ideas
• iTunes and emusic.com are great (and
inexpensive) resources
Reperto
ire
Pre-published or
design your own?
Jazz Combo
Paks
• Hal Leonard: arr Frank
Mantooth
• Parts for C, Eb, Bb, BC
• Fully notated parts for
piano, bass, and drums
• Three-part arrangements
• Scales for improvisation
included
• Includes CD
• 30+ volumes published,
each with 4 tunes
• Tunes are often too
difficult for beginners
The Real
Easy Book
• Sher Music: Stanford Jazz
Workshop
• Published for C, Eb, Bb, BC.
• Most tunes work well with
beginners
• Include sample bass lines,
piano voicings,and guitar
voicings
• Scales for improvisation
• Two volumes available
• Melody only, no arrangement,
backgrounds, etc
• No CD Included
• Paino voicings are sparse
• Bass Line is repetitive
The Real
Easy Book
Real/Fake
Books
• Huge library of tunes
• Usually published for
C, Bb, Eb and BC
• Price ranges vary
• Contains only melody
and chord changes
• No recordings
Whats The
Form?
• Intro: last four bars, drum set-up, rhythm
section only
• Head In: Once or twice, harmonized,
backgrounds
• Solos: one or two choruses, backgrounds,
trade fours (with drums)
• Head Out:
• Ending: tag the last four
Improvisation
• Keep it simple: start with tunes that require only one (or two) scales
• The blues scale works well on blues tunes and a number of other
simple tunes
• Gets students up and running quickly
• Does NOT teach students to listen
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Blues Scale
Tunes
Blue Monk (Bb)
Tenor Madness (Bb)
Bessie’s Blues (Eb)
Sonnymoon for Two (Bb)
Now’s The Time (F)
Mercy, Mercy (Bb)
Doxy (Bb)
Watermelon Man (F)
Song For My Father (F)
Equinox (C)
Blue Trane (Eb)
Other
Scales
Other Simple
Tunes:
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Black Orpheus: A dorian
Impressions: D dorian and Eb dorian
So What: D dorian and Eb dorian
Blue Bossa: C dorian and Db Major
Dear Old Stockholm: D aeolian, F major, C
mixolydian (all versions of the same scale)
• St. Thomas: C pentatonic
Improvis
ation
Resourc
es
Jamey
Aebersold
• Countless volumes of
tunes and exercises.
• Comes with play
along CD
• Cannot change speed
or key
• Many volumes are
beyond beginning
improvisers
Band
In
A
Box
• PG Music
• Comes with a huge library of
pre-programmed tunes, styles,
solos, harmonizations
• Easy to program your own
tunes and input melodies
• Speed up, slow down, change
keys
• Easy to generate lead sheets
• Export to CD or MP3
• Lists for around $80.00
Band
In
A
Box
SmartMusic
• Intelligent Accompaniment
• Large library of preprogrammed jazz tunes
• Works well with Abersold.
• Allows tempo and key
changes.
• Melody lines not included
• Recording allows export to
MP3
• Requires annual subscription
fee ($60.00)
• Difficult to create your own files
(requires Finale)
SmartMusic
creating
Your Own
• Writing
bass lines
Arrangements
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Writing piano voicings
Ideas for Drumming
Playing The Head
Guide Tone Writing
Walking Bass
Lines
• Play the root of the chord at the change (sometimes the third).
• Try to connect across the bar lines with a whole or half step.
• Avoid leaps across bar lines (except for 5ths and octaves)
• Use chord and scale tones to “connect the dots”
Walking Bass
Lines
• Major 7th: Major Scales
• Dominant 7th: Mixolydian Scales
• Minor 7th: Dorian or Aeolian Scales
Latin Bass
Lines
• Latin bass lines are easier to write, and easier for students to learn.
Use mostly roots and fifths.
Piano
Voicings
• “Beginning” jazz pianists will not know how to voice chords
• Voicing in 4ths is very effective
• Major 7th chords: voice down in perfect 4ths from the root or the fifth
• Dominant 7th chords: voice the treble down in perfect 4ths from the
root or fifth, use the 3rd and 7th in the bass.
Piano
Voicings
• Minor 7th chords: voice down in perfect 4ths from the third, or voice
down in perfect 4ths from the root with 3rd and 7th in the bass.
• When writing a progression, keep common tones in the same voice.
Comping:
• When writing piano for piano, just provide the basic voicing. Avoid
writing rhythms.
• Instead, provide a list of “suggestions”. Allows students to develop a
better sense of time and style.
• Basic voicings become:
Working With
The Drums
• The Essential Equipment: Ride cymbal, high hat, snare drum.
• The basic swing pattern: quarter notes line up with the bass line.
• Most drummers overuse the stock pattern: Booooooring!
• Mix up the ride cymbal pattern:
Playing The
Head
• Many tunes in fake books are written with very straight or nonswinging rhythms.
• Syncopation: Accenting beats other than the fake book version.
Playing The
Head
• Some standard alterations
There Will
Never Be
There Will
Never Be
Writing
Backgrounds
• Guide Tones: Use 3rds and/or 7ths of the chord. Works best with
standard type chord progressions.
• Can be smooth or rhythmic:
Doxy
Print
Music
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Retails for $80.00
Up to 24 staves
Part Extraction
Numerous templates
Easy to use
Free Version: Finale
NotePad
Whats
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On
CD
Blue Monk
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Equinox
Doxy
Blue Bossa
Birk’s Works
Dear Old Stockholm
Song For My Father
PP Presentation
Desert Island list of Jazz CDs.
the
Internationa
l Association
for Jazz
Education
January 9 – 12 , 2008
th
th
Toronto,ON
www.iaje.org
Questions,
comments,
suggestions,
complaints?
dgueulette@ashbury.ca