How do I simplify this chord progession? I'm in a high school jazz band btw

[Tp666]

[Christian Miller]

That’s a decent chart.

My advice would be to play guide tones (3rd and 7th) as much as possible.

The pencilled in chord shapes show that you (or the teacher) are thinking along those lines. I’d just play the notes on the 3rd and 4th strings.

Ignore the bass notes on any slash chords.

Beyond that, I don’t think you can simplify the chord progression really, that stuff is all very much part of the arrangement . But there’s a lot of parallel chromatic movements which are at least straightforward to play.

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[setemupjoe]

Concentrate on the chord rhythms to begin with. Maybe just play the root notes of the chords in rhythm so you get used to the syncopation. Once you’re comfortable with that use small shapes of two or three notes. Don’t feel pressured to include all the color notes for larger chords. Like Christian said, the 3 and 7 are the main notes you need.
Also, I can’t see the DS sign on this chart, am I missing it? Where does the DS al coda go back to?

[pamosmusic]

Concentrate on the chord rhythms to begin with. Maybe just play the root notes of the chords in rhythm so you get used to the syncopation. Once you’re comfortable with that use small shapes of two or three notes. Don’t feel pressured to include all the color notes for larger chords. Like Christian said, the 3 and 7 are the main notes you need.
Also, I can’t see the DS sign on this chart, am I missing it? Where does the DS al coda go back to?

m. 25

[setemupjoe]

lol, thanks. That’s a tiny DS

[rpjazzguitar]

Christian's suggestion is a good way to do it.

Realize that the extensions on the chords like the #11 and #9 are in the guitar chart because the horns are playing them.

The guitar doesn't have to play them, although it will sound fine if you do. What seeing a #9, for example, tells you is not that you have to play a #9, but rather that you shouldn't play a natural 9 there because it will conflict.

So you could play just 3rds and 7ths, but I think you can add some extensions in without too much difficulty.

Take the first chord, for example. Gm7. In pencil there's a chord form which is a G Bb F. Root, b3 and b7. That will work fine. But, to simplify it, you could play a three string barre chord at the 3rd fret. xx333x (that's fret number, low E to high E). One finger. It's F Bb D. There's no G, but the bassist is very likely to play the G, so between bass and guitar, the entire chord is heard.

The next chord is F#m7 which is the same thing a fret lower. You'll probably recognize it as a cowboy A chord. The bassist's F# will make it an F#m7. After that, it's a B9. All you do is lower the note on the D string. xx122x. That's D# A C#. 3 7 and 9. Then two more m7's playable with one finger.

Next is Cm9, which is playable as xx133x, meaning you raise two notes from the B9 a half step each.

At that point there is a B13. The 13th is a G#. You could play the usual form at the 7th fret. Or you could play the 9th chord at the first fret and grab the 13th with your pinkie. But, to my ear, that G# is too high to go smoothly with the chords I already suggested. And, if you lower it an octave it may not give the right sound.

So, the best choice may be to simply ignore the 13th. A horn will be playing it. Play it as another 9th. Let me know if anybody complains, but I don't think they will.

That's the approach I would take -- and this is exactly the kind of chart I play with a big band every Monday. You'll need a handful of additional chord forms. I won't go through them all, but for one more example, take Ebmaj7 to Eb6. That's a common move. It could be played at the 11th fret in common grips. Or you could play xx133x to xx131x. That keeps you in the same area of the neck. Or you could pick a spot to play 3rd and 7 for Ebmaj and 3 and 6 for Eb6.

Overall, the points are 1. you don't have to play full chords. 2. You don't have to play extensions, although you can 3. It's very helpful to know the notes in the chords and where they all are on the neck.

Good luck!

[Mick-7]

This may help, it's from the Colorado Cookbook fake book:

[Christian Miller]

This may help, it's from the Colorado Cookbook fake book:

It’s a big band chart, not a jam session


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[Bobby Timmons]

Welcome to the forum.

What Christian and setemupjoe said. You can't simplify the chords or you'll be messing with the arrangement. With the exception of ignoring the slashes. Chord inversions in an ensemble are created by the bass. Just get the rhythms down with as basic of voicings as you can - 3rd and 7th, even the bass note as a beginning exercise as was stated. That's a pretty straight forward chart, you'll want to just get it right.

[Mick-7]

It’s a big band chart, not a jam session.

Yeah, I know, but knowing the basic harmony can often help one decipher alterations of it.

[ragman1]

Tp666 -

I think that's a horrendously difficult chart to give someone who doesn't even know shell voicings (3-note chords). Mind you, the first bit is an intro. After that (starting with EbM9, bar 41) it eases up a bit.

I agree with Christian, just play shells. Are you supposed to read those rhythm slashes as well?

Mind if I ask how old you are and how long you've been playing, etc, etc?

[rpjazzguitar]

One thing that's a little less common is that there are very few slash marks in this chart, compared to what I've seen as typical.

Instead, the arranger is telling you when to hit those chords. That needs to be followed to get it to sound like what the arranger wanted. Not trivial reading, but if you don't have to sightread it 3 seconds after somebody gives you the chart, you can figure it out, if you know how to read syncopated 8th notes. That said, a pro level player would be able to sight read this.

Slash marks by the way, apparently mean "comp appropriately" (I asked a big band arranger and that's what he said he meant by them). My experience is that nobody complains about the rhythm you use. The best way to generate a complaint is to play too loud. Second best way is to play too soft.

[Mick-7]

Actually, this is an easy chart to condense....

(1) There are a lot of half-step chord movements: Gm7 >F#m7, B13 >Bb13, Fm6 >Gm7, etc. Just move the same chord voicing up or down (e.g., Fm6 >Gm6)

(2) Skip the passing chords, like the Cm9 in bar 3, no one will miss them.

(3) Examine any altered chord progressions, there's actually only one in this chart, in bar 6 = E9#11 > Bb7#5 >Eb6/9.
What are the chord tones in those chords? E9#11 (E-G#-Bb-B-D-F#) > Bb7#5 (Bb-D-F#-Ab). They have 4 notes in common,
i.e., Ab(G#), Bb, D & F# = Bb7#5, which means the E9#11 is superfluous, just skip it or play Bm6(E9, no root) >Bb7#5 (only one note changes).

Bb7#5 > Eb6/9 is easy, for example:

6-x-6-7-7-x (Bb7#5) >> (6)-6-5-5-6-x (Eb6/9, root or 5th in bass).

4) Lots of IIm7 >V7 movements, I imagine you can handle those.

I think that about covers it. He wrote out a guitar solo, that's amusing.

[starjasmine]

The only thing I'd add is that if you are not familiar with the original tune as played by Miles Davis you might want to take a listen to that. It'll help you to distinguish between the tune itself and the embellishments that the big band arrangement introduces.

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

There is a high probability that Four was written by Trane's former employer Eddie Cleanhead Vinson. Miles apparently stole quite a lot of copyright credits. Only Walkin' is credited to Richard Carpenter, Miles' pusher.

[ragman1]

I'm wondering if we'll ever see Tp666 again :-)

[bluenote61]

A lot of helpful advices were given in above posts.
But OP visited the forum for the last time 1 day before the first reply was posted...

[Roger Murphy]

Hi, I like to analyse the piano part - see

- to then sync in a guitar part.

For example, looking at the first six (6) bars/measures, for Gmi7 I would play the same F and Bb notes (being the b7 and b3) as shown in the piano part. On the guitar, this would be x88xxx. Sticking fairly closely to the lower chordal notes in the piano part: F#mi7 is x77xxx. Fm7 is x66xxx. B9 and B13 is x67xxx. Cmi9 is x68xxx. Bb13, Bb9 and Bb+7 is x56xxx. E9#11 is also x56xxx. Finally Eb6/9 is x65xxx, being the root and third of the chord.

I need to point put that this is just my approach, and it certainly would not be for everyone. It is also somewhat time-consuming.That said, I enjoy taking an analytical approach, as it helps me write guitar parts that work for me (and hopefully the big band I play with).

Anyway, I hope you found this post of some interest and that you are progressing well in playing the guitar part in 'Four'.

[Tp666]

We ended up only playing 2 songs which I just played shell chords for, I practiced a lot of other songs too and yea they really aren’t that hard lol, I even had a solo in one too.

[Tp666]

That being said I’ve still been playing guitar for 2 years, just not as much jazz, but I’m taking lessons now for jazz guitar lol.

[Bobby Timmons]

Keep at it.

[kris]

I've played in several jazz big bands and I don't see what's difficult....
You need to know chords and read written rhythms well....
Good Luck
Kris

[Christian Miller]

I mean I don’t see what’s difficult either but in fairness I have been doing it for thirty years


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[kris]

Difficulties may arise in the case of the correct playing style... but this is another serious topic and related problems.
Does the rhythm section have a piano?
You have to be careful here....

[bluenote61]

Does the rhythm section have a piano?
You have to be careful here....

Arranging with a piano player may get more complicate than any sophisticated chord chart...