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Has anyone come across the big band score for "April in Paris" arrangement by Dave Barduhn? Published by Kay Duke Music & Giocca Morra Music.
The last two lines (on the second page) have guitar chords marked
Eb/Db7, Db/B7, Db/B7 and B/A7
Can anyone explain what is meant by this?
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10-27-2025 08:47 AM
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Can you post a picture? That’s not how slash chords work.
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When you say the last two lines on the second page it sounds like you’re referencing the guitar part, not the conductor’s score. There’s no way to tell what you’re looking at unless you take a photo of it and upload it for us to see. Most likely it’s something pretty straightforward.
Originally Posted by ricobasso
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Looking at the score where those mystery chords are (and the score is pretty blurred on my laptop), there's no piano, the bass is playing root and some times the 5th of the lower of the slash chords and the trombones (which are in concert) seem to be playing notes of the upper triad. It's too late here in the UK to check out the saxes, can't keep my eyes open or think about what they are pitching!
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Here you are: aprilinparis.pdf
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There is a slash chord at bar 12, F-7/Bb (which is really a Bb7sus4 in terms of the voicing, even if the harmonic intent is F-7). That one's easy.
Then there are bars 68, 70 and 72 which appear to be polychords: triads over a tetrad (Eb over Db7, Db over Bb7, B over A7) which are not playable on guitar IMHO. Could be intended as a specific top note over the tetrad? The arranger clearly knows how to write a slash chord, so I don't think that's what these are- and it voice leads badly. I can't imagine a professional arranger intending that.
If they are polychords, then the question is what's the more important set of notes: the ones on top or the ones on the bottom? For the former you could play an Eb triad over a Db, a Db triad over a Bb (in other words, a Bbmin7) and a B triad over an A. But that sounds awful.
Given that it's a standard and a big band arrangement, I'd make my life simple and just play the bottom chords: Bbmaj7 Db7 C7 B7 Bbmaj7 which is a pretty standard turnaround. If the bandleader doesn't like it, they'd tell me.
Last edited by Cunamara; 10-28-2025 at 12:15 AM.
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We play a hip, modern big band arr. of AIP by Bob Mintzer that features the guitar playing the melody all alone in octaves.
It's done as a bossa nova.
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Yes that's it - page 30 of that pdf. Originally Posted by garybaldy
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Thanks Cunamara. I was going through the same thought processes but, being entirely self taught, it's good to know there wasn't some notation convention I was not aware of. Originally Posted by Cunamara
There is a slash chord at bar 12, F-7/Bb (which is really a Bb7sus4 in terms of the voicing, even if the harmonic intent is F-7). That one's easy...
...Given that it's a standard and a big band arrangement, I'd make my life simple and just play the bottom chords: Bbmaj7 Db7 C7 B7 Bbmaj7 which is a pretty standard turnaround. If the bandleader doesn't like it, they'd tell me.
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Looking at the chart that garybaldy shared.... Originally Posted by ricobasso
Eb/Db7 = (Db7) Db-F-Ab-Cb(B) + (Eb) Eb-G-Bb = Db13#11
Bass is arpeggiating a Db triad.
I'd probably play Bmaj7#5.
C#(Db)/B7 = (B7) B-D#-F#-A + (C#) C#-E#-G# + B#(C) = B13#11(b9)
(Guitar melody note is C natural, which implies C#maj7)
Bass is playing B. I'd play C#maj7 or C#maj7#5
B/A7 = (A7) A-C#-E-G + (B) B-D#-F# = A13#11
Bass is playing A.
I suspect the arranger is unfamiliar with the guitar and so doesn't know how to write for it. In my college jazz band I occasionally saw charts such as this, you have to translate and abbreviate the chords.
You'd have to analyze the horn parts to know precisely which chords will sound best, but I would make the top note of the slash chord my melody note. Originally Posted by Cunamara
That is: Eb/Db7, put Bb on top; Db/B7 calls for C on top - so try Db13, B7b9, A13.
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I think the arranger wrote the slash chords backwards.
Mick is taking a typo and forcing it to work, don't do that. No arranger is calling for 6 note chords on a guitar in a big band. Context matters.
From this
Eb/Db7, Db/B7, Db/B7 and B/A7
Assume this
Db7/Eb, B7/Db, B7/Db, A7/B
Play this
Db7, B7, B7, A7
The bass player will handle the Eb, Db, Db, and B in your chord grips.
Slash chords are written as chord/bass the arranger did bass/chord.
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More than one way to solve a problem.
I did think about the possibility of the polychords being inverted slash chords, as Allen says; however, the arranger had done a slash chord properly earlier in the chart.
I would stand by my earlier suggestion and even extend it: I'd play the Bbmaj7 Db7 C7 B7 Bbmaj7 cadence and I'd only play the notes on the D G B strings to stay out of the way of the other instruments. Also, in two of those bars it appears the guitar is playing a single note rhythm figure, which makes it even easier. It is often better to play fewer notes in a chord than more notes.
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Yes, the chords in question are polychords. When writing a polychord the two chords are written one on top of the other with a horizontal line dividing them. Earlier in the chart he writes some slash chords with a diagonal line that denote the chord/bass note. Writing this way makes it clear what the writer’s intent is.
There’s two schools of thought for writing chords for guitar in big band charts. One is to simplify the harmony down to what you want the guitar to actually play. The other is to write everything that is happening harmonically in the chart and let the guitarist figure out what is best of them to play. No one is expecting the guitarist to play polychords.
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But if you look at the score the bass is playing notes of the Db7 B7 B7 and A7. Take a look at it. I've posted a link to the score. I also got as far as looking at the trombone parts late last night and posted that they are playing notes of the 'upper' part of the slash chords ie the Eb Db Db and B. Please take a look at the trumpet and sax parts and tell us what notes they are playing. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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No, it's true the arranger doesn't appear to know how to write proper slash chords but he could not be so clueless as to invert them, and as garybaldy said in the previous post, the bass player is playing the root or root-3rd-5th of each dominant 7th chord. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
I certainly wouldn't ignore the top triad of these slash chords, he spells out their notes in the lead line written for the guitar part, emphasizing notes Bb & C - Bb is the 13th of Db7, C is the b9th of B7, etc. A particular series of chord voicings is suggested, however ineptly named.
The problem is that slash chord nomenclature has not been standardized, but I'd interpret this arranger as meaning: Eb/Db = Eb triad over a Db chord, Db/B (should be C#/B) = C# triad over B chord, etc. (except that he wrote C in the melody which implies an altered maj7 chord. You could of course ignore that, in a big band, no one is going to notice that you didn't make it the melody note in your chord).
Sans an actual melodic line, I'd interpret that as meaning the arranger wants that note to be the top (melody) note of your chord voicing. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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I played what I wrote out and it was cromulent. I'm trying to help out someone who is already confused and you guys are painstakingly over-complicating this.
Get out of the weeds and play the song.
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The OP was asking what was meant by the slash chords which we all have agreed aren't conventional. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
All you have done is made some assumptions which are clearly wrong, posted them and then said what you would do.
The rest of us have figured out that the bass is playing the lower part of the slash chords, and by and large, the horns are playing the upper part of the slash chords (and some notes of the lower part). So if anything the bass and guitar should stick to the lower half and leave the rest to the horns (which is essentially all the extensions and altered tones). Nothing confusing there.
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I learned a new word today, and it's a doozy. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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I have that chart and have played it a few times.
Arrangers apparently are not guitar players.
When I run into crap like that, I play what looks like a chord.
Or if I can't figure it out on the fly, I play the fump chord.
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I looked over the horn parts, as a group they are playing all the notes of the slash chords, the lower register horns are playing the bottom half of the slash chords (the dominant 7th chords) and the higher register horns are playing the upper slash chords (the triads).
So I'd just go with standard guitar 9th & 13th chords, perhaps add an altered tone, but not plain dom. 7th chords, the horns are playing those, so you should add some color.
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Oh, dear god. I wish I'd got that right away but I didn't, silly me.
OK, here's the score:
And here's the explanation (so I don't have to):
Polychords
And how to play them on guitar:
Tom Lippincott - Polychords and Slash Chords
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Why it’s written the way it is is confusing. Originally Posted by garybaldy
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Why would they only do it at the end? Originally Posted by setemupjoe
Wouldn’t the whole chart note the horn extensions if what you’re proposing is correct?
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Hence this thread. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Not at all, whoever-it-is has written them absolutely correctly. They're polychords, separated by a horizontal line, not a slash. I already knew this but I forgot. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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