The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I've been messing about recently with a good free VST plugin called SINE Player Big Band, which produces some great big band sounds. Not long ago, I recorded some tracks jamming with a friend who plays drums, and for this one I thought I'd try writing a big band arrangement and overdubbing it onto our recording. It took me ages to construct the chart around the guitar part, but I certainly learned a lot by doing it and fine-tuning the arrangement as I went along. (I also got some tips from watching those big band videos by Elliot Deutsch).

    I wrote the arrangement in an old version of Finale (PrintMusic), but I transferred it to Musescore for the video capture because it looked better.

    The initial live recording was done in a rehearsal studio, using a small Korg SOS recorder. I played my Gibson 175 through my DV Mark Little Jazz amp. (I've no idea what drums Jon used, not my area of expertise!)

    Anyway here's the result!


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Wow, excellent job, G!
    This is a very difficult thing to do since you must visualize what you want to say through the horns before you put pen to paper. As I mentioned many times on this Forum, I did all the horn arrangements for a 10-piece Jazz-Rock Big Band for years. The most difficult thing to do is to get the pacing right and blending between passages of unison and harmonic voicings. The only place I would say deserves a second look is at roughly 1:26 to 1:50 where the trumpets are following the melody line(which is a common motif in big band arrangements) and perhaps write some counterpoint/syncopation in the trumpets against the melody(using two of four trumpets) to avoid a "sing-song" impression and textural interest. This is, of course, simply a personal preference.
    Finally, for those who are not aware, this requires a very complex mindset and not all musicians are capable of this type of writing. You are a creative man, G. Kudos.
    Marinero

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    construct the chart around the guitar part
    Impressive! Lovely solo lines.

    What does that mean, above? You mean around your chordal stuff, presumably, not adjusting the guitar to the arrangement.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    Wow, excellent job, G!
    Thanks M, yes definitely a big learning curve with this, I was basically making it up as I went along! I seem to be able to come up with melodic/harmonic ideas though, a similar process to creating a good solo ‘on the fly’ I suppose.

    One problem was that I was creating an arrangement on top of an existing guitar solo, so the band had to keep out of the way of the guitar a bit - you would normally do it the other way round! i.e. write an arrangement and leave spaces for solos, or maybe write some parts in for the guitar to fit in with the band writing. The ‘Birth of the Cool’ scores I have been looking at are very instructive for this sort of approach.

    Re. creativity, I have to try or I get bored!

    Anyway I’ll definitely do some more like this, it’s really interesting to do.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    Impressive! Lovely solo lines.

    What does that mean, above? You mean around your chordal stuff, presumably, not adjusting the guitar to the arrangement.
    Thanks! No, what I meant was that the guitar solo came first - it was just a recording of a jam session, at the time I had no intention of doing anything more with it.

    So when I decided to write the arrangement, it kind of limited what I could do to some extent. I would have liked to write more complex band parts perhaps, but I tried this and it just sounded messy (conflicting with the guitar lines). So then I had to find ways to keep the band parts fairly simple but also varied enough to hold interest. So mainly I wrote chord pads and lines behind the guitar, or in some places I made the band mimic what the guitar was playing.

    But it was just an experiment really. Next time I do one, I’ll write the arrangement first and include space for a solo, and some written lines for the guitar, in such a way that the band parts can be more complex.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Thanks M, yes definitely a big learning curve with this, I was basically making it up as I went along! I seem to be able to come up with melodic/harmonic ideas though, a similar process to creating a good solo ‘on the fly’ I suppose.

    One problem was that I was creating an arrangement on top of an existing guitar solo, so the band had to keep out of the way of the guitar a bit - you would normally do it the other way round! i.e. write an arrangement and leave spaces for solos, or maybe write some parts in for the guitar to fit in with the band writing. The ‘Birth of the Cool’ scores I have been looking at are very instructive for this sort of approach.

    Re. creativity, I have to try or I get bored!

    Anyway I’ll definitely do some more like this, it’s really interesting to do.
    Hi, G,
    This type of writing is progressive and the more you write . . . the more your ideas will change in re: accompaniment to an instrumentalist. There is an excellent book that I highly recommend that I used to great benefit during my arranging years: "The Professional Arranger and Composer"* by Russell Garcia. It is a virtual treasure-trove for the serious writer and the examples are easily understood and explained to someone with a good background in Theory. Good luck, G!
    Marinero


    *
    The Professional Arranger & Composer Book 1


  8. #7

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    We saw Brian Seltzer’s Christmas Special and got there early. This is a 20 piece orchestra with lots of horns. Just before the show Brian came out and placed new music sheets on each of the horn players stands. I could see hand written notes. That’s when my estimation of Mr. Seltzer went through the roof as I realized this rock-a-billy has music professor skills of composition.

    My hat is off to you Mr. Bop.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    Hi, G,
    This type of writing is progressive and the more you write . . . the more your ideas will change in re: accompaniment to an instrumentalist. There is an excellent book that I highly recommend that I used to great benefit during my arranging years: "The Professional Arranger and Composer"* by Russell Garcia. It is a virtual treasure-trove for the serious writer and the examples are easily understood and explained to someone with a good background in Theory. Good luck, G!
    Marinero


    *
    The Professional Arranger & Composer Book 1

    thanks, will check it out.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Thanks! No, what I meant was that the guitar solo came first - it was just a recording of a jam session, at the time I had no intention of doing anything more with it.

    So when I decided to write the arrangement, it kind of limited what I could do to some extent. I would have liked to write more complex band parts perhaps, but I tried this and it just sounded messy (conflicting with the guitar lines). So then I had to find ways to keep the band parts fairly simple but also varied enough to hold interest. So mainly I wrote chord pads and lines behind the guitar, or in some places I made the band mimic what the guitar was playing.

    But it was just an experiment really. Next time I do one, I’ll write the arrangement first and include space for a solo, and some written lines for the guitar, in such a way that the band parts can be more complex.
    Ah, I see. Cart before the horse! The beauty, of course, is that you're in charge of the whole thing... I can see the need to keep the band parts simple. How do the big bands usually do it when it's soloing time? I suppose the advantage is that it makes arranging a tune for a band a lot easier.

    The idea also crossed my mind that you could play sax or trumpet solos yourself by putting the guitar through a synth.

  11. #10

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    awesome job Graham..just saw you with Added horns playing Sine....

  12. #11

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    SINE PRICING ..if you cant afford them dont ask....i cant

  13. #12

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    Sine free horns..........ORCHESTRAL TOOLS

  14. #13

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    Thanks, yes I only use the free (or cheap) stuff, can’t justify spending loads on it!

    I’m currently typing in a couple of the Birth of the Cool charts, to see what they sound like, might play one part on the guitar.

  15. #14

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    very inspiring.....lifts a backing track to another level...