JAZZ & ROCK & ROLL HORNS A simple approach to arranging horn
s for your jazz or rock&roll band
Introduction Two part writing Three part writing Four & Five part writing Passing chords A few tricks Chart layout Transposing & preparing parts Range of instruments Articulations & dynamic markings
JAZZ & ROCK & ROLL HORNS I know many of you would love to add horns to your band or srcinal music, and would like a simple, straight forward approac h. After looking around on the web for any information or tutorials on writing for specifically a “horn section,” I found very little, and what I did find was in bits and pieces. Having a horn section in your rock, R&b, or jazz group ca n really enhance your music, and add to your live performance. How many times have I heard, “I love hor ns” when folks in the crowd see my trumpet and sax player setting up t heir gear.
This tutorial will start with writing a 2 part ar rangement for trumpet and tenor sax or flugelhorn and flute. We will then move on to 3 part writing for trumpet, tenor sax, and trombone, and eventually 4 and 5 part writing. As we move along, it will be necessary for us to get into a little more advanced harmony. We will also cover chart preparation. How to transpose for the different instruments and the best way to lay out your chart. In addition, we will cover dynamic markings, articulat ions, DSs, codas, and rehearsal marks . These are all very important elements so that your arrangement will get played properly without wasting precious rehearsal or studio time. Some knowledge of chords and harmony will be helpful and there are some websites out there that can help you with t hat. If you’re just sta rting out with reading and notating music, you r horn players can also help you get through this hurdle. Most horn players are brought up reading music, and by working together you can make it happen. My goal is to keep lean and to the point. We are going to only cover material that is necessary for you to accomplish your goal as a band leader or singer songwriter. My old teacher back in the day use to say, “it ain’t rocket science.” And he was right, it ain’t.
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WRITING F OR 2 P ART HORNS I currently have two horns in my jazz group, trumpet and tenor sax, so let’s get started there. Writing for 2 horns is much different then writing for 3, 4, or 5 h orns, and not for the obvious reason. In some respects larger groups are easier to write for, depending on style. Y our ideas fo r your arrangement will be determined b y how many horns you are writing for. Before you start writing your arrangement, be set on your chord changes. The chords for your song will dictate your voicings. When writing for any combination of brass or wind instruments you always want to voice from t he top down. In many cases this would be the trumpet part. In many situations, you will write for trumpet and tenor sax in octaves, par ticularly when the trumpet is playing in its higher register , above the staff. Harmonizing the trumpet wih a tenor instrument only a 3rd down would sound thin, so octaves are your best bet. For the most part, if your trumpet, is in the upper part of its range, use intervals, and switch your sax to an alto or soprano. Don’t forget, 4th and 5th intervals can be very nice and have a modern or exotic flavor, and work well for both rock and jazz .
Trumpet and tenor sax can sound really fat in the staff playing octaves or unison in the middle of their range. I heard a horn section that was trumpet, trombone, and baritone sax, a nd the trumpet never played out of the staff. With the bone and bari sax it sounded big and fat. High is not always better .
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SUGAR, Stanley Turrentine
4ths
Octaves
4ths EXAMPLE #1. Above, is an example of a 2 part intro with trumpet and tenor sax, for the tune “Sugar .” I used octaves, thirds and fourths all written over the C7sus. A very stark idea that woks well with this tune.,
52nd Street NYC, July 1948
GREEN DOLPHIN STREET, Bronisdaw Kaper
EXAMPLE #2. An arrangement I did for “Green Dolphin Street” using 5ths. Notice in the last 2 bars it breaks into octaves for the quick 8th notes. This arrangment plays at about 140 bpm.
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GREEN DOLPHIN STREET
EXAMPLE #3. Octaves work nicely with quick 8ths and the trumpet above the staff. The last 2 bars could work in 6ths, but I decided on octaves. Either idea would work fine.
GREEN DOLPHIN STREET
EXAMPLE #4. This example is perfect for octaves with the trumpet popping a double high C. This idea plays after the DS and fills around the vocal in the last A section. Creates excitement.
NOTE: You will find the audio companion to these example on the FSM website at: http://fredstickleymusic.com/music-tutorials/
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SUGAR
EXAMPLE #5. A combination o f octaves and intervals throughout this example o “Sugar” with chord changes on every bar and the horns filing around the vocal.
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f
My trumpet player doubles o n flugelhorn and my sax player doubl es on flute. Flute and flugelhor n work well together and will giv e you a whole new color. First, I write out what my flute will play, since it’s usually the top voice, and then I’ll write the flugelhorn part under the flute, in octaves or intervals. Since your flute and flugelhorn both have a higher range than tenor instruments, you could write your 3rd and 6th intervals a lot higher in the staff. Also, prime unison and 3rds in the staff sound very nice with these two instruments. Try mixing your unisons and octaves with intervals. We’ve all h eard this done many times where the horns play a line in octaves or unison and then at the end of the phrase they will play a held note, which is then voiced in 3rds, 6th, or a 5th. Mixing things up like this is very effective, and sounds fantastic with 4 and 5 horns bursting into a bi g fat chord!
LOVELY DAY, Bill Withers
EXAMPLE #6.
Here’s an example o f flute and flugelhorn on “Lovely Day”
prime unison.
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playing in
WRITING FOR 3 PART HORNS Adding a third horn to your lineup opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You can now have triads instead of intervals, using closed and open voici ng. You can divide the horn section into two groups, working your 2 tenor instruments against your trumpet, or while one of your horns is soloing, the other two can comp in intervals.
When you start incorporating the r hythm section, with 3 horns you can mix up your orchestration a number of ways. Group your guitar or keyboard with one of your horns as one section, and have your other 2 horns a s the second section. Then have the two sections cou nter or play against each other.
THE ODD COUPLE, Neal Hefti
EXAMPLE #7. Here’s an exmple o f 3 part writing with block or closed voicing for trumpet, tenor sax, and trombone. With the trumpet (the top voice) being in the staff, this works well with two tenor instruments playing the 2 lower voices. All three play the single note at the start of each phrase.
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All 3 horns don’t always have to be playing. Your 2 tenor in struments can be active, while your trumpet is resting or tacit. And, with 3 horns there are some nice linear or contrapuntal ideas you can incor porate. If you’re writing a jazz arrangement with extended harm ony, as in, A9(+11) or A13, it can be more challenging with 3 horns than with 4 or 5. it’s obvious that you can cover more notes with 4 or 5 horns
THE ODD COUPLE ending/coda
EXAMPLE #8. With 2 part writing for 3 horns you can put the treble line in prime unison or octaves with your trumpet and sax and the trombone playing the bass clef, or you could flip the sax and bone parts, depending on the sound you want.
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THREE TIME BLUESER, Elmer Bernstein
EXAMPLE #9. This is an exam ple of 3 voices that I transcribed from a big band album by composer, Elmer Bernstein. On his srcinal version the treble line was played by trumpet and trombone and the bass clef was played by the tenor and baritone saxes. When I was putting my sextet book together for 3 horns and piano trio, I copied the orchestration of the srcinal version with just one instrument on each note, instead of the 4 or 5 in a typical big band. Currently we are doing this tune with only trumpet and sax, so I have them play the treble line, and the rhythm se ction plays the bass line.
You can orchestrate this
example numerous ways.
THREE TIME BLUESER
EXAMPLE #10. Here’s a bluesy thing in 3/4 where the trumpet and play a slightly varied idea in the treble staff with a little contrary motion.
sax
In the bass clef, the trombone is playing a 1 bar pattern with the rhythm section. For a different color you could flip the sax and trombone parts and it would still work.
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BLUESETTE, Toots Thieleman
2 Passing - Cmin7 EXAMPLE #11.
This is an example of a 3
part closed or block voicing,
with
the top note being the melody. You just voice down, following the intervals of the chord. Notice the melody notes, G & C on the 2nd beats of bars 1 & 2. They are not in a Bbmaj7 chord, but are in a Cmin7 chord, the 2 chord in the key of B b major. Using the 2 minor chord for your voicing is known as a “2 Passing Chord.”
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WRITING F OR 4 & 5 PART HORNS For me, the most fun is writing for 4 and 5 pa rts. Maybe it’s because when I first learned how to do this, I wrote for 5 saxes, and a piano trio. A typical sax section in a Big Band would be 2 altos, 2 tenors, and a Tower of Power Horns , Oregon Zoo 2007 photo by Fred Stickley
baritone.
One of the challenges in writing for 5 horns is to keep the tenor and baritone instruments in a good part of their range. If you always wrote in a block or closed voicing, your section would start to sound thin, as your top voice plays higher . You’ll find that your voicing, will open and close slightly throughout the phrase. Now let’s talk about a closed or block voicing. Simply put, it’s voiced from the top (the melody) down without skipping any of the notes in the chord. With 5 parts, the top and bottom voice will mostly be in octaves. So a Fmaj7 chord, with the melody being the A, the notes following would be, F , E, C and A again. Easy.
ALL OF ME, Gerald Marks & Seymour Simons
EXAMPLE #12. Here’s an example of block or closed voicing.
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You can open your voicing to various degrees. How high your top voice goes, will determine on how much you open the voicing. The smallest degree of “open” would be to drop the 2nd note from the t op down an octave for your lowest instru ment, and in this case the baritone sax, will then play this note. This technique is known as a “Drop 2” or “ A” voicing. See example #13 below. In bar 5 there is an “A” or “Drop 2” voicing. The Bb moves down an octave, and your bari sax will n ow blend much nicer . I did the same in bar 2 with the Cmin or the “2 passing chord,” dropping the G down an oc tave. At bar 8 I used what we call a “C Voicing.” Since they are ending the phras e with a held note, it’s a n opportunity to open t he voicing up with the lowest voice playing the root of the chord. Here we have a nice voicing of a Bb13 chord. A great, contemporary sound with “5th intervals” in the voicing. A good rule of thumb for good “voice-leading” is when the melody is moving, all the lower instr uments should be moving as well.
BLUESETTE 2 Passing
Drop 2
C Voicing
EXAMPLE #13. Here’s an example of 5 part voicing.
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This next technique I’d like to show you is similar to the Drop 2. But now we are going to drop the 2nd and 4th notes from the top down an octave. This technique is known as a “Drop 2-4” or “B” voicing. A third technique is a “C V oicing” or “Root Position.” This works well on a held note at the end of a phra se to give you a nice big open voicing, with the root on the bottom.
AROUND FOR THE FALL, Fred Stickley & Cynthia Philips
# Drop 2 & 4
C or Open voicing
EXAMPLE #14 Here’s an example of a Drop 2-4 and C voicing.
Blood Sweat &
Block or Closed Voicing
Drop 2 Voicing
Drop 2-4 Voicing
EXAMPLE #15 Here is a quick review of our voicings Closed, Drop 2, Drop 2&$, Open or C voicing.
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Tears
C or Open Voicing
simply laid out. Block or
PASSING CHORDS There are a handful of techniques you can use for passing chords. You will use p assing chords when the note in the melody your voicing is not in the chord. For example, if the chord is Cmaj7 (C, E, G, B,) a nd the note you are voicing is a D, what chord would you use to harmonize this D?
EXAMPLE #16 You could use a Bb6 chord in bea t 2 of bar 1, but your voice leading may become a problem, which would become apparent as you continue to move along t o the next voicing on beat 3 . The easiest approac h would be to use the 2 chord. In this case a Cmin7 chord.
BLUESETTE
The 2 Passing Chord
EXAMPLE #17 Another passing chord is the “Diminished Passing.” The main drawback is t hat diminished chords are a-t onal and don’t define a key-center . They are ambiguous, but they work fine if they’re surrounded by chords that do define t he key center.
COMPARED TO WHAT, Gene McDaniels
G minor 2 Passing
G minor 2 Passing
Diminish Passing
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Diminish Passing
HALF STEP SLIDE
B7
C7
B7 C7 C7
F9
B6 C6
E7 F6 E7
F7
E7 F7
Gb7 G7 Gb7 G7 Gb7 G7
EXAMPLE #18 “Half Step Slide” is just what it implies. You move your voicing half step up or down. This works great for blues, as in this example.
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a
DOLPHIN DANCE, Herbie Hancock Free Lead
EXAMPLE #19 “Free L ead” is where the top vo ice plays the melody while the lower voices play a r hythmic pad. This works great when there are quick 8th or 16th note triplets that would be too heavy t o voice for the whole sect ion. ALL OF ME
Root & 6th
Root & 13th
EXAMPLE #20. “Six
For Major 7th” is
when your root is in t
he melody and the
chord is a Major 7th or 1 chord. Your 2nd voice from the top w ould not play the major 7th, because the 1/2 step between the root and the major 7th would not sound good. You would have y our 2nd voice play the 6th for a 3rd interval on top. For a dominant 7th chord, this would be the 13th replacing the flat 7.
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CHART LAYOUT Just as important as voicings, is the “look & feel” of your chart. As an example of “Chart Layout,” I chose the song “I Love You More” because it has a lot of elements that you’ll run into when writing an individual horn part. To start, a good rule of thumb is to have 4 bars to a stave with the beginning of a musical section starting at the left end of the staff. Notice in the chart, there seems to be more than 4 bars in a lot of places. This is because this tune has musical sections that are 6 bars long instead of 4 or 8 bars. You can see in the intro that there are 8 bars, with a pickup bar at the beginning. 8 bars works great if it’s easy to read with not a zillion notes crammed toget her. “Rehearsal Marks” are vital in a rehearsal or studio session. I think it works best when the rehearsal marks are at the beginning of a muscial section. You can also number your bars, especially good for large groups. So, lets read through this song. First we play the intro straight through, then we’re on to letter “ A” where you see “V ocal In.” This is very important when working with singers. Sometimes when vocalist are focusing on doing a show, they may not come in at letter “ A.” If they don’t, just keep playing the intro until they do. When the vocalist start s to sing, you are a t letter “ A.” Letter “ A” in this case, is the first verse. Then we’re onto letter “B” for the chorus. We then see a backward facing repeat sign at the end of the staff, so we go back to the forward facing repeat sign at letter “ A” for the 2nd verse. When we hit the “repeat” after “B” the second time, we move on to the 4 bar inter lude over an Amin7 chord. Now, we’ve arrive at letter “C” the bridge. The bridge is in 2 sections, each being 16 bars long, letter “C” and letter “D.” Note the “1st and 2nd Ending” at the bottom of the page. The first time you play letter “D” you play the “1st Ending,” and the second time you play letter “D” you play the “2nd Ending.” You then move on to letters “E” and “F” for the solo over the verse and chorus changes. The next sign post is the “DS al Coda,” where you’ll skip back to the “DS ” at letter “A” for the last verse and chorus. Proceed to the first “Coda,” then jump to the second Coda. Follow the repeats and endings to the “Fermata” to end the song. You will also find alternatives to the “DS al Coda” sign post. “DC” will mean, go to the top, but there won’t be a symbol for this. Sometimes you will see “DC al Fine” which means go back to the top and play to the end.
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I LOVE YOU MORE, Fred Stickley
DS Repeats Coda Double Bar
Rehearsal Letters or Marks
1st & 2nd Endings
Repeats
DS al Coda
Repeats
1st & 2nd Endings
“Fermata” (bird’s eye) the big note at the end :)
TRANSPOSING
& PREP ARING YO UR P ARTS
I would first suggest writing your arrangement in concert pitch on a 2 stave system, treble and bass clef. Most of your big composers and conductors like to use a “transpose score,” but for starters it might be easier for you to see and learn, if you write out y our arrangement in concert pitch. Most brass and wind instruments are not written in “Concert.” When someone speaks of “Concert” pitch, that’s the actual note we hear. Make sure to write out all your chord symbols above the bar, so you can see what you’re voicing to. Key Signature When copying your charts, the first thing you need to do when transposing your parts is to change the key signature. For example, if you’re transposing for the alto sax and the key of your arrangement is in C (no sharps or flats) you would first write the key signature for A major, which is 3 sharps and up a 6th interval. If there are accidentals on the arrangement, there will be accidentals on the transposed parts. Everything should now work out beautifully.
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Trumpet Most all of the trumpets you’ll be writing for are in the key of Bb. Meaning, that when the trumpet plays C on the h orn, we actually hear a Bb. So, if you want to hear a B b note, you write a C on the trumpet part. For trumpet, write everything up one whole step from the concert pitch and in the treble clef. Written
# #
Most Effective Range
Sounds/Concert
Total Range
Flugelhorn
Like the trumpet, the flu gelhorn is in the key of Bb and their r ange is similar. The strength of this instrument is in the staff. For flugelhorn, write everything up 1 whole step from the concert pitch and in the treble clef. Written
# #
Sounds/Concert
Most Effective Range
Trombone
Total Range
is in Concert pitch.
No transposing, and
is written in
the bass clef.
Written
Most Effective Range
Sounds/Concert
Flute is in Concert.
Total Range
No transposing, and Written
is written in
Sounds/Concert
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the treble staff.
Soprano Saxophone Is in Bb. Transpose up a whole
step and in the treble staff.
Written
Most Effective Range
Sounds/Concert # #
Total Range
Alto Sa xophone Is in the key of Eb, which would be a major 6th down from C. When an alto sax plays a C, we hear Eb. Transpose the alto sax up a major 6th from the concert pitch, in the treble staf f. ## #
Written
Most Effective Range
Sounds/Concert
Total Range
Tenor Saxophone Is also in the key of Bb. Transpose your Te nor Sax up a whole step, and since the tenor is written in the treble staff, you need to compensate for this, so an additional octave up is required. Transpose the tenor sax up a 9th and in the treble clef. Written # #
Most Effective Range
Sounds/Concert
Total Range
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Baritone Saxophone Like the alto sax, the barit one sax is in the key of Eb, and is t ransposed up a 13th (an octave and a 6th) and is written in the treble clef. When you write your arrangement in Concert, the baritone will be written in the bass clef. When you go to transpose your part, just c hange the key signature up a 6th, and change the bass clef to a treble clef, and you’re automatically up a 13th. Magic! Written ## #
Most Effective Range
Sounds/Concert
Total Range
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DYNAMICS AND ARTICULATIONS If you just write a few notes on a page, this only tells the player the pitch and the rhythm of the phrase. They need to know how loud the note is played and is it played short, long, accented, and w ith a cresendo? Telling the musician how to play the notes is important and will make all the difference in your music. Nuance is everything. At a session or rehearsal, articulations are easy to play around with and your horn players can help you with this. Tweaking is cool, just like with your rhythm section. In a rehearsal I will make minor adjustments to the score. Taking notes out, changing a short note for a long note. These adjustments are quick, because you are using charts with rehearsal marks. Below are a handful articulations that I use 99% of the time, but there are many more.
Marcato = with an accent, played long
Staccato = played short
Martellato = with an accent, played short
Tenuto = played long - it’s full value.
Crescendo = gradually increase volume
Decreascendo = gradually decrease volume
Legato = smooth and connected
Glissando = glide from one pitch to another.
Fall = a Jazz articulation meaning to play a note and then a random selection of notes descending in pitch. Fermata: held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.
Dynamic Marking = degrees of volume Forzando: loud accent followed by a soft to loud crescendo.
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I hope what you’ve learned in this tutorial will be useful. These are only techniques. The challenge is to make music. Try not to OVERWRITE, which is so e asy to do. Most of my charts take a few tweaks after the first run through with real players. I mostly take out notes. Hardly do I ever add, unless I’ve changed the idea or concept. I would try not to first write your chart to a midi track before hearing it with real players. Midi tracks can deceive you when writing your arrangement. You will never get the nuance of real players. Midi can give you a general idea, but some parts that work, or don’t for midi, may, or may not work with real horns. Expression, dynamics, and nuance counts for a lot in whether an idea you have wor ks or not. Without picking up an instrument, think about where and how the horns would work in your song. Would you have the horns on the chorus for a nice build, and then add something small to the 2nd or 3rd verse? If I add horns to the bridge, should it contrast the horns on the chorus? This is the kind of stuff I think about wh en I walk my dogs. I don’t know the exact notes, but I know the sound I wa nt, and that will tell m e the range the horn will b e played. Low and droning, or high a spicy. This is the kind of thing you get good at with practice, and there’s nothing wrong with re-writing your chart. I think Mozart and maybe one other Russia dude could get it right the first time. Beethoven re-wrote a ton. If you’re consistently working with a couple of h orn players it can be a lot of fun. Try different combinations. Remember the band, WAR? Their horn section was harmonica and alto sax. What a great sound that was! Please be in touch and let me know what’s going on w appreciate any feedback you may have. Ok, let’s make music. FS FRED STICKLEY MUSIC
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ith you.
I would really
