An arrangement for big band

[BlueNote]

I am currently a junior in high school, a senior in a couple of days.

For my senior project I was thinking of doing an arrangement of a big band chart for jazz band, but am having second thoughts about it. For one, I'm not that experienced with multi-part compositions.

I would probably find the easiest one in the books and go from there.

Is it really that daunting of a task? Are there some shortcuts that I can take to writing out 17 parts? Like are there some parts (trombone 3, tenor 2, etc) that play the same part, so I don't waste my time?

I've been to a couple of big band arranging/composing clinics, but even the clinician goes way over my head as far as what you are expected to know.

I might just end up not doing a big band arrangement if it is too stressful. My alternative is to write some quintet music, rehearse it with a few school musicians, then make a CD of the tunes.

I definately want to do something jazz related, and of course with music. That is all I do nowadays.

Any tips/hints are greatful.
Thanks!

[gary]

Blue Note - get Sammy Nestico's "The Complete Arranger". It should tell you all you need to know. And it has an accompanying CD of live performances of the examples in the book.

Some tips.
- Keep it simple. You'd be surprised how mucked up an arrangement can become by trying to put too much in it.
- Give your players plenty of blowing room. You can write some good background support. The more solo space, the less you really have to actúally write. Don't be afraid to relinquish artistic control. Your soloists can make you look good.
- Plan the form of your arrangement first. I.e. Intro, tune, solo, tune, shout chorus, coda; something like that. Then plan what you are going to do within each section (alternate changes, modulations?).
- If you're inexperienced you'd be surprised how long you can take writing a few bars and then how quickly they go by when played. So keep the "real time" in mind as you write.
- You may not have time for the learning curve, but if you learn a notation program like Sibelius, Encore, or whatever you can save tons of time on transpositions, scoring etc.
- (i.e. after you've completed a full score, you can make just a few mouse clicks and all the individual parts are immediately extracted from the score and transped.
- If you've got decent piano chops and a notation program you can directly enter a lot in music quickly.

Listen to some arrangements that are simple yet are well integrated with just a few basic ideas, like the albums Quincy Jones and Billy Byers did for Basie and use their approaches with thematic ideas.

Good luck and have fun!

Good luck.

[Bnatural]

Just jump in and give it a try... Most of the time you'll find you know alot more then you thought... I felt the same way when I began composing for concert band, it's all in the terms people use, so you don't know all the big words they use to describe thing you will do fine.

My suggestion is that you find people that are willing to listen to your questions. Maybe a recent graduate of the school that is going into music will help you. Maybe your band director can look it over for you when you have questions, and give you some tips. You'd be surprised how helpful people are when you let them be smarter then you and share a few stories from their past. Good luck on your project and if you use a program I would suggest Finale Notepad, it's free and has plenty of features.

[gary]

Bnatural reminded me with "jump in". Don't feel you have to have a completed arrangement before you hear your music. Write just passages for different instrumental combinations or musical ideas and have some friends play them for you. Write stuff out in little chunks and give them a listen. You'll learn a lot by doing this.

Also, as you're working on your large arrangement, you can do the same thing with certain passages you might have questions about.