[because]

So, Mr. Webster seems to offer us two possible meanings of "Accidental":

In music it refers to "A note or pitch that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recent applied key signature"... ok. fine, I get it... however,

It also can be:"Something happening unintentionally, unexpectedly, with possible negative consequences".... I fear I find myself in a situation where both definitions may manifest themselves!

My Story: I got a call to fill an evening on sax/flute/clarinet for a jazz quartet. I was sent a song list of over 100 tunes... no charts... a late entry is Jobim's "One Note Samba" in Bb...fine, I 've heard the tune & comp/filled on flute behind a female vocalist in the past.This time however, they need me to play to entire form... no charts.

BAM!!!! The B section has 21 accidentals in an 8 bar phrase!!!!! Including C Flats & G flats ( for a guy who was for years primarily an alto player & seems more at ease with sharps) Plus I have to read it up an octave from the ink, Plus has to be memorized, Plus it flys by fairly quickly at 175bpm Plus thinking I knew the tune I only have a few hrs to do the Muscle Memory Repeats Thing in order to get it close!!

I fear definition #2: "Something happening unintentionally, unexpected, with possible negative consequences".... argh

 

[Dr G]

So, Mr. Webster seems to offer us two possible meanings of "Accidental":

In music it refers to "A note or pitch that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recent applied key signature"... ok. fine, I get it... however,

It also can be:"Something happening unintentionally, unexpectedly, with possible negative consequences".... I fear I find myself in a situation where both definitions may manifest themselves!

My Story: I got a call to fill an evening on sax/flute/clarinet for a jazz quartet. I was sent a song list of over 100 tunes... no charts... a late entry is Jobim's "One Note Samba" in Bb...fine, I 've heard the tune & comp/filled on flute behind a female vocalist in the past.This time however, they need me to play to entire form... no charts.

BAM!!!! The B section has 21 accidentals in an 8 bar phrase!!!!! Including C Flats & G flats ( for a guy who was for years primarily an alto player & seems more at ease with sharps) Plus I have to read it up an octave from the ink, Plus has to be memorized, Plus it flys by fairly quickly at 175bpm Plus thinking I knew the tune I only have a few hrs to do the Muscle Memory Repeats Thing in order to get it close!!

I fear definition #2: "Something happening unintentionally, unexpected, with possible negative consequences".... argh

Yeah, those unexpected B's and F#'s are a killer. :shock:

All those years of practicing ii-V-I cycles around the various keys is paying off!

"Intentional practice with possible positive consequences..."

Sorry, not what you wanted to hear. Yes, I remember the first time I played the tune. At tempo. No rehearsal - after all, it's just a samba, and only one note at that. :bluewink:

Cool tune. I was just listening to Getz/Gilberto last night. I still love it after all these years (despite the chirping that I never understood).

 

[turf3]

So, Mr. Webster seems to offer us two possible meanings of "Accidental":

In music it refers to "A note or pitch that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recent applied key signature"... ok. fine, I get it... however,

It also can be:"Something happening unintentionally, unexpectedly, with possible negative consequences".... I fear I find myself in a situation where both definitions may manifest themselves!

My Story: I got a call to fill an evening on sax/flute/clarinet for a jazz quartet. I was sent a song list of over 100 tunes... no charts... a late entry is Jobim's "One Note Samba" in Bb...fine, I 've heard the tune & comp/filled on flute behind a female vocalist in the past.This time however, they need me to play to entire form... no charts.

BAM!!!! The B section has 21 accidentals in an 8 bar phrase!!!!! Including C Flats & G flats ( for a guy who was for years primarily an alto player & seems more at ease with sharps) Plus I have to read it up an octave from the ink, Plus has to be memorized, Plus it flys by fairly quickly at 175bpm Plus thinking I knew the tune I only have a few hrs to do the Muscle Memory Repeats Thing in order to get it close!!

I fear definition #2: "Something happening unintentionally, unexpected, with possible negative consequences".... argh

The bridge is all scales, though. Just nail down what the chords are in the key they're playing, and play the pattern by ear. A quick internet search indicates that if the key is Bb, then the first 4 bars of the bridge are a ii-V7-I in Db (which I would think of as C#) and the second four bars are a ii-V7-I in Cb (B for most of us).

For goodness sake, double check that, though - don't rely on me!

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

Accidental - when your G# sticks after a break.........

 

[Dr G]

Accidental - when your G# sticks after a break.........

... or when you trip over your own horn while crossing a crowded bandstand after a beer break.

 

[saxoclese]

One of my teachers said it would be more appropriate to call them "intentionals" instead of "accidentals" because they are not put in the music by accident. This is the same teacher that theorized that if we started beginners reading music in 5/4 time with 7 sharps or flats in the key, they would have a much easier time reading music later on.

 

[Grumps]

I went fishing for accidentals, but all I got were clams...

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

... or when you trip over your own horn while crossing a crowded bandstand after a beer break.

I wouldn't know anything about that...........:drunken:

I think the worst case of accidentals was when a leader handed me a sheet of music for alto to sight read, written in no key with (estimated from memory) 75+% accidentals. I took one look at it, he started the song. He looked over a couple of times and said "play". I gave a blank stare. When the song ended he asked "why didn't you play?". I told him it was impossible to sight read such a nightmare, it should have been written in an actual key thereby avoiding all of this. "Oh, so-and-so wrote that out". No way anyone could have read it. I should have taken a picture at the time.

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

I went fishing for accidentals, but all I got were clams...

Reminds me of the Buddy Rich bus tapes where he uses the word "clams".

 

[turf3]

I wouldn't know anything about that...........:drunken:

I think the worst case of accidentals was when a leader handed me a sheet of music for alto to sight read, written in no key with (estimated from memory) 75+% accidentals. I took one look at it, he started the song. He looked over a couple of times and said "play". I gave a blank stare. When the song ended he asked "why didn't you play?". I told him it was impossible to sight read such a nightmare, it should have been written in an actual key thereby avoiding all of this. "Oh, so-and-so wrote that out". No way anyone could have read it. I should have taken a picture at the time.

My two favorites were (quite a few years ago) the baritone sax part that was written in Bass Clef (no kidding) but transposed for Eb horn, rather than just leaving it as concert key; the other one (recently) was an example of bad use of computer typesetting/transposition - that one basically half or more the notes were wrong. Double flats and double sharps everywhere, all wrong. I finally realized that I had a "baritone sax part KIT" and I just read the rhythms and put notes in that sounded OK.

 

[because]

Ok! I survived the gig... and yes, out of 100 possible tunes they called "One Note Samba"

There really is no substitute or short cut from just grinding it out, committing it to memory & start at slower tempos (140) & after dozens & dozens of repetitions, it was there when I needed it.

There is that magic moment when a passage evolves from something we dread, into something we look forward to

 

[because]

Ok! I survived the gig... and yes, out of 100 possible tunes they called "One Note Samba"

There really is no substitute or short cut from just grinding it out, committing it to memory & start at slower tempos (140) & after dozens & dozens of repetitions, it was there when I needed it.

There is that magic moment when a passage evolves from something we dread, into something we look forward to

 

[because]

The previous double post is brought to you by: post-gig at 1:30 AM & a glass of wine

You're welcome

 

[whaler]

‘Accidentals” usually occur more often in chick singer keys.
I had one call My One And Only Love in B. When she turned towards the mic I whispered to the guys to playin Bb.
‘Accidental” is when I get called for those kind of gigs. I tend to avoid them.
The bridge to One Note Samba is two scales. Work smarter not harder.
And by the way, my drummer would call 175 bpm a ballad.

 

[click]

accidental (n.)

late 14c., "non-essential quality," from accidental (adj.). The musical sense is from 1868; so called because they alter the note without essentially changing the key of the passage.