Sax Soli
I wrote a sax soli for my arranging class last semester. The assignment was to write a lead bebop-style melody line over 16 bars of standard chord changes, then harmonize every note in four parts, then provide parts for five saxophones and rhythm section for the big band to record.
I chose the second half of "Just Friends" as my standard chord progression. I had been working on the tune in my lessons with Bob Magnusson, and I had just started a transcription of Pat Martino's solo on it from El Hombre.
I'll write later about all the harmonizing rules we learned for spreading bebop lines across a group of horns. (It's really cool, and deserves its own post.) For now, have a listen. They were sight-reading, so be nice.
Here's the recording, courtesy of the Fall 2010 SDSU Jazz Ensemble.
Gekko (2 Feb 2011 at 7:15pm)
Hey Joe,
I've just discovered your blog and have really been enjoying reading your posts -- keep up the good work!
I was just wondering if you could comment on how you generate the sheet music for arrangements such as this one? Superficially, it looks handwritten but it seems awfully neat. (apologies if you've posted on this elsewhere..)
Best,
Gekko (from down under).
Joe (2 Feb 2011 at 7:22pm)
Hello Gekko. Thanks for checking it out.
I use Sibelius to prepare charts. It's costly, but there are plenty of free options if you don't need all the power. I've used LilyPond extensively as well as Finale, but I prefer Sibelius.
Joe
Gekko (3 Feb 2011 at 7:11pm)
Cheers for that. I'll probably start by playing around with LilyPond -- it looks like LaTeX for musicians which makes it right up my alley :-) Being text-based it may also be conducive to writing scripts to generate random sheets to practise sight-reading on.
Joe (3 Feb 2011 at 7:18pm)
Are you reading my mind? Or perhaps my old posts? I wrote a Python script three years ago to create sight-reading practice material with LilyPond. I've improved it and used it extensively since then. Can't say I'm a master. Or even good at sight-reading, but it's sure helped. I have grand plans to make it publicly available, and it's nearly there. I just need a little free time and a motivational push.
Have fun and good luck!
Gekko (3 Feb 2011 at 7:42pm)
Ha -- I guess great (geeky?) minds think alike. I hadn't noticed the old post you mention -- but I'll certainly take a look. In a further coincidence, I'm also a python man so it might be interesting to compare notes if/when I come up with something.
I did notice that you have interval/triad ear-training tools. I wrote something very similar myself a while back (in the Mathematica system) which I found very useful (http://www.demonstrations.wolfram.com/MusicalIntervalRecognition/)
In my case, the idea of generating sight-reading material in a genuinely (quasi-) random fashion is very appealing because in my limited efforts so far, I feel there's a danger of becoming overly familiar with my (limited) repertory of practice materials, so that it quickly ceases to be "true" sight-reading.