Notes on the Arrangements

General Notes
- Chords
- Drum Parts
Sent to Siberia
Shorty

General Notes

No, I havn't done a chart of a tune called "General Notes". Rather this section contains information which is pertinent to all the charts.

Contents

Chords

Over the years, I have seen many ways of notating chords. To the best of my knowlege there is no real standard. So I decided to use the symbols I have been using for decades. It is possible that others will find them unfamiliar, thus this section.

I have listed all the chords as based on the note "C". The point here is to reveal the mapping between the symbols, names, and notes. I will assume that musicians who are capable of playing my charts will have the ability to transpose this information as needed.

I sometimes use the "slash" notation for a chord with a bass note other than the root, such as "F-7/C". This means "F minor seventh with a C in the bass".

Symbol Name Structure Notes Common Variations
C or C Major Triad 1, 3, 5 C, E, G
C7 Major Seventh 1, 3, 5, 7 C, E, G, B C7 #11
C7 Dominant Seventh 1, 3, 5, 7 C, E, G, B C7 9, C7 #11, etc.
C+7 Augmented Seventh 1, 3, #5, 7 C, E, G#, B C+7 #11
C-7 Minor Seventh 1, 3, 5, 7 C, E, G, B C-7 5
C7 Diminished Seventh 1, 3, 5, 7 (= sixth) C, E, G, B (= A)
CALT7 Altered Dominant 1, 3, #5, 7, 9, #9, #11 C, E, G#, B, D, D#, F#
Contents

Symbol	Name	Structure	Notes	Common Variations
C or C	Major Triad	1, 3, 5	C, E, G
C7	Major Seventh	1, 3, 5, 7	C, E, G, B	C7 #11
C7	Dominant Seventh	1, 3, 5, 7	C, E, G, B	C7 9, C7 #11, etc.
C+7	Augmented Seventh	1, 3, #5, 7	C, E, G#, B	C+7 #11
C-7	Minor Seventh	1, 3, 5, 7	C, E, G, B	C-7 5
C7	Diminished Seventh	1, 3, 5, 7 (= sixth)	C, E, G, B (= A)
CALT7	Altered Dominant	1, 3, #5, 7, 9, #9, #11	C, E, G#, B, D, D#, F#

Drum Parts

I tend towards "minimal" drum parts. For the most part, I want to let the drummer know other parts of the band are playing, especially the brass "kicks". However, I have no desire to tell the drummer what to play.

In making the audio versions of these charts, I actually composed drum parts, which are fed from the computer into the synthesizer. If these parts were printed out, they would be unplayable. However, they are truly lousy drum parts. Any halfway decent drummer should be able to make up a much better part.

In my mind, the drum part should not be the same from performance to performance, even in the ensembles, but rather almost totally improvised. In order for the drummer to have this freedom, I write as little as I can, specifically.

Of course, there are exceptions. In Shorty, I wanted the drums to stop in certain places, so I wrote the word "rest" above the musical rest, to distinguish these spots from ordinary rests on the drum part, where the rest indicates that other instruments are not playing. Typically, a rest on one of my drum parts means that the drummer should be looking to play some kind of fill.

Once in a while, I actually write specific things for the drummer to play. The most blatant example is Sent to Siberia, but there are other examples scattered through various charts.

Contents

Sent to Siberia

Instrumentation:

2 alto saxophones
2 tenor saxophones
baritone saxophone
4 trumpets
4 trombones
bass
drums

Features:

There is NO key signature in the score or parts because I really don't hear it in any key. Since others may hear it differently, and since I can understand how others might hear it in at least two keys, I thought it best to leave out the key signature. Thus on all staves of the score and on all parts there is NO key signature. All accidentals are indicated as they occur. An accidental in the beginning of the bar applies to the whole bar, but no further.
The lead trumpet (1st trumpet) is featured in a non-improvised solo.
No piano part. A lead sheet is provided so that a pianist could add improvised "tinkling" as appropriate. Note that on the recording, there is no piano.

Performance Notes:

Lead Trumpet - let the part "sing" out
Drums - in the last 2 bars each "sfzp" should be played as one loud note on the beat with a quiet roll filling the space.

Known Mistakes in Parts or Score:

It is my intention to post any mistakes to any of my arrangements on my web site, so check from time to time.

4/4/2000 1st Alto and 3rd Tenor, 4th bar in "C". There is an extraneous "3" near the 16th notes. I didn't figure out how to circumvent this problem until after the chart went to the printer.
4/4/2000 All saxes, 4th bar in "G". There is an extraneous "3" near the 16th notes. I didn't figure out how to circumvent this problem until after the chart went to the printer.
4/13/2000 The printer allowed me to replace a couple of pages because the text was "running off" the page. Because of this the 4th bar in "G" is correct for the 3rd Tenor part (not the score).

Contents

Shorty

Instrumentation:

2 alto saxophones
2 tenor saxophones
baritone saxophone
fluegelhorn
4 trumpets
4 trombones
piano
bass
drums

Features:

The fluegelhorn is featured in both the head and an improvised chorous. A "composed" solo is provided, if needed.
There is an improvised chorous for the 4th tenor. A "composed" solo is provided, if needed.

Performance Notes:

1st alto - bar 112 (5th bar of "D-9") contains a turn between the first two 8th notes. I suggest it be played as four 16th notes where the first and third 16ths are the same as the first 8th, the second 16th is a step higher than the first 8th, and the last 16th is the same as the second 8th. Putting real notes on this: the two 8th notes are F (natural) and D; the 16ths should be F, G, F, and D.

All saxes, 3rd bar of "D". I used an "X" note-head to indicate a note which will be played by someone else (in this case, the brass), but is not to be played by the saxes. However, since the sax part leads into this note, I thought it might be a good idea to indicate that the second 8th note (the concert C) should not be played short as it would be if it were the end of a phrase, but long, as if it were to continue into the next note. If all this is unclear, then consider these instructions: play the second 8th note (the concert C on the downbeat of the 2nd beat) long (legato), not short, and don't play the third 8th note (the one with the X note-head).

Drums - the word "rest" appears in a few places in the score. What this means is to stop playing at these places, as opposed to a regular rest, which means continue playing, but nothing special, or notated figures, which show what other parts of the band are playing. Like most of my charts, the drummers are pretty much on their own. I tend towards "minimal" drum parts. See my general notes on drum parts, above.

Known Mistakes in Parts or Score:

It is my intention to post any mistakes to any of my arrangements on my web site, so check from time to time.

5/31/2000 - on the score and the first two trombone parts there is a small problem with the pickup to, and the first bar of "A-17". The entire five beats should be on the second trombone part while the first (and third and fourth trombones) rest. Instead, the pickup is on the second trombone part and the following bar is on the first trombone part. There are several possible "fixes":
1. Leave it alone. This will work, but in this case, I recommend that you mark the first trombone part with a "mezzo-forte" (at A-17).
2. Give the second trombone the bar of eighth notes (from the first trombone part) and give the first trombone part a whole rest. This can be accomplished "manually" (that is, by writing it in) or by some photo-copying, cutting and pasting (which will probably yield better looking parts).
3. Give the first trombone the pickup (quarter note) from the second trombone part and give the second trombone a quarter rest instead. In this case, you will probably want to mark the pickup with a mezzo-forte.
Just for the record, if it were up to me, I would choose option two, above, for several reasons:
1. it is the way I originally intended it
2. it will probably sound better with one person playing the part than with the part split between two players
3. it will look better with less work (assuming the copy, cut, and paste method) than other methods and will retain the original intent.
With all that said, I understand that you will do what you think is best. Whatever you choose (including ideas I haven't thought of) I promise you will have chosen the absolutely right solution for you. So there.

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Last updated 31 May 2000 by PAL