Harmonizing Non-Chord Tones - Big Band Arranging SECRETS REVEALED
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- Опубликовано: 11 июл 2024
- Big Band Arranging Secrets Revealed #3!!!
Support me in making lessons like this one by joining my Patreon: / pandemoniumbigband
All of the musical examples were performed by me, Elliot Deutsch, and my robot bassist.
This is the second in a planned set of tutorials showing you how to arrange music for jazz ensemble. In this video I cover 'partial band closed voicing' and the use of unison counterpoint.
Watch all of the other lessons in the series: • Big Band Arranging SEC...
Credits:
Elliot Deutsch - trumpets 1, 2, 3, 4
Audio mixed by Elliot Deutsch
Video edited by Elliot Deutsch
Thank you to Jason Lee for a ZOOM lesson on mixing a large jazz ensemble.
0:00 Intro
0:46 Introducing the 3 techniques
2:30 Harmonizing chord tones
3:26 Diminished Passing Chords
6:02 Diatonic Passing Chords
7:46 Chromatic Planing
9:07 Final listen
9:43 Conclusion
#jazzensemble #composing #musictheory 
Видеоклипы
This is music theory right here, I’m so glad that it’s being explained from a standpoint of practicality instead of just abstraction, it takes years to gain intuitions but having it laid out, explained well, and accessible to anyone in the audience is just perfect. Thank you so much.
You get it!
Love this series!! Please please PLEASE keep this kind of education and discussion going! I'm sure a TON of people have learned a lot from you--myself included...I can't wait to write/harmonize/arrange some standards now! Keep it up Elliot!!
I’ve been working on a new lesson all day today. It should go live tomorrow morning (Friday)
It‘s just goddamn useful!!! I really want to see more of this jazz arranging series as soon as possible!
Subscribe! New lesson goes live tomorrow morning!!!
Elliot this is simply sensational. As a 19 year old Brit who plays drums in big bands but also writes this is priceless. God bless you
Thank you! I showed this to my jazz improv. class today. They were wondering why composers use dimished chords and chords that move chromatically. This reinforced my explanation.
That is so great! I’m glad you could use my video as a resource. Where do you teach?
You are an awesome teacher, clear as water!
Drink it up! Ha!
As someone who's taking their fist step into writing brass, this series has been really helpful so far. The only critique I'd make is that for more advanced lessons like this, it would be nice to have simpler examples, like a slowed-down version or a basic 3-chord cadence example. Otherwise I really appreciate these lessons!
Terrific, crystal clear and frankly delightful presentation on an endlessly fascinating topic. I think it was Phil Woods who said, "Above 120 bpm, any note goes with any other note." Thanks a million maestro!
Ha! I’ve never heard that one. But Phil Woods is absolutely right.
Extremely Love This!
Thanks for all the wonderful info...and your examples are great... keep them comong!
Thanks for this! Loved all the examples
This is great !
GREAT lesson. Thank you!!!!
Great video!!!
Thanks so much for sharing. 👍🏻😃❤️
Thanks, thanks, thanks. Wow amazing.
This video just saved me! Thank you! 🤩
It's interesting that you mention that the diminished chords make a tune feel very 1920-1930's. I wrote a piece for wind band a few years back in a decidedly Vaudevillian/Charleston style, and I found myself using diminished chords all over the place because they just sounded RIGHT in the context.
Thank You Very Much for your Videos .They make our lives better .It is a pleasure listening to your explanations .
Please keep posting more 👍💪🔥
Thank you so much man, I've been harmonising horns for a long time but for reggae and it's always a hassle to make everything sound pristine, I recently decided to add a more jazzy sound to my horn arrangements and this really gives me a fresh start to utilise more bold colours.
Thank you!
Great!!!!
Thank you. That's so simple and clear.
You are welcome!
Great stuff Elliot! Keep it up!!
Thanks! Will do!
Excellent, and fun. Thank you, Elliot!
Many thanks!
Thanks for your work, this is amazing!
Glad you like it!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
incredible videos subbed! please keep making more
Thank you! New lesson goes live Monday
This is really useful. As an amateur musician trying to write for ensemble, this is a subject which I could not grasp on my own. This video explains very well how to do it. It is also useful for rhythm instruments like the piano, guitar, banjo, who may use passing chords.
Excellently presented & explained. I'm glad you 'fessed up to not noticing the difference on the last two - I was wrestling with myself for being a "cloth-eared git" as we'd say here in the UK! Keep up the good work!
I was as surprised as you were! In the past month I’ve written more diminished passing chords than I did before because of my own demonstration!
Great stuff. I really enjoyed your reaction to your assessment of using diminished vs. diatonic/chromatic chords. I think you’re right: using all in combination to improve inner part voice leading is the key. Often inner parts and the lack of consideration to their logic and playability, make the difference between charts that get played and those that don’t.
Very Clear & interesting. Thank you ! Looking forward to more of these videos ;-)
More to come!
Thanks. I look forward to your posts. This one was very good, very useful. Talking about music isn't always the easiest thing, but you seem to have a gift for it. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Charles! These arranging tutorials are a ton of work to put together, between writing and recording the musical examples and collecting my thoughts. It’s also tough to condense 3 weeks of a college level arranging class into a short video! But I think people are getting a lot from these...
Have subbed!
I’ve been writing arrangements since my eighth grade year (sophomore as of writing this) and I wish that I’d found these videos sooner!!
You’re only a year or so late to the party! Glad to have you.
New subscriber thank you
Dude, thank you. Subscribed!
Love it! Short, concise, useful! Thanks, man! Hope you are doing well and send cheers from Hamburg! Keep up the good work!
Thank you! Cheers from Los Angeles.
Concise, educational and entertaining to boot. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
My pleasure!
Thanks again for all the info, this is so invaluable and you've made it concise and easy to digest! Also answered all the redundant questions I left in the comments on vid 1 haha
Ha!
This is great. I really appreciate the insights. I had the devil's own time trying to figure this out on my own.
This is really useful! Exactly what I wanted, I could have enrolled in a university class and not gotten more than from what I get from your videos. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful! If you're attending Cal Poly Pomona, then you can enroll in that class!
Buenisimo
Thank you so much for these videos, they’re really helping me out learn big band arranging! Just the right amount of content and I love your delivery style. Do you have any videos about how to arrange horns around a vocalist?
Good topic idea! I am preparing topics for this summer. I’ll put it on the list.
Elliot,
Yesterday I subscribed to your videos. I can’t stop watching them. So much information given in a way that is understandable to us novice arrangers. Over Covid in 2020 I did 60 charts. Now I’m going to go back to my scores and make any changes that I think will make them sound a little more modern. On Ballads, what do you think works best with non chordal tones, Dim. harmony or Diatonic? I’m like you a lot of it sounds so similar I can’t quite tell the difference. I’m beginning to think of myself as a sponge right now soaking up as much of this information as I can. LOL.
Keep turning those videos out. They are so informative.
Wow. That’s a ton of writing! All types of non-chord tone harmonies will work in ballad writing. But you can probably hear the differences because of the slower tempo. Take extra time and try different options until you find the sound that you are looking for.
Great video; thanks for all the info! In terms of hearing the differences, you use a ton of half diminished chords when outlining the non chord tones. The speed really does mask a lot of the subtle motions. Gonna check out the rest of these video, thanks!
Yes, the speed does mask the differences. But I think a good deal of big band writing is this fast, or faster and it is interesting to see how little of a difference those choices made (in this case). I am not sure where you are seeing the half diminished chords. Are you suggesting that I use half-diminished in order to help avoid repeated notes uncertain cases? That is a reasonable suggestion and something to try for sure.
@@PandemoniumBigBand by using the extensions of some of these dominant or minor 6 sounds, you end up having just a small half diminished between four trumpets. In that example of M2 you harmonized the top voice C with Ab F and D. Those four notes together make a half diminished chord if you exclude the bass note. Just something I noticed, not sure if that made senss
Very clear and concise, thank you.
A possible topic..."How to get chord progressions for a given/any melody" I'd find that really useful as I'm not a keyboard player.
Great suggestion! I will DEFINITELY cover something like that eventually.
Your teachings enhanced one of our n house producer #Gospel_Of_Pastors_Son. We thank you for walking with him in #Deephouse that has jazz horns. Thanks again
I'm so glad my tutorials have been helpful!
I have work now, but I'm on this 3rd video haha
This is a revelation for me.
I'm a music arranger from Congo.
This is definitely what I was looking for. I'm officially a follower, fan and a student.
By the way which Software is this ?
Keep it up. I'm loving this.
I am using Sibelius. Hello from Los Angeles!
Great lesson, however during the middle of the video, the background music did get a bit distracting alongside listening to what you were saying!
Please keep these up, though, incredibly useful for someone starting to learn to arrange for big band!
Please make a Video of Trombone Part and Voicing ✨
Elliott, I just love the way you copy and paste! (For example in your first video you put the trumpet lines all into the sax staves with a simple click of the mouse). What software program are you using??
I am using Sibelius. The trick is to hold down the alt key and whatever you have selected will get copied.
Great stuff. I've been arranging for small bands etc. for 20+ years and I'm always learning something new. Thanks for that! I'm writing/performing some original sax quartet music on RUclips, maybe give me a critique if you've got time?
Hey man, really enjoying the videos. I'm assuming that's you playing all the trumpet parts? Sounds good! Do you always use 6ths/13ths in the melody as non chord tones? You ever voice those as chord tones? Also, any tips (possibly in a future video) on coming up with background lines behind a melody or vocalist?
Yes, I am playing all of the trumpet parts (except for Lesson #4... that one is Pandemonium Big Band... I am playing trumpet 4 only). I sometimes voice 6ths as chord tones. It depends on the context. If the line is landing on the 6th, or there aren't many other chord tones in the line, I will use the 6th as a chord tone. But often it makes the inner parts better when I treat it as a non-chord tone. Arranging is a process and I often try voicing parts multiple ways before making a decision. I hope this helps!
Great tutorial, very helpful. This is swing. Do the same recommendations apply to harmonising non-chord tones in Latin pieces as well?
Yes.
Many thanks for the prompt reply. This tutorial in particular has helped me enormously.@@PandemoniumBigBand
Very nice and useful video - I hear a slight difference, but it's subtle. But what are those samples? They're excellent!
The bass is the string bass sound that comes free with Logic Pro. The other instruments were recorded. I played the trumpets.
@@PandemoniumBigBand Well, that explains it! Thanks!
Hello! Thinak you very much for sharing this amount of knowledge! I'm really enjoying all the videos. But (there's always a "but", sorry for that), I find the background music while you are explaining, although cool, a little distressing...Anyway! Thanks again for this nice job!! Bye! (and I subscribed your channel 🙂)
Great stuff as always👌
Whats the horn sound library your using in these examples?
Ha!!!! I recorded the trumpets myself. Not sampled. The bass is midi though.
@@PandemoniumBigBand haa i knew i would the idiot that couldn’t work that out. Was thinking that might be the case if it was samples it sounds really good. 🥸 I’ve been trying these things with midi but it just sounds naff. I end up spending more time trying to make my crappy ideas listenable than develop the writing 😂😂😂.
I’m totally with you on that. There’s nothing I hate more than spending too much time polishing midi when I should be writing.
Hi Elliot! Thank you for yet another great video. When you say that “if you’re in Cmaj” do you mean that Cmaj is the current chord or the signature of the song? I mean, if the melody is on C and the current chord is Em (but it’s Cmaj in the signature) how would you think of the harmonisation? As B7b9?
I recorded this video about a year ago, but I’m pretty sure I meant C is the current chord.
Great video demystifying this for those of us non-music majors. What do you do to avoid back-to-back repeated notes in harmony lines? Big band section players tend to hate repeated notes in difficult soli sections (a la SuperSax). Thank you!
Thank you for the kind words! That is a great topic for a future video. But the short answer is: at medium to slower tempos, repeated notes are OK most of the time. There are several strategies I use to avoid repeated notes on inner part and that is a great topic for me to cover soon.
@@PandemoniumBigBand using more chromatic planing technique? Or allowing an second interval between first and second voice. That's something I've noticed by studing the sax soli of Oliver Nelson arrangement In A Mellow Tone.
Awesome video man! Quick question, on bar 1 would it make sense to harmonise the second note as a F6/9 instead and similarly on bar 2 the second note as Eb13? Based on the same logic harmonise passing notes with chords that are more closely related to the starting one like substituting major, with 6, 6\9, maj9, dominant with 9ths and 13ths etc.? Is the inherent tension that comes with passing chords more distant from the home key part of this style of music?
Yes, you can definitely do that. I chose to harmonize some chord tones as non-chord tones because I enjoy the sound that the substitute harmony gives to the music. It creates a brief tension/release that, to me, sounds good. I am glad that you noticed. Really good question.
@@PandemoniumBigBand Thanks for your quick answer. I'm binging all your videos right now, fantastic work mate! Looking forward to see you channel grow, best of luck
The diminished chords DO sound to swing more to my ears.
The other two ways do sound more "dry".
Hallo, thanks for the video. What's your opinion on repeated notes on faster passages, if other voices don't repeat?. Do you use line writing?, a video on that woulb awesome. Thanks again!
Yes. Good idea for a video topic.
hello, first, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! i have a question. when you refere to chord tones, that include all extensions ? i mean, ninth is also a "chord" tone, as well as what ever other ? or it depends on something ? thank you so much
I love your lessons, you do such a great job, with perfect pacing, and covering topics that are essential for big band arranging! Learning a ton! One request -- can you loose the background music? For me I find it a distraction. It makes it slightly harder to listen to you. As a musician, I can't help but hear the music, and wonder who's playing the sax solo or whatever. After awhile I start to feel like I have a kind of vague headache. Maybe that is me. Anyway, keep up the great and valuable work!
Thank you for watching. Keep watching. Yes, my early videos used too much music under my talking. I am not a professional video editor. I have been “learning on the job.” Check out any of my tutorials produced in the past year and see if the music to talking ratio has improved.
@@PandemoniumBigBand thanks, I have subscribed, and passed your site around to several others I know who would also love it. You have a great feel for how to present this material! Will check out Patreon! (Your videos engendered a discussion in last night’s rehearsal about taping pages!)
I know I am getting to this video quite late. However, I noticed when you are harmonizing with diatonic passing chords that you negate the root of the chord (even in the base-line [in m.2 you eventually lead to the root however it is on a different beat]). Now I have heard that this was possible, but only if you have that note in the bass line or in another harmonization. Otherwise, you are actually harmonizing with a half diminished chord (making the new chords root a third above the diatonic chord [specifically I am referring to measure 2 using Bb9], so instead you are left with Dø7, since the root from Bb9 is not in the harmony). At least that's what I am seeing, perhaps you just didn't show the trombone/sax/guitar sections that contain the tonic, which is totally possible.
Would love for you to respond on this! Great videos by the way! Recent subscriber and aspiring composer here! Thanks again!
If it sounds good, It is good. Question: what's your feeling/opinion on repeated notes? I was told to avoid them at all costs especially at faster tempos.
Hi Eliot,
I think that you passed rather quickly on the diatonic harmonisation technique.
When you are using dismissed chords, you don’t really have a choice. It’s the same with chromatic planing.
But, it’s all different with the diatonic one.
So, what if you’d dig deeper in this topic and show us how it sounds when using only this one?
Could you harmonize non chord tones with augmented triads?
👌
What tab program are you using
Is there a conventional way of harmonizing blue notes, like the b3 or b5?
Very good lessons. But why to put back ground music?
I remember the PBS jazz documentary essentially saying "melodies didn't have non-chord tones until bebop came along", and I was aghast at how absurdly, impossibly incorrect that statement was. Like, haven't you ever heard Mozart? Or any other Western music?
Yeah, that statement is nuts!
Are there any special rules against having repeated notes in the harmonized lines when the melody does not have repeated notes? Is this when you start using chord extensions like 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths?
There are no special rules. But in practice, that’s a good idea.
Yuh
Great teacher - it’s a shame about the busy music when he is talking
so chromatic planning is like a line cliche?
Thank you so much! Your Videos are really useful and well to understand! Could you recommend some basic arrangement literature? I am studying music and want to improve my arranging and composing skills! Of course I have already subcribed to your channel! Best regards, Jonas
Jonas… I would start with these 3 books: Sammy Nestico “The Complete Arranger,” Don Sebesky “The Contemporary Arranger,” Rayburn Wright “Inside the Score.” There are a few other great texts, but those are my top 3.
@@PandemoniumBigBand thank you very much! :)
@@PandemoniumBigBand Absolutely. I particularly love the Sebesky.
I'd love to buy some tutorials be we would never get anything done, he never stops laughing 😱
Yea I don't really notice a difference between the two techniques at the end :)
Weird, huh? I expected to hear a HUGE difference.
Thank you. It's very useful. But!!
Please, don't put that background music, it's very loud and it's difficult to keep focus on your voice
If you watch some of my more recent tutorials you’ll see that I came to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, these early ones are unchangeable.
Just to be clear the nomenclature is a bit unusual. You cant really write a g7 on a cmaj chord. If it is a non chord tone then by definition it cant be a tone in a chord. So do you mean a non key tone rather than a non chord tone? If you harmonize a melody with minor thirds then it is a tone within a diminished chord. But a non key chord tone right? Not to be internetty and try to stir up a controversy but is this the actual naming convention?
“Non-chord tone” is the terminology I was taught in music graduate school. I’m not sure if that term is standard throughout jazz pedagogy. Deciding the best ways to harmonize melody notes that aren’t part of the immediate chordal harmony is an extremely important technique.
@@PandemoniumBigBand You are obviously correct then. I cant thank you enough for taking the time to answer what must seem like a dumb question but when you say non chord tone this means a non key tone or am I wrong on this?
@@PandemoniumBigBand I understand what I missed. Its a non chord tone because the big band jazz chords take up the entire keys space. With the upper extensions the chord is essentially all of the diatonic notes plus any altered notes. a non chord tone doesnt make sense in pop music because a chord doesnt have the entire diatonic range as in big band.
On a larger note this is a good example of how inadequate this medium is. In a classroom a question like that would take 10 seconds to be asked and answered then you move on. On you tube it takes hours to get a simple concept across and the concept is only peripherally related to the subject at hand. I dont think a subject this complex can be taught on youtube. You do a fine job but the subject is sooo complex there is just no way to get across the information that needs to be absorbed to be adequate. You absolutely need to have a teacher. Its a question that I have asked for a long time and now know the answer. It just cant be done without a teacher. You can teach first aid online but you cant learn heart surgery online and this is much closer to heart surgery than first aid. Im a little sad but this is life.