Jazz Comp (1 Viewer)

[soulshine]

anyone doing jazz for their composition?

i am and i feel like i'm kinda screwed. I'm only new to jazz, and now i am endeavouring to compose a fairly standard like song/piece for piano trio, maybe quartet with clarinet or something. kinda oscar peterson style.

it just seems so hard coz i am only just learning about the stuff for the first time now. its too late to start looking at something else. waa *whinge*i'm getting jazz piano lessons which is helping me understand the style and things i can do with harmony n stuff but... hmm... i dunno, what are your views in this style of composition?

then i'm gonna have to like notate all impro sections aye... crap in the poop.

i dunno what i am really asking here. hi.

 

[ujuphleg]

What course are you doing?

 

[demosthenes]

I am not doing a jazz composition for my submitted composition. I find that when I do compose jazz pieces, however, it is easy if you base the chords progressions, melody etc. on other compositions. It has to be said that the majority of standard jazz is recucled (think II-V-I's, 12 and 16 bar blues etc.) so it doesnt harm to emulate other compositions. Just dont go to far and delve into blatant plagarism...because they will know.

 

[soulshine]

i'm doing music 2. this is for elective comp.


yeah, you see now i'm concerned that whatever i come up with wont be original enough. or if it is original it'll be completely wrong in terms of the style i'm doing.

my teacher knows nothing about jazz too. which is a huge fecking bonus.

bleh.

 

[Phanatical]

Find a jazz tutor. There are plenty of jazz students at the Con who would be willing to teach you. If you send me your details, I'll put the word out among SECS-registered jazz musicians for somebody in your area.

 

[ujuphleg]

Keep in mind that for Music 2 - Elective the composition is SUPPOSED to emulate the style in which you have chosen.

It is only in Core and Extension that you should be coming up with original work. With this composition, it is ok to use basic/well known chord progressions and compose your own melodies using blues scales etc. because the markers in this Elective are looking to see that you understand your chosen style.

Take a look at this:

Assessment criteria
Compositions will be assessed on how well they demonstrate:
• Stylistic understanding and topic representation
• Understanding of musical concepts and the relationships between them
• Knowledge of score conventions and performance directions

The first one is the most important point. And also in the bands themselves

• Composes a work that successfully and coherently represents the chosen
topic, demonstrating perceptive and accomplished understanding of style,
the concepts of music, and the relationships between the concepts

Elective Comp is all about emulating the style that you have chosen, so don't fuss about originality too much.

 

[Phanatical]

Composition Elective in 2u is not about Emulating a composer, it's about creating a new work with respect to the stylistic features of the period. This doesn't mean writing something that necessarily sounds like jazz of the 1930's, but using the elements that define jazz in your work to create something new.

Hindemith, for example, demonstrates a strong understanding of the stylistic features of the Baroque through many of his works. They don't sound like they come from the Baroque, yet the influence of the period is still extremely prevalent. Likewise, Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale is highly influenced by American Ragtime, and demonstrates many of those stylistic features.

 

[ujuphleg]

I didn't say it was to emulate a composer, I said it was to emulate the STYLE.

Of course, that means to take varying elements from the said style and mix them together to do something new. But what I was saying is that you don't necessarily have to come up with something hip happenning and original because the whole point of the exercise is to remain true to the STYLE.

 

[soulshine]

oh wow, ok cool
i might take up that tutor idea... my jazz piano teacher is helping me heaps, but maybe it'll help if someone is really familiar with what the HSC markers are actually going to be looking for most... well we'll see.

i've chosen '1945 - 25 years ago' as my topic, so does this mean i have to strictly adhere to something from this time period? i mean, if it sort of had a more contemporary sound, but was based on what was happening back then, would that be acceptable? for example, is anyone here familiar with brad mehldau? is his piano music too contemporary to be classified as from that era?

also, (sorry with all the questions), do i have to specifically define my style? like give an exact bracket of dates for it, or liken it to a specific composer? or what?



i really appreciate all these responses by the way, you are all beautiful

 

[Phanatical]

If I were you, I would add an explanation of your goals to your composition notes, so that the markers have a better idea of what it is you're trying to achieve.

 

[Jazz Man Tim]

1945-25 years ago..

you wouldn't be able to do any hard bop or modern jazz compositions, or any big band swing or stuf, cool jazz, beebop etc would be ideal jazz styles your looking to emulate here.

not sure about oscar peterson but im pretty sure he fits in that period you've chosen.

 

[demosthenes]

you wouldn't be able to do any hard bop or modern jazz compositions, or any big band swing or stuf, cool jazz, beebop etc would be ideal jazz styles your looking to emulate here.

Of course you can! Hard bop--developed post 1945. Big Band/Swing--still going strong (real strong) after 1945. And 25 years ago (ie. 1980) there was an amazing diversity of jazz, all the stuff you mentioned, especially modern jazz (think miles and fusion).

In fact, modern jazz would be cool, soulshine....like combining rock and jazz or something?

 

[Jazz Man Tim]

hmm true, i was thinking about what was developed and created in 1945-25 years ago

of course all that other stuf would have been around as well, bigband swing was still the most popular type of music, esp during ww2 and the like.

modern jazz and fusion yea i spose so, 25 years ago could be argued as not modern lol but i agree, though i don't know much about fusion.

 

[Jazz Man Tim]

i think you can basically pick anything, just as long as you know the date when it was composed..

caus alot of songs were being played post 1945 but were composed pre 1945 etc..

 

[soulshine]

yeah my original idea was to do a funk big band type thing, like tower of power or maceo parker style. or even something real funky like herbie's headhunters stuff. but i really thought it'd be too much of a task for little incompetent me.

so yeah. i was thinking maybe just keeping it to trio. but maybe i could incorporate some fusion-y or free-y elements into it. its just that i'm not really proficient on the piano, and even though i know i dont have to play it, i still wanna kinda do something i can almost grapple... or do you think i should compose something way out there that i cant play, and leave it in the hands of a super-duper jazz freak?

what kinda stuff do you include in these comp notes?

(i'm sorry i dont learn anything at my school. i'm the only person in my class and my teacher has a shaky, if not, non existent idea of whats expected.)