Modern Jazz Voicings : Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles

(Berklee Guide). The definitive text used for the time-honored Chord Scales course at Berklee College of Music, this book concentrates on scoring for every possible ensemble combination and teaches performers and arrangers how to add color, character and sophistication to chord voicings. Topics covered include: selecting appropriate harmonic tensions, understanding jazz harmony, overcoming harmonic ambiguity, experimenting with unusual combinations and non-traditional alignments, and many more. The accompanying online audio includes performance examples of several different arranging techniques. The audio tracks feature PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right. "A no-nonsense, meat and potatoes source of basic and not-so-basic information about everything relating to jazz writing covers several courses worth of information." Kenny Werner Pianist, Composer and Author of Effortless Mastery

How do you get that modern jazz sound?

Performers and Arrangers: Add color, character, and sophistication to your chord voicings. Learn to use fourths, clusters, upper-structure triads, and other advanced arranging and performing techniques for three to six parts.

This is the definitive text used for the time-honored Chord Scales course at Berklee College of Music.

Through a step-by-step process with exercises and recorded examples, the authors guide you through the intricacies of deriving "non-tertial" voicings from the right chord scales and applying them to various musical situations.

Become fluent in these techniques and use them effectively to express your own music:
- Select appropriate harmonic tensions and understand jazz harmony
- Avoid common mistakes and overcome harmonic ambiguity
- Experiment with unusual combinations and non-traditional alignments, mixing in other textures, including solo, linear, and contrapuntal passages
- Listen to arranging techniques performed on the CD and follow along with corresponding notated examples
- Apply new techniques using the Suggested Activities pages; great for assignments or home use
- Hear arrangers and players use these voicings to create their characteristic sounds with recommended recordings.

This book concentrates on scoring for every possible ensemble combination: winds, voices, strings, rhythm section, and more. Before long, you will be producing complete and effective arrangements for five or six horns and a rhythm section, arrangements with a mature, contemporary dimension, and a sophisticated sound.