 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mommaq
Date: 1999-05-05 03:58
All right youse swingin' guys n gals. What jazz books have your teachers been using for you to develop your talent? My daughter's teacher would like to have some suggestions for a jazz music book beginner & intermediate level to have her work on over summer to get her more hip for high school.
Did you realize that many jazz band directors never include the clarinet in the jazz band? I ask...ever hear of Benny? What would be your comeback....and why do they do this? They want clarinet players to switchover to sax for jazz band..
mommaq
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-05-05 11:40
mommaq wrote:
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Did you realize that many jazz band directors never include the clarinet in the jazz band? I ask...ever hear of Benny? What would be your comeback....and why do they do this? They want clarinet players to switchover to sax for jazz band...
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1) The great majority of arrangements published for high school level do not have the clarinet in them, and the band directors don't have the time to do special arrangements.
2) Most clarinetists at the high school level can't get the volume necessary to really work with a high school jazz band, since most high school jazz bands can't reduce their volume enough for a clarinet to be heard ...
I've been through this one a few years back. I looked at the available stuff for clarinets; almost none of the arrangements the school already owned had clarinet parts, and very, very few of the newer pubs had clarinet parts.
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Author: J.Butler
Date: 1999-05-05 16:10
I agree with Mark. Most directors in the middle and high school don't have the time to do special arrangements. I would suggest to the director if he had time to do a dixieland band or let the students get one together. There are published arrangements (hundreds of them) and usually call for clarinet, tenor sax, trumpet, trombone, bass, and drum set. Parts could be doubled. Years ago when I was teaching at a high school (1980-87) we used the dixieland band in various ways. The one the kids got the most enjoyment out of was after the halftime marching show, the "DixieCats" would stroll to various parts of the stadium (both visitors and home) and perform for the fans. The fans and kids both loved it. They would play the arrangements form memory and really showed off. As far as methods go, I use the Jamey Aebersold series and the Lenny Niehaus books for teaching jazz concepts. Another good book is the Coker book, but I can't think of the title right now. Good Luck.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-05-05 17:36
The previous posting looks like a keeper to me. Just like the technique for bending notes. I'll get the jazz mechanics for clarinet written down, one way or another.
Thanks.
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Author: Kevin Bowman
Date: 1999-05-05 20:03
There *are* charts for jazz band that do include (feature)clarinet -- I played a couple of them in high school many years back. But for the most part, the standard jazz band instrumentation is 5 saxes, 5 'bones, 5 trumpets, and the standard 4 peice rhythm section. If you're interested in jazz (and play clarinet), you just gotta learn sax. But keep up your clarinet skills because they will come in very handy. Some 16 years after high school, I'm finally getting a chance to jam with *just* clarinet in a small jazz combo (Bass, guitar, clarinet) and it is LOADS of fun. Also, I saw the Duke Ellington Orchestra last year (under the direction of Duke's Grandson) and all the sax players doubled on a clarinet of some sort. The Bari Sax player and Tenor 2 double on bass clarinet while the others doubled on soprano clarinet and/or flute. I've also seen some very cool latin jazz groups use LOTS of bass clarinet.
As for the jazz books, I use the Jamie Abersold and the Lennie Neihaus books. I'm sure the other suggestions are worth a look as well.
Kevin Bowman
Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor,
Rochester Conservatory of Music, Rochester, MI
and
Saxophones, Clarinet, and Keys,
B-Side Blues Project (www.bsideblues.com)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-05-05 20:32
Kevin Bowman wrote:
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Also, I saw the Duke Ellington Orchestra last year (under the direction of Duke's Grandson) and all the sax players doubled on a clarinet of some sort.
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Too bad you didn't go & see them this year. My middle son plays trumpet in his HS Jazz I band, and they opened for Duke's band in Livonia a few weeks back.
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Author: JennyA
Date: 1999-05-06 09:40
When I started playing with our school jazz band two years ago, I played clarinet. The band was fairly small, 2 altos, 3 trumpets, trombone, flute, percussion and me, and they drowned me (and the flute) out. I learned sax last summer and enjoy jazz band a lot more now! We are still small, and we're losing nearly half the group to graduation, but at least I feel like a contributing member. And sax isn't hard once you've played clarinet.
BTW, go ahead and use that "Why We Teach Music" piece any way you want. Our department chair got it from a music teacher years and years ago and it's been changed a bit since then. Sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner!
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Author: Jim Carabetta
Date: 1999-05-06 19:33
I also use the Lenny Niehaus series: Jazz Conceptions. I have the basic, advanced, and jazz duet book from that series. They contain mostly etudes and exercises, but there are very aggressive rhythms in some difficult key- / time- signatures. Etude 13 in the advanced book was last year's practice piece for the high-school level All-State jazz band.
I use the same books for clarinet and saxophone, adjusting the notes where necessary to compensate for the differences in range.
For absolute jazz beginners, I work with my students in a John Carter jazz method that is accompanied by a CD. The student can hear the piece played, follow the printed music, and when ready, filter out the recorded part, and play with the CD as the soloist. It's fun and goes from ridiculously easy to some very aggressive pieces -- also giving great direction for jazz scales, intro to improvisation, and an understandable explanation of the Circle of Fifths/Fourths.
I use some of those pieces myself for warm-ups and fingering exercises.
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Author: Donn
Date: 1999-05-09 18:44
I think the best "book" for jazz is your ear. Listen to enough jazz and it will soak in. Try to play by ear, and you will not come out with the choppy sound that often comes from playing exclusively from written music. Satch once said "If you don't understand jazz, don't mess with it". Jazz is fun
music, and should be treated as such.
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