Playing with a Big Band

[Paraflam]

Peter!
Thanks for responding, we needed that. At least I did.
For those who thought this thread was getting taken too
"far out", ya see? Groovesmitty took a chance, and said hey, I know this legend can say more than that on the topic. And we just recieved some serious knowledge from one of the worlds greatest. Right here. On HOD!
YES!

[got_a_matchgrip]

Originally posted by Zak Morton:
But Fuse we haven't got an answer on what 'chopping wood' is yet! The thread must live on! HAHA! Sorry... had to do it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Lmao Zak

& here Dazz posts again & doesn't clarify yet again...Ooooo, you toy w us, you shameless leetle tart, you, Dazz!

It's obviously basic BB slang, Zak, that's why we peons are bean 'gnor'd... /;cp

...Peter; Gary?!

Guess we'll just have to go with your assessment much earlier, & be darned happy about it too, Zak! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Thatt's OKAY...just KEEP us irrepressible ig'nernts in the dark, allright, O' Enlightened Ones... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 31, 2005 07:04 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>

[Klemme]

Man..

What a thread hah! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Great education for me here! I'm writing down notes!

I'm tuning in too late for the heart of the discussion, but let me put in my 2 cent with some examples too!

I agree with Daz, PE and many others that reading could/is a VERY useful tool.

Flabostix and the others who might be reluctant of the chart-reading skull dominance in bigbands.

I'm not a good chart-reader. I can isolate and identify things, but looking at it as a whole, as a helping hand, is something I clearly can't. When I finally was put up against a recording with my high school bigband ( very little rehearsal of the tunes ) I soon found out that I was put into a living nightware [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

The charts were like hieroglyphs for me, even though the bigband instructor tried to formulate alot of the phrasings for me, it was a complete struggle remembering them on 9 arrangements.

Those arrangements were for a beginner-like bigband, so i can only imagine what the guys on the pro level must endure on the charts.

One of the tunes was this up-tempo swing tune:
Hot Dog

the only one else i got from the "session" ( had no monitors or anything like that, so that made the situation even more chart-read-dependable).

Is This

I had to keep an eye on a chart i couldn't decipher. it was a mess. i got ahold of the majority of the hooks etc. but to be honest it wasn't a satisfact to me to play like that to "Fake" it as Erskoman rightiously mentions it.

I love bigbands and would love to play more of this - I started working on my reading skills again and it is improving slowly ( I got used into faking alot! [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img] ) and i gotta tell everyone whom are thinking about improving reading skills, that it is highly recommendable. it leaves you with so much less to think about in these situations. I can only dream of how it will be when I someday might have the ability to sit in with a bigband and just enjoy it!

Learn reading! i'm trying my best! it won't hurt!

BTW! anyone that's been watching the Bisonette DVD knows what "Chopping Wood" is [img]tongue.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 31, 2005 07:09 PM: Message edited by: Klemme ]</font>

[got_a_matchgrip]

BTW! anyone that's been watching the Bisonette DVD knows what "Chopping Wood" is

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Zak - aaaaaaggghhhh! [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]

I say it's landing the sidestick down on the sn on the 2 & 4...or just the 2 OR the 4...or something to do w a standard sn accent in BB...it's prob basic, easy, common sense stuff...

----------

"'When in doubt, roll!'... No, not really. That's just an old deadpan Brufe joke..."

"A pitcha's woith a tousend woids" - JM paraphrasing Grube-a-lube-r

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 31, 2005 07:17 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>

[Dazzler]

quote:
Originally posted by Zak Morton:
But Fuse we haven't got an answer on what 'chopping wood' is yet! The thread must live on! HAHA! Sorry... had to do it.
Lmao Zak
& here Dazz posts again & doesn't clarify yet again...Ooooo, you toy w us, you shameless leetle tart, you, Dazz!

It's obviously basic BB slang, Zak, that's why we peons are bean 'gnor'd... /;cp

...Peter; Gary?!

************************************************** ***************

Zak - aaaaaaggghhhh!
I say it's landing the sidestick down on the sn on the 2 & 4...or just the 2 OR the 4...or something to do w a standard sn accent in BB...it's prob basic, easy, common sense stuff...

Sorry to ignore that one, yep as you said, 'chopping wood' is when the drummer lays a heavy 2&4 down on the rim. Hasn't that one crossed the Atlantic??

[img]wink.gif[/img]

[royerin]

Thanks for the fantastic post Peter...as eloquent as your playing on the Jazz Baltica DVD I'm only just now seeing...

[img]redface.gif[/img]

[Don Worth]

Great answer about the reading question Peter. I met you years ago when you were with Kenton and I was in HS and went to the camp I thinkk it was Sacremento. Great learning experience. Thanks

[erskoman]

Thanks very much, HOD'ers.
Now let's all go and chop some wood.

;-)
PE

[Henry II]

Originally posted by SDK:
Henry, can you read english my man?
Apply it, now.
My post 3rd line down first sentence. come on man.

in answer to your question, ummmm...you get a recording of the arrangements, you learn them. Basic stuff.
I was just making the point that you can play music without reading it. Not always. Jeeeezus. Even above the guys said a million times. Not while subbing, sitting in, or not knowing the music ahead of time.

Go ahead, ask the same question again! hahaha... I feel like Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction. " Say What Again Mutha ^&*#@" The same thing over and over and over. It was already addressed up there. I'm new to this post. I read it. Why can't you? I'm saying that to all of you who ask the same thing over and over.

Well, how do you sit in with a Big Band and you don't know the music. Well friends. YOU DON'T! Not sitting in, or not subbing, does not mean you can't play the music of Big Band, just means you won't be getting the last minute sub calls. Big deal.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ May 31, 2005 11:14 AM: Message edited by: SDK ]</font></font>

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And if there are no recordings of the arrangements, or there's no time to memorize them, then what? Or, what if the band leader decides to change the arrangement at rehersal which is very common? Bottom line, if you can't read big band charts, you're not gonna get big band work.

(BTW, I didn't see the answer to my first question, on the 3rd line of your post).

PS: I hadn't seen Mr. Erskine's comprehensive post when I wrote this, now redundant, message.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 31, 2005 09:38 PM: Message edited by: Henry II ]</font>

[Henry II]

Originally posted by Rafael Dolinski:
Hi, I started studying Ted Reed's Syncopation book today (Thanks DeeP_FRieD). I think reading will help me a lot not just to play the big band charts but to read and write anything I want.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Raf, the Syncopation book is a great, versatile book, but it won't do much for drum chart interpretation. One more time: "Chart Reading Workbook for Drummers" by Bobby Gabriel.