From Mark...
The tune we are due to look at is The Balance by Dave Holland (from the album Points Of View ECM 1998).
I have prepared an additional sheet called The Balance - bits. It has a couple of backing lines used in the arrangement. (See below).
I
think this is a beautiful piece of music and a really interesting
arrangement. However, it is also very hard (in my opinion!) I chose it -
sorry!
I originally transcribed this piece
(about 10 years ago) in a slow 5/4 - much of the melody is written in
semiquavers. More recently I found a transcription on the net (credited
to Ville V. 2010 ) which notates the piece in 10/4 (or 6/4 +
4/4). I thought this looked more friendly, it also avoids the
semiquavers. However, I still find the best the way to 'feel' the rhythm
is in a slow 5. I'll bring along a semiquaver version for comparison on
Friday.
I know a number of you may feel that
perhaps we have done enough work on odd time signatures recently. I
somewhat regret this choice now (it was supposed to finish off the final
block of 2013!) All four of the tunes in our next block are in 4/4!!!
Anyway,
I have a couple of ways to approach this tune which we can try on
Friday. One of them involves improvising over the chords ... but in 4/4
:-)
I struggled with this challenging tune at first and did not like it much. But it has been good to slow it down and count it out and I now feel I can read it fairly easily. I think this is the most difficult tune we have done. It's good to move out of my comfort zone though.
ReplyDeleteFrom Mark -
ReplyDeleteSo despite my attempts to disguise this piece as 6/4 + 4/4 it seems like we ended up in 5 again! You should now have two versions of The Balance: one in 6/4 + 4/4 ( = 10/4) and one in 5/4. They are identical - 5 minims in the first version equal 5 crotchets in the second (notice the tempo of the first is twice that of the second).
There are many ways to learn how to improvise over a piece like this: one is to be born in Eastern Europe; another is to totally immerse yourself in non-4/4 music. You can also practise counting. In this case counting up to 5. The exercise we did in the session was roughly as follows:
1) play through the chord tones (and perhaps the scale) of each chord, out of time, i.e. as cadenzas
2) play minims, in time (perhaps using a metronome), through the entire sequence, starting with just roots and then chord tones
3) try very simple embellishments to these minims (also try leaving some minims out, i.e. gaps!)
4) now improvise like Chris Potter ...
Being able to play in 5 will enrich your playing in 4 (and hopefully it won't destroy it … )
Compositional elements & features of The Balance
> intro using just first chord, players entering one by one and all improvising together
> head played twice: one horn on melody (soprano), one on a countermelody / harmony (trombone)
> two-part voiced backing stabs (check out note choices for each part, and also the intervals they create - how would you add a third voice?)
> single instrument backing (trombone) playing simple rising line - only half a chorus
> half chorus of all instruments improvising together followed by half chorus drum fill (trombone backing cues last time)
> rhythmic devices (Dave Holland and his musicians are well known for their use of cross rhythms)
a) intro: hi-hat plays cross rhythm (new pulse at intervals of 5 quavers |6/4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | 4/4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & | )
b) bars 13-15: whole band play cross rhythm (new pulse at intervals of 3 quavers |6/4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | - what happens in the 4/4 bar?)
c) end of bar 8: anticipation of harmony in bar 9 by a crotchet