High-Definition Jazz

We’re getting spoiled these days …
It used to be that a certain amount of noise (and sometimes a lot of it) was the
norm for our audio and visual experiences, in the “analog world.” For example,
here are some of the technology items we used to rely on that are now pretty
much obsolete (except for nostalgia …)

• Vinyl records
• Cassette tapes
• Rabbit-ear antennas
• TV and radio dials
• 16-color computer monitors

In our digital age, we now have the crystal-clear sights and sounds of CDs,
DVDs, HDTV, iPods, satellite radio, and more. But the clarity we demand from
our recorded sights and sounds is often lacking in our jazz performance,
especially when it comes to learning jazz in the public schools.

Blurry Jazz

I give a number of clinics each year with high school, junior high and middle
school jazz ensembles. One of the recurring themes (or problems) is what I call
“jazz blur” – a lack of focus in the sounds being played.

plasma pictures, etc. So, when I hear “out-of-focus” music in their ensemble, I
ask them whether they’d rather see a blurred jpeg image or a hi-res photo; or,
whether they’d rather listen to a car radio that’s between stations, or their
favorite MP3’s.

The answers are obvious – everyone likes precision. However … students don’t
usually realize (or even believe) that they can approach “digital” clarity in their
performance. That is, until they actually do it – and then you see the jaws drop
and the eyes light up with the results. Suddenly, putting up with blurry jazz is not
an option any more.

So, how do we bring a jazz ensemble into focus? There are three main areas to
concentrate on:

• Rhythmic precision
• Pitch precision
• Dynamic precision

Part 1: Rhythmic Precision

OK, I’m in the junior high band room, listening to the jazz band run through the
swing tune they are preparing for the upcoming state music festival. Hmm … a
bit rhythmically blurry, it seems.

So here are a few of the things we start to work on in the session ...

1) We start feeling the basic triplet subdivisions. To do this, we take the tune downtempo
so we can identify where the triplets are and how they fit precisely
with the music.

2) We experience the beauty of quarter-notes. Instead of just tossing quarter-notes and
quarter-rests aside as “easy stuff,” we instead live and breathe the triplets
inside of them. It’s amazing how even this simple technique clears up the
blur, when students buy into the concept. This is especially true for rests –
when students truly experience triplets inside rests, the music’s never the
same again! Entrances and timings, for example, dramatically improve.

3) We clean up the articulations. Some articulations are actually written incorrectly
in the chart, and others are missing. (For a list of swing articulation
guidelines, see the Sightreading Jazz method …) We get everyone on the
same wave-length with shorts and longs, which uncovers 3 basic problems:
a) short notes in slower tempos usually need to be played a bit longer (fatter);
b) short notes in faster tempos need to be played a bit shorter (tongue-stops for
brass); and
c) long notes in latin styles need to be full, not broken.

4) We clear up the optical illusions. For example, swing dotted-quarter values are
not all the same: downbeat dotted-quarter values get 5 triplets; offbeat dotted
quarter-values get 4 triplets. When students discover and master this concept,
swing phrases lock in even tighter – more focus, less blur.

5) We spend time on time. In other words, we drill on independent time-keeping,
with a few simple exercises:

• Play 1 or 2 selected beats in a measure, repeating the bar, eyes closed, no
tapping or audible cues (strengthens subdivisions during silence)
• Playing side-by side dotted quarters in swing (5 vs. 4 triplets)

The Rhythmic Grid

Another concept that proves highly valuable with student groups is the rhythmic
grid, where students think of each note as belonging on a “grid” or intersection of
time. For example, the triplet grid of swing arranges the attack and length of
every note (and every silence) into a 12/8 subdivision of 4/4.

When students understand exactly where the notes belong, they will feel more
confident about putting them there. They will also do a better job of selfcorrection
and even help each other fix rhythmic problems. The result is more
enjoyable jazz, with a much higher definition in rhythmic clarity.


Part 2: Pitch Precision
If rhythmic precision is the “horizontal adjustment,” then pitch precision can be
thought of as the “vertical hold” (some of us remember that term from the old
analog TV sets). There are four important elements of lining up pitches precisely:

• Tune: We all know about tuning up before rehearsing, but the responsibility
for getting in tune needs to rest with the student first, and director second.
And don’t forget the importance of tuning the bass and guitar in the
ensemble – we tend to hear them as “hidden” beneath the horn section, so
when they are out of tune it affects everyone else.

• Hear: Students need to accurately hear the pitches they are playing – before
playing them. Hearing the wrong pitch is all too common, and it means
there’s little chance of actually playing that pitch in tune.

• Sing: Especially for horns, but also useful for guitar and bass, the technique
of mentally singing the pitches as they are played does wonders for pitch
precision.

• Adjust: After tuning, hearing, and “singing,” minor adjustments will
sometimes need to be made. But more often these should focus on better
hearing and singing, rather than constant re-tuning of the instrument

(by Bob Taylor – ©2007 Visual Jazz Publications)