Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)

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5 responses to “Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)”

1. 

   M. Sweetz

   August 10, 2010

   Review by M. Sweetz for Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)
   Rating:
   This book is absolutely excellent. Like other Berklee Press books, it is easy-to-understand, and it offers exercises after each exercise to ensure that the lessons are etched in your brain through hands-on application. This book demystifies alot concerning voicings and chord scale theory, and I dare say that this and “Reharmonization Techniques” by Randy Felts should be the first books one reads before they read other fine arranging books by Sebesky, Riddle, Mancini and Grove. Many of those books focus more on style, with little if any explaination of jazz/chord theory. Once you get the essentials from this book, you’ll gain way more from the other books.

   This book starts with a lesson on chord theory, then simple 4 and 5 part voicings, as well as non-chord tone reharmonization. It then proceeds to tell you exactly how to write voicings in fourths, clusters, and upper-structure triads. In addition, it comes with a CD with recorded examples from each chapter of the book, so you can hear the subtle differences between the various voicings and effects.

   This book is amazing!

   One word of advice (speaking from my own initial misunderstanding): when reading the early chapter detailing “avoid notes”, be sure to absorb and understand it as much as possible – it is the foundation upon which the later chapters on specialized voicings are built upon. This is the only part of the book where a decent grasp of jazz chord construction and tensions MAY be needed. In a nutshell, a note is avoided because: a.) It creates an nasty, dissonant interval with an essential chord tone, or b.) It creates an inteval with an essential chord tone that is uncharacteristic of that chord type (ie. a tritone in a Major 7th chord, etc.)

2. 

   Dan Primack

   August 10, 2010

   Review by Dan Primack for Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)
   Rating:
   “Modern Jazz Voicing” answers the fundamental question: How do you get that modern jazz sound? Divided into 2 separate sections, Part I provides the foundation for understanding basic techniques, voicings, and chord scales. Part II discusses the use of fourths, clusters, triads, and six-parts. At the end of each chapter are a series of exercises used to reinforce and demonstrate the techniques of that chapter. The felxibility I have found in being able to apply these techniques in different situations has greatly improved my capabilities. I strongly recommed this book to anyone seeking to increase their arranging capabilities.

3. 

   J. Mackill

   August 10, 2010

   Review by J. Mackill for Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)
   Rating:
   The material presented is great, and will prove helpful in my study of arranging.

   I did have one problem with the book however. In the introduction it states, “Because this book is intended for an expanded audience beyond students enrolled at Berklee, it includes substantial amounts of new text, many new musical examples, solutions to exercises and an accompanying CD.”

   Yes, it’s all there except the solutions to the exercises and I am finding that frustrating. I contacted the publisher and got this reply:

   Our Senior Editor clarified that the author meant the exercises begin with a measure of answers filled in for the student. They will clarify the “solutions to exercises” mention in the next printing of the book. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused you.

   Anyways, I found this aspect frustrating and a hinderance to my getting the full benefit of this book.

4. 

   Daniel Maudonnet

   August 10, 2010

   Review by Daniel Maudonnet for Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)
   Rating:
   Modern Jazz Voicings teaches how to write in fourths, clusters and uppers structure triads in an easy way. The best feature in this book is the recording examples. Any book that claims to be a great arranging book needs to have decent recording examples. The readers can easily digest the techniques since they are available to their ears. Also, the recordings not only include horn section, but they use different orchestration to illustrate the voicings explained. Berklee teaches this course called as Chord Scale Theory. I strongly recommend this book.

5. 

   Eric C. Sedensky

   August 10, 2010

   Review by Eric C. Sedensky for Modern Jazz Voicings: Arranging for Small and Medium Ensembles (Berklee Guide)
   Rating:
   My first foray into jazz arranging (taking a class at the local college) used what I consider the companion book of this one: Arranging for Large Jazz Ensemble (Berklee Methods). Although there is a lot of overlap between the two, this book contains more of the fundamental information that a first time jazz arranger needs, not only including the ranges of instruments, scoring requirements, and basic compositional ideas, but also the structure of a small band and how to achieve a full sound with less instrumentation. I found that this book also presents everything in a slightly simpler, easier-to-digest manner than the other, making this a much more practical book for someone who might be wanting to learn about jazz arranging on their own. The CD contains excellent examples of all the theories and techniques covered, again, making it easy to use for someone studying on their own. All in all, I would highly recommend that this book be used in tandem with its sister book, as they complement each other quite well and together cover all the ground any jazz arranger needs to know about. Ff you have to choose between the two and you are just starting out in jazz arranging, however, this is the book you should start with first. (At least, that’s what I did.)