Jazz Challenge

Ok, I'm new to the forum It may be too soon for me to start threads like this, but here goes:

I noticed that this forum has heavy emphasis on baroque/classical technique and atonal techniques but not too much in jazz harmony.

Don't get me wrong, I love the classical style and am tring to write in it to improve my sense of melody and counterpoint. After all I found this forum through a yahoo search for fugue composition. I love the fugue writing challenge. At the same time, "jazz" harmony is great. Those chord extensions are so lush and were used by people like Ravel, Debussy, etc...

Also more harmonic possibilities open you up as a composer, IMO.

So here it is, a challenge not competition.

Try to harmonize the included melody. It is a standard called Laura. I included the chord symbols above. Chords in ( ) are optional progressions. For those of you unfamiliar with the symbols, I spelled out the chords underneath, using the optional progressions when available. My chords are always in root position. If you have more questions about extended chord construction, ask me. Also look at the stuff on www.aebersold.com uder "free jazz"

Try to write for any instrument or combination of instruments.

This should NOT be a complete arrangement, just an exercise in harmonization/orchestration.

If this is a lot or really new, try and post just a few measures, the piece is made up of four 8 measure phrases (the last one is 7, should repeat the last measure.

Good luck and please give it a try!

Laura_melody.MUS

Laura_melody_and_chords.MID

Laura_melody_no_chords.MID

OK, here's mine.

I wrote it for 5 saxophones and bass.

I used some melodic and harmonic embelishment.

I really hope some people try this. I'd love to see some of the big classical guys trying it. (like J. Lee Graham, N. S. Canzano, etc...)

My harmonization uses close and semi-close voicings, which means that the voices are as close as possible most of the time, with an interval of at least a minor 3rd between the top 2 voives at any given time.

The bass is there to clarify the roots, since the saxophone voicings are often inverted chords.

Laura_saxes.MUS

Laura_saxes.MID

Do you want people to harmonize it or re-harmonize it? You basically seem to have harmonized it using the changes given. This amounts to arranging more so than harmonizing. I don't know that most people here are interested in arranging jazz tunes, although I could be wrong. I'd be interested to see if you could re-harmonize the tune yourself.

Well I guess I'd like to see it either way, just working with those chord extensions. The version that I put up mainly uses the provided changes, but I had to make decisions when harmonizing the non harmonic tones. Chords do form when those are harmonized. Also you have to make decisions on voicing, which I guess is a different game... You can't use all of the chord tones, so sometimes you have to decide which to drop.

Well I'm working on another version, where I try to reharmonize the tune as much as possible while keeping the style. I'm kinda busy over the next couple of days, but I'll post it when I'm done.

Nice work you've done. I liked your harmonisation. Are you familiar with Berklee method ? I cannot quite underestand wheter yours were written with this technique. Because I have studied Berklee method for a year and have harmonised countless tunes.

Tell me if you are aware of this method, and we'll have a discussion.

Nice work you've done. I liked your harmonisation. Are you familiar with Berklee method ? [/b]

I don't know what Berklee method is....his version is what I know as Supersax (after the saxophone ensemble who took Charlie Parker solos and harmonized 'em out like that)...

Supersax = take the melody, double it down an octave into the bari and fill in the other 'important' notes...

Variations: 'drop-2', same thing but drop the melody into the 2nd tenor, and drop the 2nd note from the top an octave into the bari... opens up the voicing.

CMaj used a combination if these, which makes it more interesting - less diatonic planing keeps the listener engaged.

Does this sound like the Berklee method?

I also am not sure what the Berklee method is. I learned this type of harmonization from Sammy Nestico's book on arranging, but he doesn't call it supersax either. He just calls it close and semi-close position voicings, which he uses in the brass also for ensemble sections. I'm curious about this Berklee method too.