Post 437: BAD, BAD, CLARINET PLAYING! AND 'HIAWATHA RAG'.

I have touched on this subject before; but it is a particularly sore topic with me right now, following an experience a few days ago.

I am referring to a bad habit of a few clarinet players. Sometimes they play the melody for all or most of the ensemble work. In other words, they duplicate the trumpet-player's job.

My worst experience of this was several years ago. The tune Hiawatha Rag was announced. As you probably know, this is a lively and interesting number, played at a bright tempo.

For a pleasant video of the tune played well:

CLICK HERE.

It's not easy, because it has a special introduction, followed by Theme A, which involves some pretty runs, and then Theme B - with a kind of marching motif. Then Theme A is played again before the band moves (with a change of key) into the final 32-bar Theme C, on which solos are improvised. To finish, you play a coda that is extracted from Theme A.

Immediately after we started, I noticed the clarinet man was playing nothing but the trumpet part - my part. So we were on exactly the same notes. How pointless. I tried hard to switch to a sort of clarinet part on my trumpet, but I was struggling. When we came to Theme C, the clarinet was still tootling away on the precise notes of the melody. As this is the main theme and frequently improvised upon, I found it a bit easier to create a sort of 'clarinet part' on my trumpet at this stage.

Goodness knows what the clarinet player thought he was doing.

(In the video mentioned above, by the way, the clarinet takes the first time through Theme C as a solo. This is fine and had obviously been agreed by these good folk in advance - to give the trumpet a break.)

And now, at a recent gig, with a different clarinet player, I had another bad experience. Most of the gig went well, and the clarinet man did his job efficiently. But in two of the tunes, I heard him doggedly playing the melody. These were easier tunes than 'Hiawatha Rag', so I managed to improvise some sort of counter-melodies without too much difficulty when I realised what was happening. But then he would suddenly drop the melody and start to play a more conventional clarinet part. This made the band sound poor: for a few seconds nobody was playing the tune. I would rapidly get back to it, only to find that he followed me - on exactly the same notes!!

So may I appeal to clarinet players?  If you are tempted to do this kind of thing, please discuss it with the trumpet player first. Nobody minds the clarinet taking the lead in an ensemble occasionally but this should not happen in a way that takes fellow musicians by surprise and causes problems for them.

Post 301: ACKER BILK AND 'STRANGER ON THE SHORE'

The famous British clarinet player Acker Bilk died in November 2014. I particularly enjoyed his early traditional jazz work with the Ken Colyer Band. But the Great British Public always associates him with his 'hit' - Stranger on the Shore - which is indeed a beautiful melody and which he sometimes played with a lush background of orchestral strings.

I received the following email from an American correspondent. It gives us an unusual angle on the subject.
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I don't know where Acker Bilk stands in the pantheon of great clarinet players, but I did notice his passing yesterday. I knew his name mostly from an album cover that my step-Dad used to leave around the house, though at the time I never listened to it. In any case, I read his obit in the BBC online blog and saw that, in addition to being a trad clarinet player, he had also written a pop instrumental hit called "Stranger on the Shore".

My curiosity piqued, I went to Youtube to listen to it. It took me a couple of listens to see why it had attracted the general public's attention (who can explain these things really?), but after a couple of listens, I felt I had done my duty, and moved on.

This evening, I was in the kitchen working on the computer while a housemate was in the livingroom watching TV. Wafting out of the next room I hear the sounds of....believe it or not, "Stranger on the Shore" played on clarinet. At first I thought I was imagining it, but I was not.

It turns out that "Stranger" plays in the background of an Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Jim Belushi movie called "Red Heat" in the scene where the two of them are sitting in a "greasy-spoon" diner ordering coffee. What a strange coincidence!

David Rumpler

Boston, MA
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I have since received this email from Barrie in the North of England.
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Ivan

I read your piece about the tune being on the soundtrack of a film. I remember it was used in the film 'There's Something About Mary'. I checked on line and there it is in the soundtrack listings.

Barrie

Post 268: THE SAME 'IMPROVISATION' TIME AND AGAIN!

A reader from Essex, England, sent me this interesting comment:

I learnt from your blog that many tunes share the same chord progression e.g. the Sweet Sue Progression, which makes life easier for the rhythm section. But then I thought that perhaps this applies to the clarinet and the trombone parts as well. Could it be that a clarinet player has learnt after many hours of practice a standard part for a chord progression that fits many songs or put another way, if you played through all the tunes listed under the Sweet Sue Progression would the clarinet player play the same thing each time (obviously with variations to fit the particular tune)?

..............I know that some very talented musicians could make up something different every time but there must be lesser mortals who learn a set piece and always play that way.

The reader is right.

I'm sure there are great players who do not depend on learning and repeating pet phrases. But it is possible (and tempting) to use the same sequence of notes in several different tunes, if they fit.

I know a clarinettist who plays exactly the same notes in ensembles and exactly the same 'solo' choruses at every performance. Audiences don't notice, but I have heard his fellow musicians complain that what he offers is not really jazz and that playing-by-rote prevents him from contributing to the special excitement generated when instruments feed off each other and respond to what the other is saying.

However, even the very best traditional jazz players have developed a number of pet phrases (known as 'licks') that occur frequently in their playing over familiar chord sequences.

Post 239: CLARINET, TROMBONE OR TRUMPET? WHOSE JOB IS MOST DIFFICULT?

Which has the hardest rôle in a traditional jazz band - the clarinet, the trumpet or the trombone? I ask because a clarinet-playing correspondent wrote to say he thinks the clarinet's part is easier than the trumpet's. Here's what he wrote:

Clarinet is easier than trumpet in that we generally don't have to learn many melodies. If you're flexible and have a good ear and instinct, you can listen to the trumpet for specific types of melody lines that tell you a) what the next chord might be, and b) if we do a double-ending or change pitch, etc. But clarinet has its own mostly technical issues - the danger of squeaking, running out of muscle strength, having the weight of the horn on your right thumb and arm all the time. The clarinet basically has three registers, and the bottom two are 12 tones away from each other, not an octave like on the saxophone. That means you have more notes to pick from when playing, but the highest register is again completely different from the other two. And embouchure is always tricky. But it's worth it - if played well, you can really sing with the clarinet. It's an emotional instrument if played right, and that's perfect for little emotional me.

To play the way I do, clarinet is easier, because I can play whatever I want and don't need to know the song one bit. You can't do that on trumpet. That's the main thing I find easier on clarinet.

This insight is supported by another correspondent (a trumpet player), who told me he often asks whether - for a change - one of the other players would like to play the melody line in the first chorus or two of a tune. He has been surprised to find that very fine players are often reluctant to do this, claiming that they are not sure of the melody - even though they can create wonderful decorations around it! He says:

Unless they have learnt the tune as a feature, they invariably recoil in horror at the thought of having to play what might be a simple tune! It doesn’t matter how good they are at accompanying – they don’t like to play the melody.

My own view is that in a full-size, busily-working jazz band, the clarinet's job is more important than the trumpet's. I have written on this topic before. As I implied then, a really good clarinet-player can turn an ordinary band into a great band.

It's true that trumpet playing can be very tiring on the muscles around the mouth. And it's also true that the trumpet player needs to have plenty of tunes accurately stored in his memory (though this is easier than some may believe).

But a good clarinet player has to know the chord changes of every tune - either by rote or intuitively - and he has to be a master of rapid arpeggios. His fingering must be confident and fast. He must also be skilful at throwing occasional long bluesy notes into his playing - usually flattened thirds and sevenths.

I guess that good clarinet players have spent hundreds of hours practising arpeggios, perhaps backed by recordings that give them a clear melody around which to weave their magic.

The best clarinet players avoid playing right on the beat - especially on the first note of every bar. Coming in after the first quaver or on the second beat contributes better to the syncopation. They also avoid playing too many bars comprising nothing but quavers and crotchets. Triplets, semiquaver runs, dotted notes and trills - as well as those 'hanging' long bluesy notes mentioned above - add so much to the excitement.

Above all, in ensemble work, where the trumpet is stating the melody, you won't catch good clarinet players playing exactly the same notes as the trumpet.

But what about the rôle of the trombone in all this? I consider his job extremely difficult too. He needs to know the harmonic progression of every tune the band plays (either as a result of hard graft in learning the chord sequences or by developing an amazing ear for the bass-line of the successive chords). He has to push the band along through the chord changes. This frequently involves (starting on the fourth note of a bar and moving on to the first of the next) taking the harmony from the root of one chord to the root of the next by means of a glissando or direct punching out of the notes.

But he must also have a huge repertoire of tricks and phrases. He should be able to take on the melody for an occasional chorus - to give variety to the presentation. And he should be a skilful user of mutes: a good range of trombone effects is possible to embellish the music.

So I come to no conclusion. To play any of these instruments really well in a traditional jazz band is very hard work and requires a great deal of practice and experience.
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After reading the above, Barrie Marshall - a well-known reed player in the north of England - sent me these observations:

The piece  about trumpet, clarinet and trombone, I found very interesting, in particular about playing melody. I am a clarinet player and I play with a cornet player in three bands, his, mine and somebody else's. I find learning the melody extremely useful. Neither of us can read music. He is a fine melody player and we do stuff by Morton, Williams, Oliver, early Armstrong etc. I have a good knowledge of chords so, with that and being able to play the melody, harmonies are very soon worked out, usually on the gig, just head arrangements that work very well. I do go busking with a trio, clarinet, tuba and banjo and I also play in a quartet where I am the melody instrument (alto and clarinet) so I can pick up tunes fairly quickly.Of course all is not perfection. Cock ups and mistakes happen. That's traditional jazz. As the cornet player often says, it has to be risky to make it exciting!

Often the cornet player and I swap rôles in a tune. He gets me to play the melody if I know it and he accompanies me.

So you reed players and trombone players:  learn melodies!

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Another reader in his own blog (http://www.wilktone.com/?p=4545   - well worth reading; let me recommend it) has made the point that clarinet and trombone players SHOULD always learn to play the melody line accurately. The reasons he gives are:
(1) this will help the player to avoid clashing with the melody notes; and
(2) there may be occasions when a clarinet or trombone needs to play the melody, either as a pleasant variation on usual practice or because the trumpet-player could be absent ill.
These are very good points.

Post 184: CONCERT KEYS AND TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS

CORNET - a B Flat Instrument
(so its 'C' sounds the same note as a piano's 'B Flat')

I have had an enquiry from a reader. He says I wrote that Michigander Blues is normally played in the key of D minor. But when he tries it on his trumpet it seems to be in his key of E minor.

So let me explain that several instruments used in traditional jazz are transposing instruments, which means that music written for them appears to be in one key but when played it sounds in a different key. Most trumpets, for example, are Bb instruments, so if you play C on such a trumpet, you will produce the same note as Bb on the piano. The same is true of most clarinets.

You also come across Eb instruments, such as some tubas and saxophones. This means that if you play C on one of these instruments, it will sound the same note as Eb on the piano.

So my trumpet player - performing Michigander Blues in HIS E minor - is actually playing it in D minor (concert pitch - as sounded on the piano).

Why have instrument manufacturers made matters so complicated?  It's simply because they have found - over many decades of trial and error - that the tuning and fingering on the transposing instruments are better if they are built in such a way.

As a player of a Bb trumpet or Bb clarinet, you should in my opinion always refer to the concert key in which you are playing a piece of music with your band. Don't confuse the rest of the band by mentioning your own personal key. So, for example, if the band decides to play Michigander Blues in D minor, then D minor it is, even though you know that you personally will be playing it in your instrument's E minor.

To put it another way, you will always be one tone higher than the 'concert key' that the pianist or banjo or guitar player uses.

So for example if the band announces that it is going to play Muskrat Ramble in Ab, you know immediately that you will be playing in your Bb.

Maybe this sounds tricky, but after a short time such thinking becomes automatic.

Here's Shaye Cohn's Bb cornet. When she plays C on this, it sounds the same note as the Bb on a piano or banjo.

Here she is playing Michigander Blues. You can hear that the band is playing the tune in D minor. But if you watch Shaye's fingers, you will notice that she personally is of course having to play it in the cornet's E minor:
CLICK HERE.

Post 101: CLARINET (AND SAXOPHONE) PLAYING - GOOD AND BAD

Please note: this article was first written with clarinet playing in mind. But it applies to saxophone players as well.

To hear a clarinet player doing just what a traditional jazz clarinet player should, CLICK ON THIS VIDEO. The clarinet listens well to the trumpet lead and harmonises beautifully. It is a great demonstration of what can be achieved even with very limited resources.

My friend Jonathan Graham - a fine guitarist and a trumpet player - told me he has been listening to lots of jazz recordings from the 1920s and has come to the conclusion that the clarinet is usually the most important instrument in the band.

It is the clarinet player who provides the drive, the energy, the decoration of the melody, syncopation, tone colouring, most of the polyphony - in fact much of the 'jazziness' of the music.

A good clarinet player has to know the chord changes of every tune - either by rote or intuitively - and he has to be a master of rapid arpeggios. His fingering must be confident and fast. He must also be skilful at throwing occasional long bluesy notes into his playing - usually flattened thirds and sevenths.

I guess that good clarinet players have spent hundreds of hours practising scales and arpeggios, perhaps backed by recordings that give them a clear melody around which to weave their magic.

The best clarinet players avoid playing right on the beat - especially on the first note of every bar. Coming in after the first quaver or on the second beat contributes better to the syncopation. They also avoid playing too many bars comprising nothing but quavers and crotchets. Triplets, semiquaver runs, dotted notes and trills - as well as those 'hanging' long bluesy notes mentioned above - add so much to the excitement.

Above all, in ensemble work, where the trumpet is stating the melody, you won't catch good clarinet or saxophone players on exactly the same notes as the trumpet. Why? For three reasons.

First, such duplication means a waste of the band's limited resources.

Second, it misses an opportunity for harmony and polyphony.

Third: the timbres of the two instruments clash. Listen to a trumpet alone playing, for example, a C for four beats. Fine. Now listen to a clarinet alone playing the same C for four beats. Fine. Now have them both together playing that C for four beats. Not so good. The sound is much less pleasant.

So, where the trumpet is assigned to stating the melody, the clarinet and saxophone must steer clear of it. (I have recently heard a jazz performance ruined by a saxophone player who was very loud, very weak on 'teamwork' and trying to play - most of the time - the same notes as the trumpet.) And this includes Middle Eights. Although Middle Eights can be tricky, the clarinet or saxophone player should take the trouble to learn their chord progressions correctly rather than cop out and simply play the melody of the Middle Eight (duplicating what the trumpeter is doing and annoying the rest of the band into the bargain), as I frequently hear a clarinet player do.

The situation can be particularly bad if a band has both a clarinet and a saxophone playing, probably in addition to trumpet and trombone. If the reed players do not play as team members, with a high level of musical awareness, the result can be excruciating. 

It is acceptable for the clarinet or saxophone to play the melody only when it is agreed in advance that it will 'take the lead', while the trumpet player either drops out for these bars or switches to improvising around the melody. Also, when playing a 'solo' chorus, the effect can sometimes be very pleasant if the clarinet player stays very close to the melody, perhaps in a low register. This can make a good contrast after an ensemble chorus led by the trumpet.

Breaks are another feature of traditional jazz in which the clarinet or saxophone can contribute so much to the excitement of the music. (If you don't know what I mean by 'break', I am referring to those moments when all the instruments except one drop out after the first beat of the bar, leaving that one instrument to play something interesting and decorative. Breaks are often assigned to the clarinet.)

Consider for example the famous 4-bar break in Jazz Me Blues. A weak clarinet player may simply play this:

Technically that is all right. But it is hardly dynamic and exciting. It would be far better to play something on these lines:

In addition to all this, of course, the clarinet or saxophone often plays the melody - either because the tune is a clarinet feature, or because the band is a small group perhaps without a trumpet, or because the band has made an arrangement of the tune in which either the whole of the melody or one of the strains (in a rag, for example) is best played by the clarinet - if only for variety. All these situations give the clarinet player a great opportunity to demonstrate the instrument's beautiful tones and its expressive, soulful capabilities.

For an example of a modern clarinet-player and saxophone player getting things absolutely right, CLICK ON THIS PERFORMANCE. The clarinet player is John Doyle and the saxophonist is Ewan Bleach. It is also a joyous example of traditional jazz teamwork at its best.
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FOTNOTE
The book Playing Traditional Jazz, by Pops Coffee, is available from Amazon.