Block Voicing (2) - 2, 3 & 5 Parts

BLOCK VOICING Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2

FIVE PART

1. Same as for four-part close voicing but with melody doubled an octave lower.
2. Same as for four-part open voicing but with the fifth part on roots
3. Clusters: add the 6 and 9 to triads; add the 9 to 7 chords. Close or open. The lead can be doubled in octaves to create a sixth voice. Clusters work well where a more dissonant sound is required or to add some tension to more traditionally voiced chords.

TWO PART

The conventions of two-part writing specify:

• The interval between melody and harmony line is a third or a sixth.
• The note chosen for the harmony should be a chord note if the melody is a chord note.
• If the melody is a passing note the harmony part is often a passing note.
• All thirds or all sixths can sound bland.
• When choosing between third or sixth voice leading and good melodic movement in the harmony part should be taken into account.

In mainstream jazz arranging other intervals can be used occasionally either to create tension through dissonance or when a more melodic harmony line results:

Interval between lead and harmony
major 2nds and minor 7ths	Dissonant - should be used only when stylistically appropriate. Avoid if in doubt.
minor 2nds, major 7ths	Very dissonant - useful for special effects
flattened/augmented 5ths (#4ths)	Can be used where the given chord requires
perfect 5ths, 4ths	Sound weak when combined with 3rds and 6ths, but can be used where stylistically appropriate (eg modal jazz)

Where the melody note is a chord tone, the harmony note should be a chord tone. Where the melody is a passing note or extension the harmony is often also a passing note or extension. The weaker intervals can be used on weak beats to avoid leaps in the lower part. Be careful of thinking of the 6th in a chord as a proper harmony note, its main function is to add thickness or colouration in four-part harmony and its use in two-part may imply a different chord. Long passages containing all 3rds or all 6ths should be avoided, but constant alternating between 3rds and 6ths should only be used when a better melodic harmony line results.

THREE PART

Harmonise the melody in the same way as for four part but only add two other chord notes from the lead downwards. One of the four chord notes will have to be omitted:

1. In all chords there must be a 3^rd and 7^th (except when the root of a major 7 is in the lead, in which case the 3^rd and 6^th ).
2. Perfect 5ths can be omitted from chords, and so can roots provided there is a bass instrument somewhere playing them. Where there is a choice of note use the one that gives the best melodic movement in the harmony parts.
3. If the chord requires an altered 5^th then that note should be used and the root should be omitted.

FULL ENSEMBLE (Tutti)

There are many methods of writing full ensemble for the jazz orchestra. Here are two very basic methods:

Combining sections.

Write close voicing for trumpets, close or open voicing for trombones immediately below them, add the saxes written with open voicing with the lead alto doubling the 2^nd or 3rd trumpet.

Big Chords

Add chord tones downwards from the lead as with four-part. When writing big chords spread across the entire ensemble use smaller intervals high up, larger intervals low down. Roots and 5ths can be doubled, take care doubling 3rds. Avoid upper extensions low down. (See Russo -Composing For The Jazz Orchestra)

GENERAL TIPS AND HINTS

• Transcription of existing arrangements is one of the best ways to learn, not just the rules but how different arrangers have created their individual styles, by bending or breaking the rules, or creating their own.
• Write legibly.
• Do not write transposed scores.
• However large the ensemble, unisons and octaves should not be ignored. They can be very powerful, or supply a contrast to thick harmony. When using backing figures or counterpoint it often works well to have the lead in harmony and the backing in unison, or vice versa. It can be very effective to use unison on an anacrusis (pickup) or faster melodic passages, followed by open or closed harmony on slower moving lines.