Answering (to the best of my ability) David's question about the
inconsistency of notating a tempo marking in a half note value with a
quarter note time signature:
In the world of practical jazz performance, counting and feeling
rhythm is not as consistent as staying in only one kind of
subdivision. It's best to be able to choose the pulse division that
suits the speed of the rhythms you are playing - like looking in your
wallet and seeing 5 $20 bills and knowing that's a clump that equals
$100 and that it's also divisible in other convenient ways. We all
do that (at least those of us lucky enough to have $100 in our
wallets). Jazz musicians (and other musicians confronted with
similar rhythmic details) need to be able to jump subdivision levels
instantly, if they are going to play complex rhythms and make them
feel right. It's not just counting to us. As a matter of fact, if
we don't get past counting, while still keeping the integrity of the
tempo, we can't play what we love to play. So we develop the ability
to jump subdivisions instantly. (I never knew anyone who could do
that as well as Bill Evans - the most rhythmically inventive and
accurate jazz musician I ever heard - an outstanding and vital
characteristic of his music all too often overlooked in favor of his
other qualities.)
So - as a result, we are inconsistent in the way that you noticed. I
tend to count off in a note value that relates to the way my legs
would move in the tempo I need, while I notate the time signature
according to preponderance of most note values, which tend to be
quarters and eighths. In the case of this piece, I'd feel too jumpy
dancing it in quarter notes (maybe I'm too old and graceless for
that), though I'm perfectly comfortable playing a walking bass line
at this speed.
Chuck
On Jan 4, 2007, at 3:55 AM, dhbailey wrote:
Chuck Israels wrote:
Dear Mike,
Here's an example of a pretty specific part - lots of detail.
They are not all this complex.
<http://homepage.mac.com/cisraels/filechute/Perhaps%20-%20Drums.pdf>
I hope this is helpful.
Chuck,
thank you for sharing that with us -- it is very helpful.
I have a question, though about the meter (4/4) and the tempo
indication (half=104) -- why use that tempo indication if not
writing the piece in cut-time? Or I suppose I could ask it another
way: why use that meter when the tempo indication shows that the
music should be felt at the half-note rather than the quarter-note?
I'm curious simply because I know that many such pieces are written
in cut-time but are counted in 4, and I explain that to my confused
students like this:
When the leader counts it off with "1, 2, 1234" the first "1, 2"
are to indicate the cut-time beat for the two-step feel of the
dance that the music was meant to accompany and the "1234" indicate
the way the musicians will actually count the music.
And I can understand that practice has simply evolved over many
years earlier in the 20th century, when much of the music was hand-
written and the finer details of music engraving were not worried
about. But in a modern edition I find it curious to find the meter
and the tempo indication at odds with each other and am curious,
being out of the loop as I am with current jazz-band music
engraving idiosyncracies.
--
David H. Bailey
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Chuck Israels
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