Sharps or Flats? Enharmonics 101 - Big Band Arranging SECRETS REVEALED

[@nibblrrr7124]

Very useful, thanks Elliot! Now I'm fishing for exceptions to the "make intervals look like they sound" rule: In repetitive licks, something like "C-Eb-E-Eb E-Eb-C-Eb E-Eb-E-Eb E-F-G", I _feel_ as a player I'd much rather see every Eb replaced by a D# and give each degree its own line, instead of a flood of naturals & flats? Keeping just the first Eb would make the jump from C clearer, but that feels confusing, too. Then again, thinking "C'mon, they're professional musicians that can sightread an enharmonic interval here and there," when _I already understand what the part should sound like!_ :^) I have limited practical experience sightreading in ensembles, and basically none writing parts for them, so... (Besides blues scales, I've also run into this in e.g. many metal riffs that use something like half-whole scale, or mix dominant and regular phrygian, sometimes repeated over _pages and pages_ - but varied or polymetrically shifted so bar repeats are not an option... Augh.)

[@Salsuero]

Sure... if they actually are professionals. I like to build generic habits that crossover easily, so I don't write my arrangements assuming only professionals should be able to read them... unless I'm writing very specifically for a purpose that will only ever be used in that way. Still... if they're good enough to read a difficult enharmonic line, they're good enough to read my more "amateur" version using easier spellings.

[@clarinetguyuk]

This is one of the occasions where using the more remote accidentals can be more helpful than trying to avoid them. Depending on the surrounding context, you could either write that lick as "C-Eb-Fb-E F-E-C-E F-E-F-E Enat-Fnat-G" or "B#-D#-E-D E-D-B-D E-D-E-D E-F-G". Both options clearly show the intervallic relationship between each note, and minimise the number of extraneous printed accidentals (I've omitted the accidentals that carry through the bar for ease of reading).

[@jeffgouge7456]

Thank you Elliott! Just rewrote my horn parts for Jeannine and A Walkin' Thing and they are SOOOOOO much easier to read! Thanks AGAIN! such a great practical lesson! Can't believe those horn players didn't turn around and say "Could you make it any more difficult to read?!!!" LOL Jeff, Springfield MO

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

Glad to hear it!

[@medicussapiens]

Just what I needed. Thank you so much.

[@daveklugemusic]

Really clear explanation for this process, Elliot! I like the idea of changing everything around the C natural to make it look how it sounds (Ab arpeggio instead of G#). Thanks!

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

Thanks for watching!

[@gilevansinsideout]

Thanks Elliot, good video! The G#/Ab triad was an interesting one for me.

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

That one seems to be pretty controversial, but I’m sticking to it!

[@gilevansinsideout]

@@PandemoniumBigBand I'm cool with it!

[@bradleyhecht9087]

For me the reason to keep sharps with sharps and flats with flats is because if I'm reading away in for example a sharp key and I see a flat it makes me think there's been a key change that I've missed and now I want to check the key signature. Thanks for your videos, keep them coming!

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

Good point. Some of my examples I used in this video are pretty extreme. In most situations I totally agree with you.

[@MusicLiberates]

Excellent insights and pro tips here. Thank you, sir.

[@p3rformer]

Great to hear this from a professional! I often asked myself if I am allowed to put a sharp in a flat key just to make it more readable and I am glad that there's room for play. Thanks for your videos!

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

Glad to help!

[@Salsuero]

I mostly stick with E and B natural for concert pitches in all instruments (transposing to F# and C# in trumpets and tenor saxes, and C# and G# for the altos and bari), and Bb, Ab and Eb as well. Transposed, I don't like to write A#, G#, or D# pretty much ever, except for in piano or guitar/bass parts. Horn players love their easy key signatures and are far more used to quickly reading Bb or F keys. Trumpets and tenor saxes don't wanna see A# when they would prefer to see Bb. And keeping in mind that Trombones usually have far more expectation of seeing a Bb and Eb in their music, and altos and the bari are used to the F#... I generally try to enharmonically spell anything using those notes, regardless of the key signature. TLDR: I try to write for the specific horn transpositions and what those horns are more likely to read quickly. I know there are lots of examples of harder enharmonic spellings out there... kinda bugs me to too often see Cb in trombone parts. But... my music is generally fairly easy to sight read due to my spellings. The only exceptions I tend to give myself room for contradiction is when there are chromatic scales or certain arpeggios that move quickly. I don't like mixing flats and sharps when it's fast. But I still refuse to write Cb, Fb, B#, or E#, even if it's a run. We all have to draw the line somewhere!

[@NCbluesman]

Good vid. Thank you.

[@esanders]

Awesome video! In Accent we are often discussing how to balance easy reading with giving the player/singer a sense of harmonic function. That leads us to use trickier reading at times so we know what notes we each have in the chords. It's definitely not straightforward or an always-or-never thing. Any thoughts on that, especially for more advanced musicians?

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

Vocal jazz scores have different considerations. For instrumental parts (especially for non-chordal instruments) harmonic function isn’t really a consideration. Regardless of how advanced the musician is, their part should be formatted to be as easy to sight read as possible! Great question

[@MikeJamesMedia]

Interesting, Elliot. Thank you!

[@drummonk3699]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[@christopherberner618]

Hi Elliot! Great video! Maybe as an extension to this, do you write in concert pitch or straight to transposed? Where I am studying on the east coast right now, I find people are advised to write in concert, and the the transposed parts end up with a lot of the dreaded E-sharps and F flats. My west coast instructors advised writing straight to transposed parts so that you can fix the enharmonics as you go. Any thoughts? Thanks for the great content!

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

I write in concert. But then I spend a good deal of time fixing my parts. I think writing in transposed is more of a generational divide rather than a coastal one.

[@Salsuero]

I always write transposed, but that's because I'm VERY used to all the different instruments and what their transpositions look like without having to think about them. It also makes it easier for me to see their ranges, personally. I have a harder time remembering when saxes get too high when they're in concert pitch. To each their own! There's no one perfect way... I mean... it's jazz... nothing's supposed to be perfect!

[@monsterjazzlicks]

Have subbed!

[@femerolo]

Super !! Thanks!!

[@Bugleur]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

[@mombo4654]

I’ve been encountering this problem when working with melodic minor modes and scale runs. I always feel conflicted as to how I should spell out the altered notes in those parts

[@Salsuero]

Write them out so they are easiest to actually read. That's really the best practice when you don't have a good excuse not to. You're not writing for critical analysis of technique... you're writing for a human being to play. It could be that there's a more "according to this or that precise technique" method... but then who cares if your players are playing the wrong notes?

[@sttrumpet]

Great stuff Elliot!! How about writing with no key sig?

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

Honestly, I’m not a fan. If your composition has no actual key center, then I suppose no key signature would be appropriate. But I’ve never done that on any of my charts. And in my experience reading charts like that in other bands, it always seems to mess me up. I think I rely on key center for my intonation AND for my sight reading.

[@nibblrrr7124]

​@@PandemoniumBigBand What if the key changes often? Not, like, Giant Steps often, but e.g. three times each 16 bar Verse. How confusing to players are key changes vs. lots of accidentals?

[@sttrumpet]

Your piece gets read correctly the first time. Rather than coming into a bar and having to look the left to check the key sig. This is the way movie cues are written. I've done it both ways. Writing for concert band in the past, I have not had a key sig, because it switches tonality all over the place. For me, there seems to be less mistakes made when you have players not checking key sigs. My 2 cents.

[@lyntedrockley7295]

Not so much a problem these days with notation apps (though they're responsible for most of the E# and Cbs) was the good old, 'I'm only going to put the key sig on the first line because I'm in a hurry/can't be bothered/thats how the pros do it' copyist. Has to be the cause of more clams and disasters than any other on the stand.

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

That is a problem!

[@lyntedrockley7295]

@@PandemoniumBigBand Hey FB says its your Birthday today! If that's true, Happy Birthday Elliot and thankyou for all the vids and music!

[@jburtonca]

I know this is a little off topic and I don't want it to sound like a rant but middle schools and high schools are doing their students a great disservice by not teaching their students to play in sharp keys. I'm sure you have thought about this yourself.

[@PandemoniumBigBand]

I think that problem is different school to school. But it definitely does students a disservice to not sight read in all keys. Personally, I didn’t really learn to sight read until my time at CSULB (graduate school). The jazz band rehearsed 3 times each week and always read through a few new charts every meeting.

[@charlottaspidell605]

𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕞 😊