Take the A Train Flashcards
Composer and date
Billy Strayhorn 1939
Recorded by and date
Duke Ellington and his orchestra 1941
designated work and date
1957 with Ella Fitzgerald
‘A-train’
subway line, quickest way to reach Harlem, where Ellington lived
1930’s America
Racial segregation- AA were excluded from spaces occupied by white A
Economic recession- stock market crash in 1929, global economic recession over the 1930s
Prohibition- heavy restrictions on alcohol
Swing was popular form of social dance- named the style of jazz
Features of Ellington’s band style
Timbral contrasts- saxes carry smooth, lyrical melody contrasted with short, sharp interjections by muted trumpets and open trombones
Typical 4-bar piano introduction
Care taken with dynamics
Time line of Jazz, artists, dates, line-up, texture, structure, features
Early jazz (Dixieland) 1920-1930
- Artists- Louis Armstrong
- Line-up- Clarinet, trumpet/cornet, trombone, banjo, piano, drums, bass
- Texture- homophonic/ polyphonic
- Collective solos- all improvised at the same time
- Structure- 12 bar blues
- Features- 1 main solo, walking bass, simple harmonies, march feel (2- beat)
Swing/ Big band 1930-1942
- Artists- Duke Ellington, count Basie
- Line-up- big band- up to 17 players, brass, reeds, rhythm section
- Texture- homophonic
- Solos split between players - length of 1 chorus
- Structure/form- 12 bar blues / AABA (head)
- Features- music is arranged, call + response, dance/move while playing, 4-beat feel (swung), primarily dance music, driving rhythm section, riff-based choruses
Bebop 1942-1950
- Artists- Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie
- Line-up- sax, trumpet, piano, bass, drums
- Texture- homophonic
- Solo- virtuosic, busy, scalic/chromatic, long, driving, complex, extremes of range- pushes the limits of instruments
- Structure/form- head (unison), solo, head
- Features- busy/virtuosic, frequent chord changes, complex and angular melodies, edgier tone, fast tempos, not written out
Cool Jazz 1950-1955
- Artists- Dave Brubeck
- Line-up- vibraphone, piano, drums, bass, can have more ‘classical’ instruments (flute, horn)
- Texture- homophonic
- Solo- longer solos, used more ‘inside’ (scale) notes
- Structure/form- sometimes written out
- Features- warmer tone, slower/relaxed tempos
Piece: form, structure, key, Metre tempo
Form- AABA
Chorus-> 32 bar form outlined as AABA
Structure- intro, head, chorus 1-4, shout, chorus 5, head, ending
Key- C major, B section in head-> F major
Metre- 4/4, swung rhythms
Harmony of the piece
- within 8 bars, the piece moves from the tonic (C) to D7(with #4) to Dm7 (supertonic D), to dominant (G), to close with dominant-tonic movement
- Added notes in D13#11, added 7th and 9th, together with A give the impression of an Am chord, provides an interesting alternative that gives the melody a forward-movement, compliments lower notes of melody
- i - vi - ii- V - I
Line-up
Big band
- Voice- Ella Fitzgerald
- Alto sax 1, 2 + 3
- Tenor sax
- Clarinet in Bb
- Trumpet 1,2,3,4- (1-Dizzy Gillespie )
- Trombone 1,2,3
- Piano- Duke Ellington
- Upright bass
- Drums
Rhythm section and roles
Piano
- Sparse accompaniment -> ‘comping’
- Sometimes plays the melody
- Little interjections, solos
Bass
- Walking bass, play notes of chord
- Help to keep the beat- kept the band together
- Repetitive/ continuative
Drums
- Keep tempo, rhythmic stability
- Dynamic control, build up, swung rhythms
- Used to ‘fill the space’ when the whole band isn’t playing
Special effects/techniques
- Uses onomatopoeia, with a train whistle gesture heard in the muted trumpets and in Ella’s vocal glissandi near the end- used to reinforce a musical concept or theme addressed by the lyrics
- Scatting solo for intro, chorus 1 + 5
- Choruses 2,3,4 - solo trumpet- Dizzy Gillespie
- Ella’s scatting- recompose the original melody + add in quotations from other pieces, uses melismas
Features of swing vs bebop
Swing
- Similar line-up to swing era band
- 4-feel, walking bass
- Homophonic texture
- Arranged music
- Mini shout chorus
Bebop
- Lengthy solos lasting many choruses
- Virtuosic solos- extremes of range- more complex, chromatic notes
- Homophonic texture
- Lots of dissonance, chromaticism, syncopated ->(Head)
Recognizing each section
Intro
- 4 bar piano intro, train whistle from trumpets
- Scat singing, trumpet ‘scoops’
- Chromatic movement in trombones, pedal note in bass
- High range clarinet
HEAD
- Walking bass, Ella-lyrics and low range, AABA form
- Sparse accompaniment in piano - typical of big band
- B- F major, horns have ‘riff-like’ idea
Chorus 1
- Scatting solo, saxes in unison, no trumpets, bass continues walking bass
- Same chord progression as head
- Trumpets are syncopated
Chorus 2,3,4
- Trading- 4 bars each the first time through chorus, then 8 bars on repeat
- Clarke Terry (melodic, singable, mellower tone)+ Dizzy Gillespie(higher, harsher, brass tone) on trumpet
- No voice, saxes or trombones, Piano plays more
- More of a Bebop style
Shout chorus
- Characteristic of big band- usually loud, extreme ranges with tutti
- Only 8 bars long, A section only
Chorus 5
- Mixture of lyrics & scat singing (embellished melody)
- Vocal + rhythm section only
HEAD
- Original lyrics and melody, ends on tonic
- Very syncopated in voice, just voice and rhythm in AA section
- Band joins back in at B- haven’t been heard since original head except for shout chorus
Ending
- Pedal point in bass + trombones
- Train whistle returns, similar to intro
Compositional devices
- Pedal points, Happens in the bass intro + ending and the trombone in ending
- Sequences, Happens in the brass in head
How is the narrative expressed?
- Trian whistle- brass
- Lyrics of vocalist
- Pedal note- constant clickity-clack of wheels on track of the train??
- General loud dynamic- loudness of the train??
Piano interjections- occasional horns/ engine noise??
