TromboneChat

So I am going to be doing Sammy Nestico's "Reflective Mood" with my community band next Spring and I was wondering if anyone had come up with a extended cadenza. The written cadenza (first one) is very short and to me it just screams for something longer. I know I could write something myself, but the truth is I am not much of an improviser and was hoping that out there in trombone land there might be a cadenza I could beg borrow or steal. Thanks.

Here's Scott Hartman killing it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_2z2yx7os

You need to find yourself a source of inspiration and use that to write one out, note-by-note. Maybe work a Star War's theme into it, or something else popular and easily recognizable. As a last resort, you could grab a cadenza from the back of the Arbans book and transpose it.

I can't improv very well either, but I work out melodic enhancements note-by-note after I come up with a concept of what I want to say. I once took a riff from a street band on YouTube and transposed it to another key, then inserted it into the solo part I had to come up with. It worked.

...Geezer

Quote from: MikeBMiller on Oct 09, 2017, 05:44PMSo I am going to be doing Sammy Nestico's "Reflective Mood" with my community band next Spring and I was wondering if anyone had come up with a extended cadenza. The written cadenza (first one) is very short and to me it just screams for something longer. I know I could write something myself, but the truth is I am not much of an improviser and was hoping that out there in trombone land there might be a cadenza I could beg borrow or steal. Thanks.

Here's Scott Hartman killing it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_2z2yx7os

What chord have you got written for the cadenza?

No chord written, but the tune is in G Major at that point.

Quote from: MikeBMiller on Oct 10, 2017, 11:27AMNo chord written, but the tune is in G Major at that point.

What's the instruction given for the cadenza? Ideally it needs to lead into the next section, and S H is playing around a D7. Points to consider are what shape do you want to use, i.e. low to high, high to low etc. What mood are you looking to create, it's a reflective piece so doesn't want to be too flash IMO.

It just says cadenza. Scott is playing the written cadenza in that video. I would like to do something a bit longer.

I'd advise you to spend some time with the written cadenza, maybe record yourself, and see what you can extract or add to it. It's almost a textbook jazz phrase, so if you're going to put something in it's place, you need to immerse yourself in the genre first.

One question. Why does a cadenza have to be long? I don't think we should ever think about cadenzas in terms of length and think that a piece "deserves" a longer cadenza. The best ones I've heard are short to moderate length. Better to have something short to say than a long meaningless ramble. While it CAN be both long AND meaningful, you should aim for something meaningful first, and then accept it as good however long it is.

The cadenza is typically the place where soloists lose the audience's attention the most, in my experience, because they try to improve the piece and show off that they can write/improvise some crazy long ****, and in the end it's rarely convincing and nobody except them cares. Ask yourself the question - is your cadenza going to keep the audience's attention, and is the audience best served in their experience of the piece. That's what matters.

Well, the solo itself is pretty short - about 3 minutes of actual playing. And the cadenza is just about 2 bars or so.

I have been working on throwing a quote from IGSOY in the middle of the written cadenza. The notes line up nicely. Or maybe I could play a couple bars from Moten Swing or some other Sammy Nestico tune just as a shout out to the composer. I have 5 months to figure it out.

Quote from: MikeBMiller on Oct 18, 2017, 02:49PM

I have been working on throwing a quote from IGSOY in the middle of the written cadenza. The notes line up nicely.

Bear in mind that the notes in the first bar after the cadenza ARE the same notes as IGSOY (in C).

Quote from: MikeBMiller on Oct 18, 2017, 02:49PM

I have been working on throwing a quote from IGSOY in the middle of the written cadenza. The notes line up nicely.

Bear in mind that the notes in the first bar after the cadenza ARE the same notes as IGSOY (in C).