Jazz Nocturne in C major

An odd name, I'm sure, but essentially this is a simple, melodic jazz tune evocative of the cool, laid-back night. Not exactly Chopin, but I think it's pretty fun nonetheless.

This was my first and so far only jazz composition, but it was very fun to write, and I'd love to develop this into a longer piece!

Scored for:
- Piano
- Acoustic guitar
- Upright bass
- Percussion

Jazz Nocturne in C major

Thanks for checking this out. I look forward to receiving your feedback/comments/criticism.

groovy tune you got here. I liked it a lot!

couple things...

For one, your score shows tenor sax not guitar

A little monotonous, the bass line was interesting but I would have taken it to a new level with key, varied the melodic line, etc. etc.

Also, not one accendental!!!

But it was good nonetheless, I gave it a few listens

Vince

Lol, yeah, I went for a very simple, straight-forward approach. It was my first venture into jazz so I didn't try any crazy modal stuff.

And yeah, I love Finale, but damn, it really has some annoying limitations. Aka, once you select an instrument, you can't change its name, even if you change the instrument patch. -_-

Anyways, thanks for the comment! I really do appreciate it. <3 :p

Originally Posted by MatthewSchwartz

And yeah, I love Finale, but damn, it really has some annoying limitations. Aka, once you select an instrument, you can't change its name, even if you change the instrument patch. -_-

Of course you can, you just choose the Staff tool and double-click on the staff in question and edit from there.



(Will comment the piece later.)

Okay,

There's some interesting material here, you just don't develop it much.

The first bit works as an into, cool - I wanted to hear a good solid melody come in, which never really happened. There's not a clear direction where you're going - there's chunks of ideas, which don't flow well from one to another... The whole thing is a bit ADD...

The building blocks are there, you just need to figure out how to develop and build on them.

Do you listen to much jazz?

Originally Posted by Franzman

Of course you can, you just choose the Staff tool and double-click on the staff in question and edit from there.



(Will comment the piece later.)

Ah, thanks, I'll have to try that out some time.

Originally Posted by robinjessome

Okay,

There's some interesting material here, you just don't develop it much.

The first bit works as an into, cool - I wanted to hear a good solid melody come in, which never really happened. There's not a clear direction where you're going - there's chunks of ideas, which don't flow well from one to another... The whole thing is a bit ADD...

The building blocks are there, you just need to figure out how to develop and build on them.

Do you listen to much jazz?

I don't really intend for it to "go anywhere" - if by that, you mean reach a musical climax.

As for the structure, it's a pretty simple ternary form - ABA, with a little ascending melodic line dividing each A section into two. Any specific suggestions on transitions that give it an air of ADD?

Anyways, I am a *casual* fan of jazz - mainly late 50s stuff - but I didn't really use any of the stuff I listen to as influence for this tune.

Originally Posted by MatthewSchwartz

I don't really intend for it to "go anywhere" - if by that, you mean reach a musical climax.

Intended or not, your piece does go somewhere...just not as far as I had hoped it might. Either way, why not intend for it to go somewhere? Not necessarily build to a climax, per se. But to build and develop it...

If you do nothing - leave it static and flat, then there's nothing to keep the listener invested, and they'll soon lose interest.

I don't think the bongo groove is helping - BUT, any percussionist will do something to keep the energy moving... The same with your piano & bass parts, they're too static and homogenous that they do nothing to prop up the melody.

For the piano part, a decent player will get the idea from the first 4 measures. Giving them the changes and the direction "simile, vamp" they'll know what to do, and you'll get hipper rhythms and voicings

Originally Posted by MatthewSchwartz

As for the structure, it's a pretty simple ternary form - ABA, with a little ascending melodic line dividing each A section into two. Any specific suggestions on transitions that give it an air of ADD?

I think the sections have potential, but the way you've tacked them together is a bit odd.

I think the little ascending interludey thing does more to break up the energy than to maintain it. You lose forward momentum. The key change does the same thing, trips up your energy and makes the listener go "oh...that was weird" . It just in the way things are (or are not) prepared, and perhaps with a competent rhythm section setting things up better it'll work fine.

Take all this with a grain of salt - this is only what I hear, as I hear it.

Originally Posted by MatthewSchwartz

Anyways, I am a *casual* fan of jazz - mainly late 50s stuff - but I didn't really use any of the stuff I listen to as influence for this tune.

Of course you did, you just didn't know it. BUT, I think more listening experience will show you what works and why...give it about 15 years or so

Originally Posted by robinjessome

Intended or not, your piece does go somewhere...just not as far as I had hoped it might. Either way, why not intend for it to go somewhere? Not necessarily build to a climax, per se. But to build and develop it...

If you do nothing - leave it static and flat, then there's nothing to keep the listener invested, and they'll soon lose interest.

Mmm, I think we're approaching this from different perspectives as listeners. My intent was that of somewhat of a catchy pop-jazz tune to just groove to, whereas you're viewing it in the context of the more respectable jazz traditions of thematic development. I suppose the fault's on me for setting my artistic standard low, but I don't know if I'd agree with the statement that lack of development will bore the listener. After all, the songs at the top of the charts aren't exactly progressive.

Originally Posted by robinjessome

I don't think the bongo groove is helping - BUT, any percussionist will do something to keep the energy moving... The same with your piano & bass parts, they're too static and homogenous that they do nothing to prop up the melody.

For the piano part, a decent player will get the idea from the first 4 measures. Giving them the changes and the direction "simile, vamp" they'll know what to do, and you'll get hipper rhythms and voicings

I agree that the bass and piano parts would be pretty boring for the instrumentalist to play. But the listener, whom I consider with greater priority than the instrumentalist, will generally focus on the lead melody. Thus, for the "A" sections, the guitar lead will keep the listener melodically satisfied, and during the "B" section, the lead bass line takes over. Of course, if jazz quartet were to actually perform this, I certainly wouldn't mind if they had some fun and improvised.

Originally Posted by robinjessome

I think the sections have potential, but the way you've tacked them together is a bit odd.

I think the little ascending interludey thing does more to break up the energy than to maintain it. You lose forward momentum. The key change does the same thing, trips up your energy and makes the listener go "oh...that was weird" . It just in the way things are (or are not) prepared, and perhaps with a competent rhythm section setting things up better it'll work fine.

Take all this with a grain of salt - this is only what I hear, as I hear it.

Mmm, I know what you mean. Personally those are my favorite parts of the tune, so I suppose it all depends on the listener's preference. Hopefully some more people can give their input on this so I can get an idea on what the "majority" might think.

Thanks for all the input, by the way. Much appreciated!

Originally Posted by MatthewSchwartz

Mmm, I think we're approaching this from different perspectives as listeners. My intent was that of somewhat of a catchy pop-jazz tune to just groove to, whereas you're viewing it in the context of the more respectable jazz traditions of thematic development. I suppose the fault's on me for setting my artistic standard low, but I don't know if I'd agree with the statement that lack of development will bore the listener. After all, the songs at the top of the charts aren't exactly progressive.

Fair enough...

Groove need not come at the expense of creativity and spontaneity...Setting ANY standards of your music low is a recipe for disaster.

Re: development - top 40 stuff may not be progressive, but it's certainly well engineered to develop and augment the energy. If you present a stagnant piece that simmers for 4 minutes, but never boils then you WILL bore people...they may not even know why.

BUT! It's your boat...you sail it.