Cousin Mary John Coltrane Transcription.

I had a transcription of this solo in open key so decided to to a version in A Flat also there is an old fake book version for sale with incorrect chords for the theme which needs to be replaced.

 

I set up the blocks of work required using the Notion software and used a scrum board rather than a to-do list. I did this because I was bored but later it was very useful to motivate me to finish the task which included 12 choruses. I had underestimated the amount of time and concentration needed.

 https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/cousin-mary-digital-sheet-music/22415037 

 Everything eventually ran onto 6 pages. It was a tiring task but I have learnt how to lay out the music efficiently 6 bar blocks for the theme (The theme is 12 bars) Then for the solos 4 bar blocks make the music readable. I opted to remove all the grace notes and other ornaments such as pitch slurs and ghost notes in order to make it readable.

 I remember getting annoyed at the number of G flats as accidentals, this is due to the use of the A flat mixolydian mode. Perhaps the tune should have been transcribed in D flat major. Its certainly a grey area when tunes are blues based. An area for tacet rests was put in as text as it was becoming difficult to add them later using the finale software so I made a compromise.

 The final task was one of adding an outro solo in free time with no bar lines , this was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be but I took a liberty with some of the rhythms...it is in free time after all! Finally I put on the chords and via the use of a filter in Finale managed to copy and paste them quickly. Finally I printed it out to paper and proof read it , it had 5 errors , 4 in pitch and one was a missed tie. I had opted to use B natural and E natural rather than C flat and F flat. The proof reading was a little annoying due to the open key usage where accidentals are carried for one bar only , also you may get a D flat and then a D natural an octave higher which you may think is a D flat but is not as it would require another accidental.

 I learned a lot doing this tune , stamina for one , also laying out of the bars for readability over 6 pages. Now to arrange it for sax, clarinet, piano, flute, perhaps bass and I would like to do a guitar TAB version too but will hold off till 2023 for that one due to it being a lot of work especially Tabbing the 'sheets of sound' triplets and semiquavers.

 A classic of the jazz repertoire that should be played in gigs more often!

A Tune I wrote in one day.

 This tune was inspired after reading the Prokofiev diaries. In one of them he notes that he wrote the Harp Prelude one evening, this idea of writing a piece in one day stuck with me and so I gave it a go. It was wrote on The 8th February 2021.

I did this as a piano sketch first using staff paper to notate it, I then transferred it into Finale . I had just bought the Noteperformer software which gives a very good sound for brass instruments.