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Comment by Jeff Rupert on January 12, 2010 at 10:50am

heres the rhythmic solfege informationsession 1 pdf.pdf

Comment by Jeff Rupert on January 12, 2010 at 10:49am

Jazz articulation is all part of the jazz language. We refer to the implementation as rhythmic solfege, in other words the syllables used for articulation reflect the sound being made. In example up beat eights are accented so a syllable that reflects that becomes appropriate, and more importantly "sounds" the correct articulation.
I'll attach a guide that I created that I'll use at our summer jazz ed workshop at UCF on July 12-14 just for beginning jazz band teachers. The attached will explain in an in-depth fashion, I'll try to also upload a lead sheet with the rhythmic solfege included. (its the lead trumpet part to "smoke gets in your eyes", look about half way down. trumpet 1 smoke vocal ease.pdf
Best regards,
Jeff

Comment by Russ Weaver on January 10, 2010 at 8:35pm

Here are a couple of references that are o.k. to have on the collection. As for me, When I teach jazz articulation it is relative to the piece we are performing and I make them sing it and work for consistency. As
jazz is an aural tradition, I pass it on by playing for them daily. I know, I am different than most, but as a professional player working in Central Florida for over 20 years, there really is no blanket rules for articulations. There are some guidelines that Chris Sharp and I covered in our presentation at the FMEA convention that I will post here soon, but some general principals that I incorporate include:
• Begin each note with a "D" sound and not a "T" which will create sounds like doo, dah, daht, dut, dit and longer versions of each (again relative to both the style and the tempo of each tune played).

• Work to connect notes in all styles by "denting" the air rather than stopping it on an attack for legato/ballad
style. This is true for Bass players as they try and make the notes of the line touch one another while dampening the previous note.

• Listen to recordings and ask the students to verbalize what those artists are doing with note length and style. You'll be amazed at what they come up with. Remember, the goal is to get them listening so that they can emulate any sound that they hear.

Member Jeff Rupert does an excellent lecture on this topic and has some amazing slides and pedagogy that he uses. I will ask him to chime in here as well.

Teaching Big Band Articulation.pdf

27_articulations.pdf

Comment by Linda Landis on December 29, 2009 at 6:05pm

Hi, fellow educators. As a jazz player myself, I use the syllables when I work with jazz band. I've found if they sing the line correctly with the chosen jazz syllables (scat, in other words), length and all, they'll play the articulations they way you want them with more enthusiasm.

I use "doo" for long and smooth, "dit" for short (staccato), "dot" for accented (accented staccato), and "bap!" for punched and short (the carrot or rooftop accent / just the opposite as the marking is played in symphonic literature). A "phat" accented note would be "baaaap!" "Phat" is long[er] when compared to "bap". The marking is still a carrot, only chosen to be played longer for effect. I like to call it the "John Harner eighth note" after one of my favorite lead trumpet colleagues and friend who played lead with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and whom I have the great pleasure to work with quite often. The key is to make sure they sing it as you want it played so the syle is then played the way you want it.

I believe the connection made by singing is between the brain and the nerves that run to and from the embouchure. Your brain is sending signals to your muscles to produce a specific action or reaction. Singing reinforces the action. If you can sing it, you can play it. My priority consists of the articulation syllables being more important, at this point, than pitches. Ears are important, but I consider this action to be more percussive in nature. I've also found that the figures line up better when the articulations are cleaned up this way.

Comment by Curtis Edwards on December 26, 2009 at 1:18pm

A lot of teachers use singing syllables. However you can get the essential elements for Jazz method from Hal Leonard Pub. Along with listing to vocal arrangements of scat singers.

Comment by Russ Weaver on December 18, 2009 at 9:01am

Dah, Doo, Dut, Dit, and Daht are the articulations. I am working on getting you a slick handout.

Comment by Joyce Hibser on December 3, 2009 at 4:48pm

Thank you Mr. Aebersold. I will look into that. I can always use help!

Comment by Joyce Hibser on December 3, 2009 at 4:47pm

A tenuto was "doo", a staccato was "daht", and I've forgotten the rest... I've been teaching choir, and have only recently returned to band.

Comment by Jamey Aebersold on December 3, 2009 at 11:13am

Joyce,
I've not heard about teaching jazz articulation with vocal syllables but with wind instruments, the two pages on Articulation in my free Jazz Handbook can work wonders in a short time. They are exercises over scales and chords that Sonny Rollins used in his formative days. I tried them while in college and they changed my musical personality. I finally had control of the phrasing and articulation and it matched my mind.