Scoring  Vocal  Variability    (This  paper  was  presented  at  Guelph  Jazz  Festival  Colloquium,  September  2011)      INTRODUCTION  

As  musicologist  and  Theloneous  Monk  biographer,  Gabriel  Solis  describes,  jazz,  as  an  oral  

improvising  tradition,  is  based  on  “thousands  of  hours  of  collective  creation  and  

intergenerational  learning”  (Solis,  2007,  2).  This  lineage,  however,  does  not  ring  so  true  when  

considering  the  standardized  written  arrangements  for  jazz  choir  and  their  lack  of  collective  

improvisation  in  performance.  If  existent  at  all,  improvisation  in  the  jazz  choir  context  is  limited  

to  that  of  a  single  individual:  the  lead  singer  interpreting  the  lyric  or  scatting  a  solo  over  the  

changes.  This  seems  so  far  removed  from  not  only  the  African  American  shouts  and  spiritual  

roots  of  the  music  as  documented  by  the  likes  of  Portia  Maultsby  2005,  ALan  Lomax  1998,  and  

Eileen  Southern  1997  (among  others)  but  also  the  nature  of  instrumental  jazz.    

In  an  attempt  to  challenge  this  convention,  this  paper  explores  alternative  methods  of  

arranging  and  charting  for  jazz  choir  that  incorporate  variation  and  collective  improvisation.  It  

does  so  by  equating  improvisation  and  variation  with  choice,  choices  the  singers  have  to  make  

in  a  performance,  and  in  short,  discusses  how  to  build  variability  into  the  arrangements.  Based  

on  arrangements  that  have  been  workshopped  with  the  Toronto  based  group  Broulala,  the  

paper  will  demonstrate,  through  visual  and  audio  examples,  the  possibilities  of  these  choices,  

how  they  are  scored,  and  how  they  are  performed.  A  final  section  then  considers  the  meaning  

of  these  choices  and,  drawing  on  new  jazz  studies  as  well  as  similar  de-­‐standardization  music  

movements  in  some  post-­‐Soviet  traditional  cultures,  I  will  consider  how  these  choices  empower  

the  singer  and  questions  this  significance  within  jazz  practices.  

FOUNDATIONAL  PREMISE:    

Improvisation  and  variation  are  not  that  different  –  especially  if  you  build  small  variants  into  

numerous  synchronized  parts.  And  this  is  essentially  where  the  idea  of  choice  comes  into  play,  

so  that  improvisation  occurs  when  a  singer  has  to  make  a  decision.  As  I  noted  in  my  

introduction,  that  decision  could  be  as  simple  as  choosing  to  sing  one  note  over  another  or  to  

improvise  a  rhythm  to  a  given  note.  These  decisions,  of  course,  can  become  far  more  complex  

when  having  to  contribute  to  group  improvised  solos  or  soundscapes.  

When  I  started  this  musical  project,  I  looked  at  collective  improvising  a  cappella  music  

practices,  like  Bobby  McFerrin-­‐styled  circle  songs,  Christine  Duncan’s  conduction  led  

improvising  choir,  and  Georgian  polyphonic  songs.  Unfortunately,  time  does  not  permit  me  to  

describe  these,  but  suffice  it  to  say  that  I  intuitively  wed  ideas  from  all  of  the  above  to  create  a  

handful  of  arrangements  that  would  incorporate  collective  improvisation  within  the  a  cappella  

jazz  context.  I  have  subsequently  analyzed  these  arrangements  and  identified  four  main  types  

of  collective  improvisation.      

 

FOUR  WAYS  TO  IMPROVISE  COLLECTIVELY  IN  A  CAPPELLA  JAZZ  

I. Typical/Obvious  3  part  Collective  Improvisation  

II. More  Traditional  Jazz  Comping  or  Accompaniment  

III. Modalized  Accompaniment  method  –  can  think  of  simplifying  the  harmonic  structure  

IV. Interludes  of  group  solo  or  conceptual  group  improvisation  

I  Typical  with  3  voices  

The  first  is  the  most  obvious  way  that  occurs  when  a  trio  of  competent  singers  relatively  quickly  

adapts  a  lead  sheet  by  improvising  bass,  drum,  and  lead  melody  parts.    

To  some  extent,  every  arrangement  Broulala  performs  makes  use  of  this.  The  problem  with  this  

method  is  it  only  accounts  for  3  voices.  So  there  are  the  other  accompaniment  methods  to  

discuss.    

 

II  Traditional  Jazz  Comping  Accompaniment:  

SLIDE  1:  SCORE  EXAMPLE  “You  and  the  Night  and  the  Music”    

 

The  slide  above  represents  the  score  for  the  A  section  of  “You  and  the  Night  and  the  Music”  

(Y&TN).  The  scoring  process  is  still  a  work  in  progress,  but  here  you  can  see  how  I  borrowed  

from  Schenkerian  analysis  and  used  whole  notes,  stemless  notes,  and  ties  to  denote  weighted  

choices  for  different  voices.  In  this  case,  you  can  see  how  LH1  and  LH2  have  note  choices,  while  

the  UH  parts  do  not.  In  the  case  of  the  upper  parts,  singers  then  just  have  to  improvise  the  

rhythmic  execution  of  the  note,  which  may  be  a  long  tone  or  some  rhythmic  pattern.  

In  the  conventional  comping  method,  the  typical  rules  of  jazz  voice  leading  are  followed  when  

assigning  note  choices.  Ideally  you  want  the  3rd    and  or  7th  on  important  chord  changes  that  

define  the  harmonic  direction.  (Examples  from  the  above  slide  can  be  seen  in  the  G  in  the  Am  

chord,  the  F#  in  the  D7,  the  C#  and  G#  in  the  Amaj7.)  Also,  you  want  a  2nd,  9th  or  a  7th  in  the  

voicing  to  give  it  the  aesthetic  “jazz”  buzz.  (Examples  from  the  above  slide  can  be  seen  in  the  G  

and  root  in  the  Am  chord;  the  F#  and  G  in  the  D7;  The  F  and  G#  in  the  Bm7b5;  the  G#  in  the  

Amaj7.)    

In  terms  of  the  range,  I  generally  avoided  pitching  notes  more  than  an  octave  above  middle  C  

(to  avoid  the  difficulty  with  intonation  and  the  possible  screechy  sound).  I  also  avoided  notes  

below  A  (below  middle  C)  –  especially  if  it’s  the  7th  or  9th  with  the  root.  In  this  case,  the  LH2  was  

inappropriate  and  never  performed.  

 

III  Modalized  Accompaniment  Method:  

The  other  form  of  improvised  accompaniment  occurs  when  the  harmonic  changes  of  a  piece  

have  been  simplified  or  modalized.  The  modalized  comping  method  often  makes  use  of  a  vamp  

or  ostinato,  usually  regulated  to  the  bass.  A  wealth  of  possibilities  exists  for  this  comping  

method.  In  some  cases,  rhythms  are  written  or  conducted  and  singers  choose  their  notes  from  

a  predefined  pitch  set.  In  other  cases,  a  much  looser  and  open  expression  results  and,  

depending  on  the  mood  of  the  singers,  can  lead  to  very  minimal  or  no  accompaniment,  to  

providing  pitchless  rhythmic  accompaniment,  to  joining  the  lead  soloist  by  echoing  the  soloist  

lines  or  creating  a  counter  melody,  to  overtaking  the  lead  altogether.  

 

SLIDE  2:  Example  1  of  Modal  Accompaniment:  SCORE  EXAMPLE  “I  Cover  The  Waterfront”  

 

 

In  the  slide  above  of  “I  Cover  The  Waterfront”  (ICTW),  the  accompaniment  is  basically  a  half  

note  chordal  pattern  of  a  perfect  fourth  built  on  the  G  and  a  major  second  on  the  A.  The  slashes  

leave  room  for  percussion  or  sound  effects.  In  this  arrangement,  the  half  note  pattern  is  strictly  

sung  for  the  melody  but  it  loosens  up  in  the  solo  section.  

 

SCORE  EXAMPLE  “Close  Your  Eyes”  

The  arrangement  of  “Close  Your  Eyes”  (CYE)  has  singers  choosing  notes  from  a  pitch  set  and  

singing  the  assigned  rhythms.  In  the  slide  below  (example  2  of  Modal  Accompaniment),  the  

arranged  accompaniment  has  singers  using  long  tones  (or  pads)  sung  to  the  word  “close”  

starting  in  the  last  A  section  and  repeating  the  second  time  around  the  form  while  the  lead  

singer  is  singing  the  lyrics.  The  pitch  set  is  A  Aeolian  without  the  F.  (Note  the  full  arrangement  

returns  to  the  chord  changes  during  the  bridge  and  the  accompaniment  is  adjusted  to  

accommodate  this.)  In  the  following  slide,  example  3,    the  accompaniment  consists  of  a  

rhythmic  comping  pattern  that  the  singers  sing  to  an  “oo,”  which  provides  the  background  for  a  

solo.    

SLIDE  3:  Example  2  of  Modal  Accompaniment:  SCORE  EXAMPLE  CYR  

 

SLIDE  4:  Example  3  of  Modal  Accompaniment:  SCORE  EXAMPLE  CYR  

 

 

IV  Opening  up  the  space  for  group  improvisation  (interludes)  

The  final  method  of  collective  improvisation  makes  use  of  contemporary  music  techniques  by  

including  sections  of  less  conventionally  structured  improvisation.  These  are  spaces  where  

texture  and  sound  are  more  the  defining  compositional  qualities  than  the  traditional  Western  

art  conventions  of  harmony,  melody,  and  tempo.  In  the  context  of  the  arrangements,  they  

function  as  short  interludes,  or  short  conceptual  pieces  within  the  song  -­‐  conceptual  because  

for  the  most  part  they  are  scored  with  a  narrative  that  may  use  descriptive  words  like  

disintegration,  flourish,  spacey  and  so  forth.  

An  example  of  this  occurs  in  the  arrangement  of    “Close  Your  Eyes,”  which  plays  with  the  pads  

established  in  the  second  repeat  of  the  form  (see  Slide  3).    According  to  the  instructions,  the  

pads  continue  for  6-­‐8  bars  with  the  soloist  improvising  on  top  and  leading  the  accompaniment  

into  an  eventual  disintegration  of  the  musical  structure,  which  involves  the  elongation  of  the  

pads,  altering  their  pitches,  incorporating  downward  glissandos,  and  the  voices  (from  low  to  

high)  gradually  dropping  out.    

Other  examples  include  starting  ICTW  with  a  soundscape  of  a  waterfront.  In  Y&TN,  the  end  of  

the  bridge  turns  into  a  momentary  improvisation  around  the  echoing  of  the  lyrics/melody  “and  

take  away  the  stars”  which  then  resolves  into  a  flourishing  chord.    

SLIDE  5:  Example  of  Group  Improvisation:  SCORE  EXAMPLE  Y&TN  end  of  bridge  

 

 

THE  MEANING  OF  COLLECTIVE  IMPROVISATION  

Now I just demonstrated a wealth of possibilities for singers to collectively improvise by scoring

variance and choice into arrangements. And I maintain that this quality of variability, the chance

for singers to make choices and improvise, adds to the freshness and uniqueness of performance

- not only because it empowers the singers with choices they individually have to make but it

also affords them and the audience more ownership of the songs, since each performance will be

a singular, never-to-be-repeated event. And without a doubt, there must be many more collective

improvising possibilities, stemming from different singing contexts and traditions. So, in this

final section of my paper, I address the critical question, why has jazz, a music whose very

foundation is based on collective improvisation, never engaged the singer in this collective

context. To answer this, I draw on gender and new jazz studies as well as scholarship in post

soviet traditional musics. While these may seem like desperate subjects to bridge, the common

thread deals with issues of power and subverting control.

Consider this: the chance to make choices and add variants and/or improvise is limited by jazz

choir practices; similarly such choices were limited during the Soviet era, where traditional

music became a hegemonic tool to maintain the power structure and naturalize the communist

ideals. It is, of course, far more apparent how and why performance choices were limited in the

Soviet context – regional differences and variants were smothered into standardized

arrangements for a national homogeneous sound that could be replicated in every village,

district, or urban ensemble. However, a theme running through contemporary scholarship on post

Soviet traditional music, identifies how the chance to make these choices, to perform variants,

and to improvise is so empowering and critical to identity building.

Bulgarian music scholar Donna Buchanan identifies how arranged and notated obrabotki

(Bulgarian state folk orchestra pieces) remove so much of the life and understanding of the

music because they are based on art music models rather than the teaching and improvisations

that connects the music to the “izvor”, the traditional “wellspring” and inspiration of folk music.

And she often writes on how individual musicians attempt to subvert these limitations.

Similarly, Hungarian music specialist, Judith Frigeyesi, notes how contemporary musicians

found variation and improvisation lacking in the national “purified pseudo folk songs” taught en

mass to all school aged children. Moreover, the chance to improvise and make variations

(coupled with the dance context in which they are performed) is the defining aesthetic in

traditional Hungarian music, which thrills both musician and audience as an immediate

experience that cannot be canonized into some distant folk art.

And speaking from my own research on Georgian polyphonic songs, variation and

improvisation, even in the most subtle form, are what kept the music alive for Georgian

musicians throughout the Soviet era and into the present. More importantly, the choice to use a

variant or to improvise have long been symbolic of a sovereign Georgia – and in the context of

how Georgia has existed as a sovereign country for less than 300 out of its 2000 year history, this

is significant. Now, in the capital of Tbilisi where urbanization has displaced most of the

population (including traditional musicians), there are so many new young ensembles, dedicated

to searching for variants, studying archived recordings, and learning with master singers; and

from this research, they develop their own variants and ability to improvise. It acts as resilience

to not only to historical Russian domination and Soviet state control but also to the contemporary

hegemonic presence of Western cultural forms.

In contrast to my research with Georgian polyphony, what meaning can be attributed to scoring

variability and collective improvisation into jazz choral charts is not something I have engage in

as great detail. Focusing on the lack of choice in the jazz choir context, however, and drawing on

gender, post colonial and new jazz studies, we can speculate that it’s part of a larger issue

dealing with anti-vocal sentiments circulating within jazz discourse, which in turn are attributed

to misogynistic views stemming from colonial values.

Lara Pellegrinelli spells out the argument when she reflects on how singers have been omitted

from jazz historiography. You see, singers are almost non-existent in jazz texts and histories.

Rather they are limited to a “precursor” of jazz because the voice, associated with the body, is

seen as untrained and emotional, the folk, the vernacular. And in gender and cultural studies,

these qualities are typically associated with the female. This is in contrast with the instrument,

which is associated with the male due to the technical demands, intellect, and skills required for

conquering or mastering it. And it is for this reason that instrumental jazz was made legitimate in

a Western cultural sense. This further plays into all sorts of colonialist tropes told through the

“birthing,” “great man” and “genius’ histories of jazz, which Pellegrinelli argues is part of the

process of acquiring “cultural capital” to turn jazz into an art music. Singers, as seen as female,

just like all past African musical/cultural expressions that may have been significantly similar to

jazz, are negated by jazz historiography because this would not only take away from the “great

man”/“great birth” legitimization process but because both women and Africans in a colonialist

framework need to be represented as passive objects so that they may be used by more powerful

aggressive masterful educated men.

Following this argument, then, perhaps the lack of collective improvisation in the jazz choir

context exists because it is so difficult to escape the colonial structures we have inherited from

past generations. It is of course difficult to examine such deep issues in such a short time but

hopefully, this paper has opened up a host of questions for future research and a possible

direction for future practice.