Hey Guys,

Does anyone in this forum perhaps have experience voicing and arranging pop/jazz melodies? I am thinking in terms of using the standard jazz voicing principles you might learn in a good jazz book or from a good teacher.

Basically I think this means, voicing the chords with a focus on the 3rds and 7ths, distributing the chords between both hands, using rootless left hand voicings, adding the standard alterations (flat and sharp 9, sharp 11, flat 13) when the melody allows, thinking of the arrangement in terms of 3 distinct parts, and other concepts like this (I hope this makes some sense.)

I have been experimenting a bit with this and am curious if others have been down this road. I suspect, if I continue, it will be a very long long time before I have something I am proud of, but even now I at least feel comfortable understanding how some existing jazz arrangements have been put together. In some cases it feels a bit like I have the answer key to the arrangement.


b.t.w I am posting this to compositions but I guess it is really about arrangements. I apologize if this the wrong place to post such a question.

Hey I've been arranging and playing jazz all my life. Mark Levin's 'the jazz piano book' is the authority in this area. Or alternatively his 'The Jazz Theory Book' Which is very similar but without the specific emphasis on piano and a little more on arranging. A little more accessible but less complete is Robert Rawlins "Jazzoology" also on arranging and jazz harmony. If you have any specific questions about jazz chords and voicings, I would be happy to answer them.

Yes Ive read the Levine books cover to cover some time back. I would agree, they are great books.

I haven't read the rober rawlins book but I will take a peek. From the quick look on google books preview, it looks like its at least consistent with the way I learnt this stuff.

I think having a strong understanding of the theory behind the music, is a really good thing regardless of the genre.