Chapter: Ensembles

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Jazz can be played on any combination of instruments. Jazz ensembles can be divided into three broad categories: solo (unaccompanied), small groups (combos) of two to nine, or in big bands of ten to twenty or more.

The type of setting chosen by the musician can have a profound influence on the music produced. Not only do groups of differing instrumentation produce differing timbres, but the role of any given instrument can differ depending on the setting they are in. Furthermore, most composers tend to arrange their compositions differently depending on the setting they are writing for. This chapter describes the typical roles of various instruments in different types of ensembles and some of the implications this has for composition and arrangement.

Note that the cutoff of nine for a combo is completely arbitrary; I have adopted it just for the sake of discussion. In reality, the distinction between combos and big bands is blurred. Most combos have five or fewer members, and most big bands have at least fifteen. Groups with around nine or ten members are relatively rare, and may exhibit characteristics of both combos and big bands.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Chapter: Ensembles