For about the last 15 years I was teaching music at the Middle and Elementary school levels, I was focused on writing arrangements for Keyboard / “Tech.” Ensembles.  Back then “Tech.” ensembles were a new genre or form of music, a pre-cursor to the present day “Modern Band” movement.  My personal definition of this ensemble format simply involves any “non-acoustic” instrument.  About the last 10 years I was teaching at Goodwin Elementary School (in Charleston SC) where we were a “Title 1” sponsored 1:1 ratio i-pad school.  This was when my school’s “Performing Keyboard Ensemble” gradually morphed into the more versatile “Tech. Ensemble concept.

After I retired (in 2018), I took a few of these keyboard ensemble arrangements and re-wrote them as jazz band charts for some local schools in my area.  I pretty much arrange just for the fun of it, so I only select songs that (for some reason or other) interest me.  I’m always trying to think of ways of being “different”, so I normally do not do a jazz arrangement unless the chart involves some kind of “choreography” or “special effects”.  The idea is to make the charts sound unique and very “entertaining” or “nostalgic” to the audience.  For that reason, I decided to share the four arrangements (I have done so far) with you on this web site.

            I am including the full score and a Finale “playback” audio file for each arrangement posted.  There are “issues” with the Finale audio files (such as voicing limitations) due to the fact that I was running “Finale 2010” with a “Vista” PC.  If you know something about Finale, the fact is that those two did not get along very well.  Ironically enough, I ended up doing all of the supplemental “Habits” books using that computer/software combination.  It offered some interesting “challenges” for Scott Rush and I, but for the eleven or so years we worked together we needed the materials NOW! So, I could not afford the time to learn (and get used to) a new and different version of Finale.

Once again, the reason I decided on these four songs was due to fact that I enjoy them and thought of something “different” to present in each.  Below is a brief description of each song and why I chose it, beginning with the most recent:

“Snoopy vs The Red Baron” by “The Royal Guardsmen:  It is actually more of a musical suite in a jazz band length chart.  Many different music genres are presented, among them; a march, a “Spike Jones” section, a Dixeland band, and many others. I also thought it would be fun to let the trombone section (near the end) try to act out a “dogfight” using trumpet mouthpieces, glissandos, and rapid “double”/ “triple” tonguing  machine gun fire.

“Bang, Bang” by Jessie, Ariana, and Nicki:  I first heard this song in “Just Dance” video game, and always liked its “drive”.  You will notice on the score, there are several places where the last measure just has a “whole note” written for the trombone section.  I tried to recreate the “effect” used in the song by having the trombone section performing a unison “glissando”.  They “smear” all four counts, from a low “F” in 6^th position, to a “C” above the staff using their “trigger” in 1^st position to finish it.  Also, during the improvisation solo, the saxophone section does their own little “hand jive” routine.

“Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi:  I have always loved this song, and have also wanted to somehow use a “gong” in a jazz band chart.  I do not believe it has been done yet and “Livin’” is just perfect for it.  We also used an i-Pad and I had the keyboard player play the original synthesizer part with one hand, and the piano part with the other (in unison).

“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC:  We had a lot of fun with this one, which has all kind of options.  I created several FX audio files that the band could play along with, especially in the songs “extended” introduction.  Not too many school jazz band programs have an Angus Young in their ranks, so it starts out (like in the original) with the Finale guitar part setting the tempo for the rest of the band.  I have vocal recordings to back up the band where the audience chants in the video, and also have a finale audio file for the drum set.  The “set” part is playable enough, but with speed it goes at, endurance may be an issue.  In that case, you could have the drummer add “fills” and “kicks” to give the introduction even more impact. Then finally (on my own), I went on the internet and uploaded some “thundering” special effect sounds to give the introduction a rather “eerie” overall feeling to it.

Arrangement Additions:

I decided to upload my new jazz band arrangements (written after this web page was created) up near the top of this web page, just below.  The latest (for 2022) is my jazz band “production” of Michael Jacksons “Thriller”.  There is a long and short version of this chart, created by cutting from bar #69 to #105.  In 2021 I arranged Little Richard’s version of the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” featuring a “rap” duet along with soloists.  As always, I have a few other interesting and “quirky” surprises in each arrangement.  You know “How I Roll.”  Both charts were arranged for the Berkeley County “All-County Honors Jazz Band” in South Carolina.  Thank you in advanced for listening, let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

Rich Moon