Piece 2: ‘Take Five’ by Paul Desmond, performed by Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959) for Jazz. (Elective)

                

  Dave Brubeck’s rendition of ‘Take Five’ is a jazz piece that involves many aspects familiarized with the genre, such as swing feel, chord and song structures, and instrumentation, common to the cool, West Coast jazz style during the 1950’s. However, the piece is in 5/4 time signature which is not one of the more conventional forms of metre when considering jazz, and is aptly named so. As a result of this, the study of such a piece would be best served as a focal point in stage 5 elective music, after more basic jazz concepts have been explored and understood.

The unconventional time signature is an appropriate example of introducing new methods of duration into the classroom, showing that not all songs need to be in common time. When considering this piece, the musical concepts that would best suit student focus would be duration and pitch, as the swing pattern of the drums and melodic sequences of the saxophone and double-bass can be explored in a variety of contexts, all within the 5/4 time signature.

Creativity/Composition: Students shall compose a short phrase (8 bars) of music for 3 performers, incorporating the quintuple (5/4) metre as well as various jazz concepts, such as ‘swing’ syncopation feel and jazz chords (E flat minor and B flat minor 7), as a basis of construction. As this piece is to be swung, the notated duration of the drum part and melodies will involve the use of dotted quavers and semi-quavers quite regularly, as well as tied notes and the use of anacrusis. An expansion of this melodic passage can be employed later in the semester.

Aural: Students will listen to the piece in order to identify and recognise the 5/4 time signature. In addition to this, the root notes shall be provided for the 2 main chords (E flat minor and B flat minor 7) and student shall attempt to identify whether these are major or minor and whether or not they involve any musical extension, such as major sevenths.

Musicology: Students shall research the development of jazz music in the USA, whether by textbook, printed material, internet, or class discussion. Certain concepts of jazz music, such as duration (eg metre, syncopation) and pitch (eg use of blues scales and major 7^th) shall highlight this topic.

Performance: The piece ‘Take 5’ has been ‘covered’ by a variety of musicians in the past. Students shall be allocated into groups as to perform the provided musical passage, involving the first half of the melody. In addition to this, each performer has the opportunity to play over the accompanying chord structure in order to familiarize themselves with the kinds of notes involved with jazz chords.

Here's the original:

..... Singers, don't think you'll get out of this one so easily. Here's a different vocal approach!