19 | Form & Structure

It’s weird I left this topic to the last minute. Form and structure in any style of music are incredibly important and that remains the case in big band charts. However, these articles are aimed at orchestrators and arrangers who often don’t get to decide the form or structure so it seemed best to cover the arrangement bits first.

In a very broad sense, a big band arrangement most usually looks like this:

Calling it the ‘exposition’ is a little formal and is probably better named just as the ‘melody section’. The structure of the melody section is fairly standardised and based on the structures of traditional jazz standards.

At their core, jazz standards are songs and usually have one of these three forms:

AABA (most common)
ABAC
12-bar blues

In a big band arrangement, the melody section (exposition) is very likely one of these three forms. Usually, the whole melody section is about 64 bars long with 16 bars per section.

The development in a big band arrangement is most often a shout chorus or some other development of the melody section. A more detailed diagram than the one above might look something like this:

The AABA structure could be replaced with AABC, a blues, or a more unconventional structure. The most important thing is that the arrangement is proportional. If the melody section is AABA and 64 bars long, the solos should be roughly the same length - not 16 bars for instance.

Let’s break each of these sections down in turn. I’ve given examples of tunes to check out. You can find a Spotify playlist with them in in the resources article:

INTRO

The intro is pretty self-explanatory. It sets up the vibe, is usually 8-16 bars long and is either quite impactful or deliberately sparse. The orchestration usually differs from the A section and it sets up the tonality or modality for the A section too. There are a couple of effective ways to set up an intro to a chart:

4-8 bars of ending melody

A very common way to start a chart is with the last 4-8 bars. This the melody at its peak and bookends the arrangement in an effective way. It’s usually big and loud to get the audience’s attention.

Don’t Be That Way - Benny Goodman

2. A groove, riff or vamp

A repeated figure is also very common, especially in funk, rock and latin tunes. This is often done by the rhythm section and setups up a groove that the horns are added to in the A section. Vamps also benefit from having instruments layered on top of each other to build until the A section hits.

The Jazz Police - Gordon Goodwin

3. Solo instrument

Having a solo is a good way to start tunes more sparsely. Drums are always a favourite candidate for high-energy intros, but piano is also common for ballads. Improvised solos on other instruments aren’t found as often.

Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman

4. Unrelated material

Another option is to do whatever you like - just set up the key and mood correctly. This is probably less used but is still an effective way of getting into the A section.

One O’Clock Jump - Count Basie

5. Chorale

Sometimes, a soft chorale is used that is often conducted by the band leader before the A section hits. This is a pretty old-school approach and it’s rare to hear this in more modern charts.

Skyliner - Charlie Barnet arr. Nestico

6. No intro.

Sometimes, an arranger will decide to start the chart right away without any intro. This can be effective if you have a strong A section and you want to jump straight in.

Count Bubba - Gordon Goodwin

THE MELODY SECTION

As previously mentioned, the melody section or exposition, which might be 64 bars for example, is often broken down further into an internal structure with 16 bars each. This is most often AABA but could be ABAC or a 12-bar blues. Sometimes, bridges are found before the melody section or at the end, leading into the solos.

It’s common for each section to work in the following way:

A - The first A section introduces the melody, maybe in unison or as a soli.
A - The next 16 bars adds more instruments to the harmony or includes hits.
B - Contrasting material to A.
A - Same as the second A section but maybe more intense toward the end.

Here is an example of a classic AABC form from the chart High Maintenance by Gordon Goodwin. There is a lengthy intro and the main melody section starts at 00:43. The saxes state the main phrase and the A section is repeated twice with trombone backings the second time. The B section then plays and there is a C section which modulates and uses developed material from the A section. There’s then a lengthy bridge made from the intro material leading into the solos (not shown here):

BRIDGE

A bridge is sometimes used to get from the melody section into the solos. We see a very long one in the example above. This is usually for modulation reasons. More rarely, a bridge is used from the intro into the melody section. A bridge could be 4,8, 16 bars or even longer; whatever seems proportional to the track as a whole - you don’t want to get to the solos too early. The material could be new or based on recurring themes that you’ve set up so far.

SOLOS

The solo section usually follows the same form as the melody section. It is usually about the same length (in this case, 64 bars) and repeated at least twice. To get into the solo, check out my article here, but a break or bridge is common. If a break is used, it should be the first 4 bars of the solo changes.

The sections might be broken down in the following way:

A - Rhythm section only. The soloist introduces their ideas.
A - Repeated section with horn backings added.
B - Climax of the solo. Hits in the band and/or bigger backings.
A - Keep the energy up with backings, but winding back down to repeat the solo section.

For the repeated A section with horn backings, you don’t need to write out the entire section again, repeat symbols will do fine and are very common. Just be sure to write ‘backgrounds 2nd time’ on the horn parts. 1st and 2nd time repeats are common here to get into the more climactic B section.

Here’s the same chart as before, High Maintenance, and the solo structure analysed - the alto solo starts at 1:43. This is essentially three 16-bar sections in an A-B-A form. The A sections are in C major and the B section is in F major - this modulation up a fourth is very common.

DEVELOPMENT

The development section usually has a brief moment of relaxation after the high-energy solos. In a live setting, the audience would often be clapping for about 4-8 bars so there’s no point in putting anything important here. Usually after about 16 bars or so, the energy ramps back up and it’s often time for a shout chorus. Alternatively, a more developed version of the melody section or a soli can be used instead.

The development, like traditional classical forms, has no strict length and is down to the arranger’s creativity. It often develops and uses previous themes as well as using the ensemble in a more fragmented and interesting way. This section should still be proportional to the rest of the arrangement, but it has the most leeway of any section in terms of length. Each arrangement varies drastically in this section so there’s no way to pin it down in a neat diagram.

OUTRO

“There are two possible endings to any piece of music: deathly silence or rapturous applause.”

Unfortunately, I can’t remember who said that to attribute it properly (if you know - please tell me!), but I think it’s very accurate. Any other reaction to a piece is not probably intended. With that in mind, usually a wind-down to a juicy sustained chord is effective, as is going out with a big bang.

These ideas are most effective when using themes from the chart so far. Unrelated material works too but it’s good to hark back to previous ideas to complete the arrangement. Often, the intro is used again (as a bookend), or the final A section before the solos is usually climactic enough for the outro to be based on that. It’s usually 8-16 bars after the development ends.

Also, who doesn’t love a massive chord with a screaming trumpet at the end of a chart? This is a very common way to end a chart and you can check out my advice on writing these big impact polychords here if you haven’t already.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’d encourage making diagrams of these sorts for big band charts as I think structure and proportion really makes a big difference in the effectiveness of a chart. In the studio, or with commercial music we often find we’re working with something different (usually what someone else gives us, or it’s fit to picture), but this is good to bear in mind for traditional arrangement.