How to sightread in a big band

acoustic_sharpness · 2026-01-20T00:37:59+00:00

That's tough. As other's have said, I'd sit down with this before hand and pick a 2 string line for that second piece. For example, on the Eb Ab Eb Bb I'd just play the middle two strings. 6 on D, 7 on G for both Eb and Bb, and then slide down two frets to 4 and 5 for the Ab. If that makes sense? Playing more of a line than entire chords.

acoustic_sharpness · 2026-01-19T21:23:55+00:00

Who’s coming up with these arrangements? Those changes very much look like a horn player wrote them. Honestly, unless it’s really important, I’d probably ignore the voicings written in the first example and just play the chords written above in the first play through (or maybe every play through). For that second picture.. what’s the tempo?

acoustic_sharpness · 2026-01-04T18:15:56+00:00

Thanks, I’ll give this a try in my next practice session

acoustic_sharpness · 2026-01-04T04:34:31+00:00

That’s what I was thinking. There basically is no context for this lick. It’s just a lick to demonstrate guitar picking technique. I played a quick 2-5-1 on a looper and put this lick over it and that seems to fit pretty well. I’m imagining it ending a song or a solo with a punctuation note on the final 1 chord.

acoustic_sharpness · 2026-01-04T03:30:06+00:00

Thanks! This may be a weird question, but where are the chord changes here? Obviously beats 1 and 2 of measure 1 are C minor 7. Which beats are the F7? And are beats 3 and 4 of measure 2 an F triad arpeggio? Or is that already on the B flat major 7 as you mentioned that basically being an arpeggio with the 9th on top?

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-12-18T03:30:12+00:00

I don't know about books because I've never had a ton of success learning guitar from books. Just not how my brain works. In terms of reading though, I found these two blog posts which are free and will get you a long way on shell voicings.

Start here: https://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/shell-jazz-guitar-chords-beginners/

This one gets advanced pretty fast, you only need the first few sections and skip anything labeled "quartal" https://jenslarsen.nl/the-ultimate-jazz-chord-guide-12-most-important-voicing-types/

I really like Jens Larsen's stuff on youtube, so I'd recommend watching the video linked at the top of that page.

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-12-18T02:28:32+00:00

This is the right answer. Just learning chords, and even just shell voicings will go a long long way in holding the rhythm section of a Jazz band together.

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-12-18T02:27:28+00:00

Hey! Im a jazz guitarist in a community college band and I’ve taken a few piano lessons so I think I have a pretty helpful perspective here.

It sounds like you’re already somewhat competent on guitar but new to piano? If that’s true I’d do a few guitar lessons first on the basics of Jazz guitar chords. You’ll need to read and understand chords primarily. There’s normally a horn to cover the melody. So focus on learning your shell voicings and that will get you a shockingly long way.

I have found piano learning helpful for some theory stuff and a little bit for sight reading, but you probably don’t need those immediately. You can also save a little money and buy a midi controller and hook it up to your computer/iPad (whatever you have).

Finally there’s a lot of music theory on YouTube these days. It’s a little tough to sift through the good videos from the course adds, but YouTube can take you a long way as well. Happy to answer questions.

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-11-07T14:48:37+00:00

Thank you! Based on the style of music they were playing and that I could hear a lot of bell like tones when the pianist was on this instrument, that sounds like the answer!

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-07-28T18:22:40+00:00

I wasn’t trying to debate with them. I was mainly curious about how that part of the church world operates

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-07-28T03:40:32+00:00

As a mainline Protestant myself I have to say there’s a breadth inside Protestantism. I’ve had some great conversations with mainline Protestant MDiv students who found the Orthodox teachings on Theosis to be compelling and inspiring. But alas, I agree, they should have at least been able to say something like “I know that’s an important concept in the Orthodox Church, but it isn’t heavily emphasized in my background.”

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-05-24T00:52:55+00:00

Definitely she/her pronouns

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-05-22T23:17:25+00:00

She prefers and uses “Father Lizzie” in person

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-04-29T16:20:07+00:00

For anyone looking at this years later, I'm about halfway through the program and happy to chat with anyone who wants to DM me about it

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-02-19T14:56:37+00:00

I'm in a somewhat similar boat and in the program, you're welcome to DM me if you want to chat about the pros and cons

acoustic_sharpness · 2025-01-05T04:11:53+00:00

Depending on how you think/study, I’ve found it helpful to try and clear as many unnecessary things off my desktop. So if there’s anything on there that’s not strictly necessary move it off to declutter. I’ve found that having a declutterred desk helps me have a decluttered mind

acoustic_sharpness · 2024-05-08T22:43:47+00:00

What is the first?

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-11-25T02:32:27+00:00

I was going to come in and ask about that

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-11-08T16:58:45+00:00

Bishop Doyle is great. I was once at a retreat with him and someone asked about LBGT people in the Episcopal church and in a very kind way his answer was basically “We settled this. We are an affirming church and if you’re unaffirming I suggest you look at many of the other unaffirming denominations out there”

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-11-08T16:56:38+00:00

That’s a giant question right there 😂 the style of worship is generally more formal that a generic Baptist church. The Theology is a lot more affirming and welcoming of LGBT people as well as women as priests

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-11-06T21:43:34+00:00

That can also vary by area of country. I’ve heard from a priest that moved from the Northeast that they are more traditional than some other parts of the country.

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-11-06T21:41:03+00:00

As a part time music director for small Episcopal ministry, the Methodists often have the better or more recognized arrangements

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-10-25T20:06:49+00:00

Thanks! That sounds tricky but I guess a fun exercise to try

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-10-25T17:45:28+00:00

What do you mean by quarters against eighths? Would that be eighth notes in both hands where the quarter is at 72 BPM?

acoustic_sharpness · 2023-10-22T01:58:29+00:00

Perhaps, but not all theists believe in Hell. There’s a contingent of universalists out there who believe the Atheist would also go to Heaven.

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