Take Five (2).pdf r3n1w

Take Five, Paul Desmond 1.6 AS91095

s the internal assessment for Achievement Standard Demonstrate knowledge of two music works from contrasting contexts

Task 1: Musical Elements and Features 1.

Choose three elements that you think are the most important and/ or interesting from Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take Five”, and rank them in order of importance. Name each element and explain why you have chosen the element for this work.

Give as much detail as you can and make links between the music elements and features and the effect they have on Take Five. These elements are ranked from top to bottom.

Melody To me, the melody, or the head of Take Five is vitally

important to the piece, essentially making it as memorable as it is. The head has a ternary structure, where the first section of the piece is arranged, and is therefore played exactly the same each performance. The first section is comprised of two main riffs, with the first one, riff A, being built around an Eb minor blues scale. Riff A uses all the notes from the blues scale, giving the piece its jazzy feeling. The blues sound is created by the blue note, or the flattened fifth. Riff A moves in a stepwise motion, forming a smooth contour within the scale. The anacrusis on beat 4, shown in the highlighted section below, is a weak beat, and begins the song

syncopated. The phrasing of riff A is regular, and follows generic question and answer phrasing. Most of riff A is repeated to create the answer phrasing. Riff B however, does not follow this scale, and uses the technique of sequence to develop this piece. The contour that is created by riff B jumps around, but overall it is quite smooth, with no disjunctive movements. Desmond also uses syncopation throughout the entirety of the piece. The melody in the second section is entirely improvised, and the melody in the third section Page ! 1

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is essentially a repeat of the first section, which leads up to a final ending of the piece which differs slightly from the first section. The syncopation is key to the cool jazz style, as it gives it the sense of relaxation and ease. The technique of sequence is used in one of the most iconic motifs from the saxophone solo, which is highlighted below. This motif is repeated and modulated to a lower

pitch over the next two bars, and then this whole sequence is repeated a second time. The purpose of this sequence in this cool jazz piece is to create a simple and memorable theme that is instilled into the listener. Rhythm In my opinion, rhythm is also essential to the piece, adding to and developing the melody, or head. Take Five uses a swung rhythm which provides a propulsive rhythmic "feel" or “groove". This feel is achieved through the use of syncopation, which places the notes on offbeats. This means that the notes are displaced, so that the strong beats become the weak beats, and the weak beats become the strong beats. Syncopation was used quite extensively throughout the score, but a few examples are highlighted below. Syncopation has a large impact on this piece,

giving the song its cool jazz feel. This song is also characterized by its unusual five-four meter, meaning it has five beats in every measure, which gives the song its off-balance feel, and adversely causes the even ages to sound uneven and syncopated. Dynamics In Joe Morello’s drum solo, he exercises a huge amount of control over his dynamics, which allows the piece to be further developed and provide contrast from its other sections. Morello varies the dynamics by using different drum techniques. He uses the toms to produce loud percussion sounds, and the hi-hat/crash using the end of his stick to hit the rim for quiet percussion sounds. Desmond, on the saxophone, also varies the dynamics, as shown in the sections below. This highlighted section is an example of a part played in forte,

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and this highlighted section shows an example of a part played in piano.

In both cases of drum and saxophone dynamics, the soft dynamics evoke a sense of smooth and easy silkiness, while the loader dynamics create a strong tappable beat, and a lively bouncy feel. 2. Choose at least one performance practice that you think is the most effective in Take Five. Name the performance practice(s) and explain why you have chosen them for Take Five.

Improvisation Jazz music has its foundation in improvised music

and relies heavily on the ability of musicians to invent and perform musical ideas on the spot. In Take Five, improvisation is mainly seen in the the alto saxophone and the drum solos, and sometimes the piano (depending on the version), where these instruments assume the lead improvisational role and other instruments drop out or keep time. The instruments that do not drop out, continue to play using an ostinato, which is a one bar rhythmic pattern that repeats continually. However, the piano part when it is not playing a solo is entirely made up of a repeated chord pattern, or vamp. The saxophone solo is based around the main chords of the riff A, which is in the first part of the piece, and Desmond mainly plays this piece with legato phrasing, but it is contrasted with staccato. Articulation is incredibly important in improvisation, as it creates interest and variety. Desmond also repeats a range of rhythmic and melodic ideas, through the technique of repetition. The drummer improvises after the sax, and follows a three part ternary form. The first part of the drum solo is an elaboration of the opening rhythm, where he keeps to the lighter sounding parts of the drum kit. In the second part, he focuses on the dynamics, quickly moving between fortissimo and pianissimo. In the final section, he repeats the opening rhythmic pattern, which leads to the final appearance of the riff and a dramatic increase in tempo. He also uses several drum techniques to vary the dynamics. He uses the toms to produce loud percussion sounds, and the hi-hat/crash using the end of his stick to hit the rim for quiet percussion sounds. Some of the notable elements of Brubeck’s piano solo include sporadic syncopated melodic phrases, the use of the harmonic minor Page ! 3

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scales, and references to themes from the main motifs. This performance practice of improvisation was most effectively used in "Take Five" through the drums, saxophone, and sometimes the piano as the musicians played off of each other.

Task 2: Context You are writing a feature article for “The Dummies Guide to Jazz” about “"Take Five"” written by Paul Desmond, and performed by Dave Brubeck Quartet. In this article, you need to cover: • The importance of Dave Brubeck and his musical influence over the conception and creation of “Take Five”. • Other compositions by Dave Brubeck • The style and genre of Take Five • The reason it was written • Why you think this piece is often performed. • You opinion of Take Five 


Try to use at least one quote from the performers and composer (Paul Desmond , Joe Morello, Dave Brubeck, Eugene Wright), and one quote from someone else about the work / or the Quartet. Present this task as a written article with at least one relevant illustration and score extract (approximately 500 words).

Before Take Five was written, Joe Morello, the drummer of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, was often featured by Dave for drum solos. Joe Morello commented that "we'd close a concert with that [a drum solo] because we'd get 'em standing and screaming and all of that. So I would go into five-four [time], … and that's how that all started.” (National Public Radio, 2000). Morello was interested in creating a piece entirely in five-four, and continued to ask Brubeck to write a piece in five-four time, so finally Desmond said, “I'll write something,” which is how Take Five came into existence. Brubeck was also interested in creating a piece in an usual time signature. While on a trip to Turkey, he came across a group of Turkish street musicians, who were a playing a traditional folk song in nine-eight time. After this event, Brubeck was inspired to create a work that deviated from the typical four-four time signature of jazz music.

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While Paul Desmond, the saxophonist, is credited with composing Take Five, it is Brubeck who gets the most recognition. Brubeck had a big hand in piecing the tune together, but the melody was Desmond’s, and Brubeck graciously gave him full credit as its sole composer. Although Desmond conceived the two main motifs, it is Brubeck who put them together as a tune and created a complete piece out of it. As Brubeck noted, “He [Desmond] came in with two themes. He didn't know which was the first or the second. He didn't know they'd fit together. I'm the one that put them together and said, 'We can make a tune out of this. We repeat the first theme, and then you'd go to what we call a bridge, and then go back to the first theme, and then improvise on the one E flat minor chord change.' And then have a drum solo” (National Public Radio, 2000). After its release, “Take Five” became a jazz staple. Its smooth and easy rhythm never gets old. It’s a classic jazz standard, and its memorable catchy tune combined with the need for only four musicians, as well as many improvisational opportunities for musicians makes this piece an essential among jazz musicians and quartets, and this is one of the many reasons that this piece is performed so regularly. The Dave Brubeck Quartet recording “Take Five”

Ta ke F i ve w a s n eve r anticipated to be a hit, and even Brubeck and Morello say they can't pinpoint what it is about "Take Five" that made it the biggestselling jazz single ever. Brubeck guesses it was the catchy repeated vamp, and Morello says the whole thing just clicked with listeners. "It just worked," Brubeck said. (National Public Radio, 2000). Music writer Chris May attributes the success of “Take Five” to Drummer Joe Morello: “‘Take Five’ includes one of the most thrilling drum solos ever recorded.” He makes particular mention of the solo’s “percussive accentuation, colorization and structure” (All About Jazz, 2011).

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In my opinion, this song’s repeated motifs make it extremely memorable, and the unusual time signature separates it from other jazz compositions. In the score section below, note the unusual

time signature, and the opening melody that is so recognizable. Take Five is a classic jazz piece, and it is in the style of West Coast “cool” jazz. The “cool” style was a reaction to the frenetic drive of bebop. The music of “cool” jazz was mainly for small groups, and much of the music was arranged rather then in a ‘head,’ or improvisation. Another reason for the origin of “cool” jazz was the move of East Coast musicians emigrating to the east coast, to work in Hollywood movies. These musicians formed small groups in their spare time and worked in restaurants and clubs. One such “cool” jazz quartet was started by Dave Brubeck and as the leader of this group, the group was named The Dave Brubeck Quartet. As this group created and performed numerous “cool” jazz pieces, they became synonymous with “cool” jazz. Dave Brubeck composed many other works over his lifetime, but he primarily wrote for his quartet, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Some of those pieces such as “In Your Own Sweet Way" and “The Duke" also became standards for many jazz musicians. Throughout his career he experimented with integrating jazz into classical forms. He composed orchestral music, as well as dance and musical theatre pieces.

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References Canter, A ndrea. “Take ‘Time Out’ for Dave Brubeck”. Jazzpolice.com, 2008, www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/ 7210/115/. Davebrubeck.com, 2016, http://www.davebrubeck.com/about.php. Kaplan, Fred M. 1959. 1st ed., Hoboken, NJ, J. Wiley & Sons, 2009. May, Chris. "Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out". All About Jazz, 2011, https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dave-brubeck-quartet-time-outdave-brubeck-by-chris-may.php. Sarabia, Tony. "The Story Of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'". NPR.org, 2000, http://www.npr.org/2000/11/19/1114201/take-five. Schudel, Matt. "Dave Brubeck, ‘Take Five,’ And His Longtime Collaboratore Who Wrote The Jazz Legend’S Biggest Hit". Washington Post, 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ ar ts-post/post/dave-brubeck-take-five-and-his-longtimecollaborator-credited-with-the-jazz-legends-biggest-hit/ 2012/12/05/6ae17f16-3f19-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_blog.html? utm_term=.6e6680329f4d.

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by Adam Nachowitz