Show Charts

Drew Howard · From: 48854

SGF,

I played at LT's show in April, this time without my band (though I brought the drummer). I found myself on stage with Roy Rosetta, Ben Brogdon and Frank Rogers, with a hastily scribbled set-list of standards in my sweaty hand that I (correctly) assumed these hardened top-drawer pros would know. What the hell was I doing here? Trial by fire, sink or swim!

How many of you prepare charts for the band? I know lots of players do this, and some (like Jim Cohen), are super-organized and have their books all printed out and ready to go. I have Finale, the music-writing program, and thought I’d make some charts up for the hell of it. I’m not going to get real fancy, just chords, bar numbers and repeats.

Any tips from you steel guitar show pros?

Thanks heaps,
Drew

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www.newslinkassociates.com
www.drewhoward.com

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Let your fakebook be your guide.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Frank Parish · From: Nashville,Tn. USA

Tell me more about this Finale please.

Drew Howard · From: 48854

Great idea Larry. I'd want to keep the arrangements to one sheet. I even have a cool "Jazz" font that makes my Finale scores look like the Real Book!

Drew

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www.newslinkassociates.com
www.drewhoward.com

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Frank, http://www.finalemusic.com/

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Rex Thomas · From: Thompson's Station, TN

Ok, now Uall are in my neck of the woods. I've been doing computer music notation since '87, & besides doing charts for our church, I work for a director of such shows as this one: http://americanmusictheatre.com & I just finished my batch of work for their show, "the Revue", opening in August.

Before I say anything else, yeah Drew, you have the right idea. Simple chords, bar numbers, rehearsal marks as well. The more clues & direction you can give the guys, the better. Make sure you know what the form is and if you have a section for choruses/solos, mark that clearly. You're right, you don't have to be real fancy, but if you do your homework & go to the rehearsal, gig, whatever knowing you have the charts the way YOU want them played, the players spend less time marking them up & they're playing & you're on to the next chart. So yeah; don't try to do them fancy, just the basics, but make sure the map is clear; repeats (how many times), D.S's, codas, etc.
Concerning Finale & what version you have, if I were you I would do those chord charts using the jazz font as with what time I dinked around with it it makes you look like a pro right out of the chute. (I'm editing here as to what Earnest B. put below. He's right because with the same font & especially with a lot of text the chords can become a wash. So that's a good idea to use a different font for the chords. And make 'em big.)

I'm going to sound like all this p/p boowangy that's been going around, so forgive me for a bit. Finale is hands down THE notation program as it has all the bells & whistles necessary especially for music publishing. And it's especially piano keyboard (MIDI) friendly which to me contributes to its popularity. I enter my notes in by "qwert" keyboard, & in the 16 yrs. I've been doing this, MOTU's Mosaic has worked best for me, & I continue to use it to this day. I do have Finale & its latest update, 2003a I believe. I'm not plugging Mosaic as they obviously don't update it like they do Finale, & if I was forced to change I would, but I believe the reason I continue to get hired is that it's not the machine, but the operator, & if you can write kickin' charts with a PENCIL, then that's what really matters. The talent will prevail.
But you've got what's considered to be the best, & the whole idea is to be able to get the work done faster.

So you're headed the right direction; simple & direct. Just be sure you've done your homework as when the "guys" have to start grabbing their pencils, that wastes time. And with all programs, STUDY the manual, & especially with Finale, do the tutorials as they'll get you up to speed quick.

There's my take. Hang in, keep your tailgate up & do your homework.

[This message was edited by Rex Thomas on 25 June 2003 at 07:35 AM.]

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Hey Drew,
I tried to reply to your email but it didn't go thru for some reason. Most of my charts are printed with Band in a Box, but then you have to handwrite comments on them, such as how many choruses, who solos when, etc. Sometimes I'll just handwrite the whole thing. I've found it useful, in playing steel shows, to have one side of my book be a letter chart and the opposite side be a number chart, as some players are more comfortable with one vs the other.
Hope that helps! I'll also acknowledge all the help I've gotten from Buck Grantham on charts; I used to bug him to death with questions on how to make them better. Thanks, Buck! You're the best!
jc

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Jazz font may be cute, but I find it harder to read than many other fonts.

It helps if you choose a different font for each purpose. For example the chords should have a font that is not used anywhere else on the chart. This helps players to see the chords quicker.

Drew Howard · From: 48854

Thank you very much, gentlemen!

Drew

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www.newslinkassociates.com
www.drewhoward.com

Roger Crawford · From: Griffin, GA USA

One player I know loads his charts, number & letter, into Word in his computer, then prints number charts on one side of the page and letter charts on the other side. That way he passes out one set and let's the players choose which side they read.

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · From: Southaven, MS, USA

Drew: I'm using a notaion program for writing my book (of course), but thinking of the many floor shows, etc., I've written, I can offer this: I use large score paper because I feel I must know what's going on all the time; i.e, 10 brass, 5 saxes, w/w, violins, and rhythm. This is not possible with most notation programs; one can view only a few staves at a time. For Guitar and Piano, I write chord vergules only, solo - ad-lib, or for ensemble work I create a line. I use blurred-bar lines frequently to avoid the use of a conductor (i.e., I change the meter, eg, from 4/4 to 5/4 to 3/4, etc. to create the sensation of "slowing down." If a conductor is necessary, he/s can use the score. I have found that the more information that you put on the music, the fewer questions you will hear. That's important when you have only one rehearsal before the gig. Hugh

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Hugh,
I believe Drew is referring to 'zero rehearsals'.

The challenge is to write a chart that a skilled backup band can use to get it right the first time through.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Is it really necessary to chart most "standard" songs? (That's not a smart-aleck remark, but a serious question). I can see it for stuff that's got a lot of chords...like Desafinado, or for personal compositions that no one knows. But do many players really chart the stuff we've all heard a hundred times?

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Yes, I believe so. Herby, John, Hal, et al tend to show up with a loose leaf binder with all their tunes. Is it necessary? Probably not.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Terry Downs · From: Wylie, TX US

When Jim Cohen pointed out his usage of Band in the Box, it may not be apparent to everyone that the program can convert numbers to letters or reverse with the click of an option. That way you only need to capture the song once.

Terry

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · From: Southaven, MS, USA

For Larry and Drew: When my 4-piece combo was working a lot, I wrote quite a number of what we called "semi-skull" arrangements; these consisted of a written intro, first course with clarinet (or tenor) with steel playing 5 parts; then ad-lib: any number of courses, depending on the number of people on the dance floor; a final course--written--and an ending. That way, everyone knew what was going on, and each got a solo course. HJ

Bill Fulbright · From: Atlanta, GA

I have hand written my charts for about 30 years. Or else copped them from the Real Books, or the Music Encyclopedia..

I have not converted much to BIAB but that is a lofty goal for one day.... until then my chicken scratching will have to pass!!

I would never expect a band to fly without a book distributed beforehand, especially playing cold. I have tried it, and only end up feeling like I personally strapped on the plow harness and pulled 40 acres. Ain't nuttin' worse.

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Bill Fulbright
Mullen D-10 8x7; Gibson ES-165; Peavey Vegas 400;
ICQ# 2251620 My Music Site

Rex Thomas · From: Thompson's Station, TN

Good tip, Earnest.

Leon Grizzard · From: Austin, Texas, USA

I have used both Band in A Box and Finale for charts, and have written a book with Finale. Finale is the premier notation program, but like all programs that do a lot, there is an associated learning curve. Band in a Box, while not offering all the details of Finale, is awfully easy to use - just type the chords on the grid-like screen, click the lead sheet button and voila! Changing keys etc. is easy.

Also, in order to play back your chart to make sure you have it written right, in in Finale you would have had to actually enter chords on the staff to play back, with piano type keyboard, or mouse click for individual notes, whereas with Band in a Box you type in the letter name of the chord, and it autmatically produces the chord - the whole band in fact. I find playback in Band in a Box very convenient to make sure I have it right.

Finale gives a better looking result, but for the up front expense, (isn’t it like $450 or $500 for first time purchaser?) vs. about $80.00 for Band in a Box, which is also one of the best practice aids available, maybe Band in A Box is a better choice unless you plan to do real music publishing.

Another alternative is to have sheets with the chords typed in a large font, like:

Right or Wrong (G) E7 A7 D7 G
G D7 A7 D7
E7 A7 D7 B7
E7 A7 G D7 G

(When this posted, the chords don't line up the way they did when I typed it in WordPerfect, but you get the idea)

I agree with Donny that most players don’t need a chart for Tear in my Beer, but there are a lot of players who don’t know the swing side of County. (Of course, maybe some take sadistic pleasure in calling Right or Wrong to let some Tele hot shot show what he doesn’t know) Charts like my example will fit several on a page, so there is less fumbling. Of course, the older the player, the bigger the font needs to be.

[This message was edited by Leon Grizzard on 25 June 2003 at 08:16 AM.]

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

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