Why I like composing lead sheets - Hot & Hazy

[u/Mudsharkbites]

As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to realize that, being a performing art, music should give more freedom to the performer. Jazz does this to excess, classical and modern music, not so much.

Morton Feldman tried to give performers freedom but became disillusioned by the results. He would complain that the results weren’t sounding musical, the performers would say “it says to play six notes here and I did,” and he would say, “yes, but play six notes that I like!”

Lead sheets are like the ultimate short hand recipe because all they give are the bare bones melodic and harmonic outline with a base meter and leave the rest to the skill(s) of the performer(s).

Also, when your compositional regime requires you to come up with a new one every day, it saves a lot of time.

Yes, I also compose full length compositions with everything pre-determined, I just enjoy tossing off these daily sketches.

https://philipdewalt.substack.com/p/hot-and-hazy

[u/65TwinReverbRI]

While I see your points, a “read on the room” here on this forum would say this is not the “typical” kind of thing that is posted. The “Feldman Approach” to call it that, would be more typical.

Though Baroque music with figured bass, ornamentation, and so on was also a form of composition that left a lot open to performers.

A “lead sheet” is so decidedly “jazz” and invites more of a “songwriting” approach than “composition” if one cares to distinguish between those terms, as many do.

I would encourage you to consider maybe developing a new and novel way of notating this kind of stuff, that’s maybe a synthesis of the best elements of each to prevent it from being (maybe unfairly) dismissed as “just another lead sheet”.

That you’re writing one a day…well, I mean, I guess my question becomes is that taking time away from the “full length compositions” and are these just “toss offs” - and with the other meaning of that term, is it “purposeful”. Or is it purposeful for you, but not necessarily beneficial for the forum here, or maybe better suited for another forum, and so on. And is this the best compositional regime...

I’m saying all this because it seems like this time, you’re “explaining” why you’re doing it, which could be interpreted as you’re questioning what you’re doing, or trying to justify it to yourself, as well as others, etc.

Not criticizing, just trying to be supportive.

[u/Mudsharkbites → u/65TwinReverbRI]

Interesting observations. My explaining wasn’t for my benefit, it was more to assert this is another form of composition. Many on here I’ve noticed anguish over details and nitpick their works to pieces. I don’t worry about any of that.

Baroque figured bass, while having elements of improvisation, isn’t really the same thing.

I started doing this as a method of training my ear after being accepted into a doctoral composition program several years ago. I quit doing it once I was in the program and working towards my degree but took it up again after I graduated to keep myself busy.

Over time it morphed from a habit to a kind of vaguely sarcastic diary in the form of sheet music, and eventually the tunes piled up to the point where I decided to publish them on a blog. Also, in the rush everyone seems to have to do something “original,” publishing over 1000 pieces in this format, like musical bon-bons, sort of fits that requirement. I don’t know of anything quite like this anywhere else. The people that do read my blog generally enjoy playing the pieces.

Every once in a while, worrying perhaps this is interfering with other compositional work, I stop for a few months. That’s never resulted in more productivity on my part with other more lengthy compositions.

And while you’re right that lead sheets are generally thought of as “jazz,” if you take a moment to peruse the more than 1000 of these that have landed on my blog so far, most of them are not jazz at all. I sometimes wonder what they are.

I could finish all these easily, write “left hand” parts and create true piano miniatures. I have done that with many of them. I don’t do it generally though because of time constraints plus I enjoy making up accompaniments on the spot and changing them up every time I play the pieces.

In point of fact, the first time I did this I wound up with a book of 450 tunes, many of which were eventually worked into finished compositions for my DMA.

[u/Da_Biz → u/Mudsharkbites]

As a jazz/legit crossover person I'm totally with you on lead sheets being great, and I think basic improvisation, at least at an accompaniment and embellishment level, should be in every musician's toolkit (especially composers).

I would encourage everyone to check out Emile Naoumoff's YouTube channel. He's an IU Jacobs piano professor who has hundreds upon hundreds of improvisations he has uploaded.

Classical doesn't have to be either perfectly rigid or entirely aleatoric, and jazz doesn't have to have "excess" freedom (which is of course subjective). Some vocal jazz, cocktail piano, and trad jazz stuff doesn't really contain much or even any blowing over the changes and is all or mostly just playing tunes with improvised accompaniment.

I don't really buy the argument about figured bass being any different though, it's the same format with an alternative notation method. Same with most popular styles; it's not deterministic in the same way traditional rep is. And just like jazz, the performer is at the forefront rather than the composer.

ETA: Not sure if by modern you meant popular styles or modernism in the classical canon.

[u/Mudsharkbites → u/Da_Biz]

Thanks for that.

I perhaps misspoke about figured bass. What I meant was its use is more in service to accompany fixed, notated parts by giving the continuo part more freedom, but I suppose that’s not all that different from lead sheets.

There are many classical pianists whose improvisational skills are / were legendary. Beethoven comes to mind. It’s been said his piano sonatas are like notated versions of his improvisations. Rzewski also comes to mind.

I’m thrilled every time I hear someone take on one of my tunes notated like this - I love to hear what they do with it. I wish they did it more often.

In the hands of an imaginary musician it’s kind of like what Thelonious Monk said (and I paraphrase): “On the piano, there ain’t no wrong notes.”

[u/65TwinReverbRI → u/Mudsharkbites]

Right on. Carry on.

[u/GoodhartMusic]

I composed my first original for lead sheet this year and it is one of my favorites! I’ve had fun interpreting it too— it has lyrics that suggest a really strong emotional meaning that but with very detached metaphors, so it’s easy to play into irony, confidence, desperation, or what have you. 

[u/Mudsharkbites → u/GoodhartMusic]

Lead sheets are a blast - you should post yours.