Jazzin’ Thru Autumn

$5.00

Description

‘In the autumn there is letting go, a shedding of the past,

A journey into timelessness to teach ones home at last.  

The leaves are gone, the trees are bare, they stand for all to see,

Such beauty and such peace within to rest forever free’                      

(lyrics from the song ‘The Seasons’ by Gordon Tayler © 1991)

 

This piece in F major for flute and piano makes use of a bossa nova beat as defined by the piano accompaniment LH bass line in the opening bars. The two instruments often engage in a kind of melodic conversation – the flute melodies are interwoven with the piano counter melodies (eg bars 18-28), so rhythmical precision is needed. The flute staccato passages at bars 10-12 should be light and playful. The piano chord riffs (bars 34-41) are strong rhythmically and often syncopated, so the flute player needs to hold an internalised sense of beat especially when the chromatics are required at bars 47-50.

The piano accompaniment is really a solo in its own right. I always try to write piano accompaniments that have as much melodic and rhythmical interest as possible, so that the pianist is an equal partner on the journey.

Don’t let the tempo drag; keep the beat strong and moving forward; follow the articulations carefully as they help shape each phrase; keep the grace notes and mordents tight; and be particular about the dynamics.

Applying dynamics and shaping phrases well is no easy task for the flute player, who must consider many technical elements, such as articulations, breath support, ornamentations, vibrato and tapering phrase ends with lower lip positioning especially on longer notes. Remember to listen very carefully to the ensemble sound, to facilitate improvement in one’s intonation and rhythmical precision, especially when the melodic shapes between the soloist and accompanist are very different, as is the case here.

The downloadable zip files for these flute solos with piano accompaniment, contain a pdf master score for the solo flute and the piano part, an individual flute solo pdf extract, an mp3 audio of the master score (flute & piano), as well as an mp3 flute solo backing track with only the piano accompaniment to assist practice.

sample audio

sample sheet music

Level of Difficulty: ★★★½☆

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