16 | Solos & Backgrounds

Improvised solos are a vital part of not only big band charts, but jazz as a whole. You could argue it defines the entire style. Some tunes can even feel like the head is just a distraction or appetiser to the main course of the improvised solo where the soloist can show off their chops. Let’s look at how to arrange effective improvised solo sections.

THE CHANGES

The changes are the chord progression you give for your soloist to play over. Traditional changes include the blues, jazz blues and rhythm changes as well as any ii-V-I patterns. When you start to use unconventional changes, soloing on your chart becomes harder - a challenge a player might enjoy or feel less than happy about trying to navigate. Usually the changes are derived from the structure so far - so maybe an A and B section.

The most important thing is to create a structure or arc with your arrangement. The player will do this with their solo too but you as the arranger can help them. A solo traditionally has an internal AABA structure. Keeping the chords simple and sparse allows the player more freedom. Don’t feel you have to keep the harmonic rhythmic too fast.

On their part, players may also have figures that they should play if they’re not soloing. These are called backgrounds. They usually begin the second time around the A section - the first time is reserved for just the rhythm section and the soloist. It’s helpful to think of the B section as the climax of the solo and the final A section as the ‘hand-off’ to the next soloist to transition to the next section.

Each section is usually 8 bars as shown below, but these could be changed to 4 or 16 per section depending on tempo. Generally though, they’re kept proportional to each other. A 4-bar A section won’t have a 16-bar B section for example. The entire solo would not usually be longer than 64 bars per soloist in a fast tune or 32 bars in a medium/slow tune.

Here are a few common solo forms:

In reality, these forms are very loose. Sections change lengths and parts are added all the time. Here’s an unusual, long solo form from one of my charts. Notice the 8-bar A section in D minor is repeated, and then there’s a 4 bar transition to change key to A minor, giving the solo a lift.

There’s then a B section for 8 bars which is the climax of the solo before going to a new section that gets ready to go back to the start of the solos or move on as required. The harmonic rhythm is also faster toward the end of the solo to build up momentum:

WHAT THE PLAYER SEES

To take a solo, the player would only need the chords (transposed to their respective keys of course) and some slashes. You could write ‘solo’ above the beginning and ‘end solo’ if it’s not obvious or there’s no rehearsal time. In studio situations it’s a good idea to label the order of solos too:

Make sure to include the changes in their parts. You can give the changes to as many instruments as you like and then choose later who exactly will take the solo.

It’s common to repeat the entire solo section and have about 2 solos for a big band chart. In that case, you might write something like ‘Repeat back to bar 63 for solos’, or even better ‘Take 63 for solos’ above the stave.

Remember that it’s the jazz chairs that will be taking the solos. For example giving changes to Tenor 1 rather than Tenor 2 would look strange unless:

You know the players. You know your non-jazz chairs would be fine taking solos and you’re writing for them in mind.
You wanted to deliberately change the usual jazz chairs for practical reasons like saving a player’s chops throughout a set or recording session.

Parts

If a player has the option of soloing on a chart, the arranger needs to include transposed chord changes with slashes as well write the word ‘solo’. It’s also helpful to include something like ‘solo 1st time’ to the player you want to go first if you have a preference. The same player should also be given any backings the rest of the band are playing, for them to play when they’re not soloing. Here’s what a player in a jazz chair (in this case Tenor 1) might see as their part:

A section player who is not expected to take a solo (like Tenor 2 for instance) would only have backings and bars rest when they’re not playing:

WRITING BACKGROUNDS

The backgrounds are an important part of the solo. They help add excitement to the A theme’s repetition and build the solo up. The support the harmony and should be stylistically appropriate with the rest of the chart without getting in the way of the soloist.

Here’s our ABC form’s A section from earlier. I’ve added backgrounds to be played on the second time:

It’s usual for parts to have something like ‘backgrounds 2nd time’ above these sections. Here I’ve tried to keep them out of the way of any soloing that might be happening while keeping interest. There’s a lot of unison and octaves apart from when chords are needed to keep the texture light.

After the A section, these backgrounds often then become more prominent at the climax of the solo. I like the climax to feature stabs that leave gaps for the soloist to really shine. They leave room for the soloist as well as providing a moment of impact.

GETTING INTO THE SOLO

Climax With Impact Chords

This allows the solo to ‘emerge’ out of the full band sound and the arrangement is stripped back to just the rhythm section and soloist, allowing for an effective contrast. These climax chords are usually V chords (or altered V chords) of the first chord of the solo for maximum harmonic effect.

The solo section above is from my chart shamelessly named ‘In The Hall of The Mountain Swing’. I used full-band impact chords after a drum fill to get into the solos. Because the chords linger into the first bar of the solos, I had to use a D7#9 so the band wouldn’t clash with the Dm at the beginning of the next section. Using an A7 would have been stronger but then I couldn’t hang the chord into the solo section without also making the first chord of the solo section an A7:

Solo Break

A tried and tested method is to allow for a 2, 4 or even 8-bar break where the whole band cuts out for the soloist to make an opening statement before the rhythm section joins in. This is usually done in one of the following two ways:

The whole band drops out for the last few bars of a section for the soloist to take the break into the solo section.
Extra bars are added after the section ends for the solo break to happen.

Here I do the second option and insert 2 bars of a V7 chord after the phrase ends for the soloist to blow over before everyone comes back in for the solo section.

Straight In

A more traditional, no-nonsense way is to treat it like any other section and transition into it normally. Often in more traditional tunes the changes start from the top again after a sax soli and the soloist takes over. There’s not much ceremony or fanfare this way but it gets the job done.

Those are a few ways of getting into a solo but what about getting out?

GETTING OUT OF THE SOLO

Big Fall-Off

The backgrounds come to a big climax and a long chord is held before a fall-off. Afterwards, the chart drops dramatically in intensity and the next section is quiet and subdued to contrast from the energy of the solo section.

Development

It’s not uncommon to go straight into a development section or completely new material after the solo. After all, we’ve heard the head a few times and are probably sick of the changes having heard from the beginning of the chart. Something completely unrelated to anything that comes before isn’t unusual:

Rhythm Section Dropout

A more modern approach to getting out of a solo involves dropping some players out. The drummer dropping out is the most usual one, with bass player taking charge and resulting a more stripped-back sound to contrast the excitement of the solo. Sometimes, all the horns drop out and leave the rhythm section to bring the energy down before transitioning 4, 8 or 16 bars later.

This is the technique I used to get out of the solo section in my chart above, but used solo drums to wind down the energy. Here’s an example where the bass plays solo after an intense solo section:

Trading Fours

A classic jazz device, trading fours involves two (or more) soloists playing 4 bars of improvised solo each, taking turns. It’s also common to trade eights or twos. In fact, an effective way of building tension is to start with trading eights and then gradually reduce it to short interjections. This way, great players can use each other’s energy and musically interact in a very sophisticated way.

This doesn’t need to be planned meticulously, and most of the time isn’t even notated - jazz players are very familiar with soloing like this. Above the changes, something like ‘trade fours’ can be written and the soloists involved will sort it out among themselves. Be sure to give each player the full changes, even if you don’t intend for them to play during some of them. It gives the full context of the harmony and allows them to shape a better solo.

It’s most common for players to first get their individual solos and then for then transition into trading. I really wouldn’t worry too much about this - I rarely find the need to notate it. If I do though I’d do it something like this. (You don’t need to put the writing in pink on the actual parts of course).

DO’s & DON’TS

A couple of final thoughts on what not to do when writing a solo part:

Don’t clutter up the backgrounds so much the soloist has to fight them. If you’re recording, the solo will usually be overdubbed so this isn’t as much of a problem.
Don’t write out a solo. Unless the chart is educational or you have some massive trust issues there should be no reason to give a good player anything other than the chords.
Don’t fill the solo with stylistic directions (i.e. don’t tell the player how to express themselves) unless it’s a short break and/or something very specific has to be done like ‘bluesy growl’ or something.
Don’t clutter up your parts with chord symbols. Less really is more. Simple chord symbols with basic structural navigation is really all a part needs for a great solo.
Don’t give the drums a 32-bar solo. Nobody wants that.

Putting It All Together

Check out this solo section from Gordon Goodwin’s Sing Sang Sung (based on the Benny Goodman classic, Sing Sing Sing). The clarinet solo, played by Eddie Daniels is followed by a trumpet solo, played by Arturo Sandoval. This is a really interesting solo arrangement because the soloist almost trades fours with the band to begin with before breaking into a normal up swing solo. Then the B section climax modulates up a fourth to C minor to up the energy. Finally, the A section returns up a tone again in D minor. The soloist is supported brilliantly throughout by the arrangement.

Have a listen first (from 1:45-4:02) and then look at the following structure:

Whew. So far, we’ve looked at unisons and octaves, solis, spreads, voicing big chords, shout choruses and improvised solos. That’s all the individual, component parts of arranging the horns for a big band part. The rest of big band arranging, like coming up with ideas and developing them is all in the domain of listening, composing and creativity. We’ll look at putting it all together but before that, as promised, let’s take a closer look at the so-far-forgotten rhythm section.