[Alan]

Hi,

I've been looking at the sheet music for Moon River (many out there but the one I have is for vocal & piano in C major).

In my version of the sheet music the suggested chord for harmonising the lyric "break  -  er" is a Bb7(b5) when the melody for "break  -  er" is g b. Harmonising with Em sounds "better" but I'm wondering why Mancini would use the Bb (at this point in the song the key is Am)? I guess it's a jazz thing but if anybody out there has a view then please let me know.

Cheers,
Alan

[Mystic Dreamer]

I don't know anything about the score you're referring to.  However, just for the record, I have some jazz score written for trumpet and saxophone, along with backing tracks.  Above the score they have chords called out.  And all I can say is that they are definitely NOT playing the chords called out on the sheet music.  When I try to play the chords they call out on the piano it sounds horrible.  It's definitely not what they are actually playing for sure.  And I've double-checked, triple-checked and quadruple-checked.  I'm not making a mistake, the chords on the score are clearly wrong.  Fortunately the trumpet and sax melody lines are correct.   But I'm at a loss what to play behind them on the piano because the chords called out on the score are not working.

I also wonder about the following:

These score seem to be written out in Eb or Bb for Alto Sax and Trumpet respectively.  I'm wondering if the chords they are calling out need to be transposed for piano?  If the chords they are calling out on actually written out in Eb or Bb, then they would need to be transposed to concert C before they would make sense on a piano.

Disclaimer:  I have no official education in music.  So I don't know what the standard is for writing up jazz scores.  All I know is that if I play the chords they call out it doesn't match the backing track at all.  It's either a misprint, or some sort of transposition needs to be done to transpose these chords for piano in concert C.

[Alan]

Thanks for the reply. You are right to point out that sometimes the 'suggested' guitar box does not always provide the best harmonisation (in many cases it approximates).

The same three melody notes appear two bars before for the lyric "mak  -  er" and is harmonised with a C7 which sounds right to my ear. I guess it would be boring to harmonise with C7 again for "break  -  er". The Bb7(b5) sort of works since the g (not part of Bb7(b5)) 'resolves' onto the e which is the b5.

In my song writing I would have chosen Em and would have never considered a Bb chord of some description. Like I say many sheet music for the piano clearly has B flats in the left hand.

[Paulski]

Hi Alan

I play Moon River on piano in C (by ear), and I play:

Dream maker
Am, C7(G bass)
Heart-breaker
F, C7(Bb bass)

I think the melody is g, e (not g, b) so the C7 works.

Paul

[Alan]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I did mean g e in the melody (too many Bs in my brain!). I can see from what you say, that would work. Here is the link to the sheet music I've been looking at.

http://www.onlinesheetmusic.com/moon-river-p251544.aspx

Here the LH piano part has the Bb in the bass but the bar spells out some sort of Bb7 chord in the LH. I guess the arranger felt that a Bb7(5b) was best suited. Any view on that?

Cheers,
Alan

[Paulski]

Hi Alan

Yes I see what you mean in the sheet music.
I find a Bb chord works OK with the melody line, but introducing an Ab to make it a Bb7 clashes the G being sung with an Ab a semitone away. A Bb chord works because it is the top part of a C7+9+11. I suppose you could argue the Ab just adds a 13 on this, and it looks like the melody has moved to E by the time the Ab is played  - and an E is in the chord C7+9+11+13! There aren't too many notes that are not in that chord!

All in all it's an amazing piece of songwriting typical of Mancini.
Paul

[Alan]

Hi Paul,

Once again thanks for the feedback - understood what you were saying.

I think I would harmonise this with a Gm/Bb on the first beat, and than an Ab+/E (or probably better written as the augmented enharmonic G#+/E) for the remaining two beats. Certainly sounds OK on the guitar with the G# (Ab in the sheet music) leading to the Am in the next bar.

As you say Mancini was some song writer. I've been looking at this song for some inspiration as I love the melody. Anyway, this analysis helps to fuel some ideas for my song writing and chord progressions.

Cheers,
Alan

[Alan]

Hi,

Hopefully Paul can answer this. In the sheet music

http://www.onlinesheetmusic.com/moon-river-p251544.aspx

bars 16 to 18 in the L.H. have a "(" symbol  tying two notes together (e.g. the A and the F# in bar 16). It's a bit of a stretch (achievable I think with playing the A in the R.H.) but what does the symbol mean?

Cheers,
Alan

[Paulski]

Hi Alan

I don't play from sheet music much so not going to be much help.
I would think if the top note was meant to be played with the RH, it would be shown in the top on a short ledger line - may it means you must hop quickly from the low to the high note with the left hand?
.. but I'm only guessing.. someone else know?

Paul

[Viscount Cramer & His Orchestra]

 Yes it is a bit of a stretch too far for my finger spread. In the MIDI playback the two notes are played together but I can do that too...in MIDI !

Don't know if this helps. Found it somewhere.



arpège (Fr.), arpeggio (It.), arpeggi (It. plural): (Italian, meaning 'in the manner of a harp') a spread chord played from the top down or from the bottom up indicated by a vertical wavy line, a vertical square bracket or a curved bracket (the latter two signs are now uncommon)

Maybe as it's such a stretch those two notes can be arpeggiated if necessary....

[hardtwistmusic]

I don't know if this would help Alan, but I'll make a suggestion. 

If you will download a free software called "notation player" I can e-mail you a copy of "Moon River" that shows (and plays) all the notes.   Might not be the same version.  But seeing/hearing it as it's played might be advantageous for you as you try to figure out what Mancini was doing.

The version I have has a truly MARVELOUS guitar solo for the musical bridge, and that might be right up your alley too.  Let me know.