The Jukes' "Can You Feel It"


dacontinent

dacontinent

Preacher
I am writing an arrangement of this staple for my local HS. Yes, they already play Get Ready for pregame. I took care of JSU first.

Now, there are things about the SU arrangement that I really like and some things that I don't care a whole lot for. This HS band would never sound right trying to perform the SU arrangement as it is because the instrumentation is so different. However, I am going to use a few elements that SU has in place.

Now, I have watched several of the available videos of the Jukes performing this tune and I still can't see trombone players moving their slides. If they are, then it would seem no further than second position. Is the chording in the trombones (tenor voice) written in such a blocked style or am I missing something obvious?

This is not a complicated song (thank you, Jackie and Michael Jackson) so the backing chords are simple. Three chords really can make you a millionaire. Played well, this can a be a real boon for these HS kids.
 



spiderman2003 said:
I would tell you but then i'd have to kill ya
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I can accept that from a bone player.

I ain't trying to get at the great secrets of SU arrangers. Besides, I found some more videotape that told me what I wanted to know.

I put the first 4 bars of the melody in the tenor voice, where it belongs. This will be a true ripper.

Thanks.
 
I'm already not liking this post. Arrangements should be of the arranger's flavor not a copy of another arranger's flava. To me, if you want an arranger's flava, you go them and purchase it or go to them with a tape (cd) of your band and ask them to arrange one for you. There is value in your hearing and your preference in style and you know your band better than someone writing for another band. Just get the CD, listen to it a couple of times and decide what you hear in the song that you want you band to play. Certainly, you will most likely be limited with your possibilities with a high school band, but that is part of the art, skill and passion of the skill. I remember, I couldn't wait to arrange a song for SU as a student. But, when the opportunity presented itself, it was scary because of how flexible that band was in the 80s. You could darn near give any section and part and know you would hear it with the entire band. There range was far greater than anything I had ever considered with the pencil and paper.

Bottom-line, don't try to do a one to one. It will put your kids in a position to not sound good in public. Arrange according to your students. Even if you purchase it, make sure you give the parts to the right sections in your band. For example, when I was in hs and the rare occassions my band director would purchase one of his brother's arrangements, parts would get shifted to fit our band, example, baritone would likely go to trombone. Trumpet might share some F-Horn melodies... etc...

Peace...
 
ZNSPR8502 said:
I'm already not liking this post. Arrangements should be of the arranger's flavor not a copy of another arranger's flava. To me, if you want an arranger's flava, you go them and purchase it or go to them with a tape (cd) of your band and ask them to arrange one for you. There is value in your hearing and your preference in style and you know your band better than someone writing for another band. Just get the CD, listen to it a couple of times and decide what you hear in the song that you want you band to play. Certainly, you will most likely be limited with your possibilities with a high school band, but that is part of the art, skill and passion of the skill. I remember, I couldn't wait to arrange a song for SU as a student. But, when the opportunity presented itself, it was scary because of how flexible that band was in the 80s. You could darn near give any section and part and know you would hear it with the entire band. There range was far greater than anything I had ever considered with the pencil and paper.

Bottom-line, don't try to do a one to one. It will put your kids in a position to not sound good in public. Arrange according to your students. Even if you purchase it, make sure you give the parts to the right sections in your band. For example, when I was in hs and the rare occassions my band director would purchase one of his brother's arrangements, parts would get shifted to fit our band, example, baritone would likely go to trombone. Trumpet might share some F-Horn melodies... etc...

Peace...
Click to expand...
Yep........What he said.....
 
Doc's favorite words; "Often Intimated BUT Never Duplicated".

Please post a tape of your local high school playing this song.
 
dacontinent said:
I can accept that from a bone player.

I ain't trying to get at the great secrets of SU arrangers. Besides, I found some more videotape that told me what I wanted to know.

I put the first 4 bars of the melody in the tenor voice, where it belongs. This will be a true ripper.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Inquiring ears would love to hear your high school band trying to duplicate the Jukebox.:)
 
JAG89 said:
Inquiring ears would love to hear your high school band trying to duplicate the Jukebox.:)
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It's heard all the time and that is cool as long as the arrangements adjusted (part assignments) to fit that band.

Peace...
 
JAG89 said:
Inquiring ears would love to hear your high school band trying to duplicate the Jukebox.:)
Click to expand...

First of all, thanks to all of you for your comments. I find several of them both insightfule. Now to the issues.

  • As I have stated at the site many, many times: NO ONE can out-SU the Jukes. It ain't gonna happen. What is there is truly unique.
  • As such, it cannot be duplicated, and most certainly not even approached by a bunch of HS'ers
  • In the band that I arrange for, I doubt that 2% have ever heard the song in any form, and even fewer have heard it played by an HBCU marching band. There are 275 kids in this band and less than 7 of them are Black. Of those 7, only one of them even knows that there was an iteration of the Jacksons after the J5.
  • 150 of these 275 are woodwinds. So, you know that it could never sound like SU no matter who did the arranging.
  • I have not and will not purchase or accept delivery of someone else's arrangement of anything for the purpose of generating my own arrangement. I hope and trust there will always be more creativity in me than to do such.
  • If I or the director ever caught a kid in this HS band taking his range higher than what is on the page without having been given our personal certification to do so in front of the entire band, that student is suspended immediately for the current performance and for the next and directly lower his grade by one letter. If a certified player choose to try to go there and misses, he gets warned once. If he misses again, he suffers the same suspension. The reason? He has compromised the ensemble.

What I really do like about the Jukes arrangement is introduction. That I will probably emulate. The body of the work will be closer to Morgan State's arrangement, which I happen to stumble onto recently. So, no, even if they ever do get to play the tune, it will never possess anything near the SU signature.
 
dacontinent said:
First of all, thanks to all of you for your comments. I find several of them both insightfule. Now to the issues.

  • As I have stated at the site many, many times: NO ONE can out-SU the Jukes. It ain't gonna happen. What is there is truly unique.
  • As such, it cannot be duplicated, and most certainly not even approached by a bunch of HS'ers
  • In the band that I arrange for, I doubt that 2% have ever heard the song in any form, and even fewer have heard it played by an HBCU marching band. There are 275 kids in this band and less than 7 of them are Black. Of those 7, only one of them even knows that there was an iteration of the Jacksons after the J5.
  • 150 of these 275 are woodwinds. So, you know that it could never sound like SU no matter who did the arranging.
  • I have not and will not purchase or accept delivery of someone else's arrangement of anything for the purpose of generating my own arrangement. I hope and trust there will always be more creativity in me than to do such.
  • If I or the director ever caught a kid in this HS band taking his range higher than what is on the page without having been given our personal certification to do so in front of the entire band, that student is suspended immediately for the current performance and for the next and directly lower his grade by one letter. If a certified player choose to try to go there and misses, he gets warned once. If he misses again, he suffers the same suspension. The reason? He has compromised the ensemble.

What I really do like about the Jukes arrangement is introduction. That I will probably emulate. The body of the work will be closer to Morgan State's arrangement, which I happen to stumble onto recently. So, no, even if they ever do get to play the tune, it will never possess anything near the SU signature.
Click to expand...

Cool... I wasn't, by the way, meaning to convey that you would take the arrangements. I know there is quit a bit of taking clips that were recorded live to go back and write the arrangement from it, when the song is on CD for them to arrange... There is far too much arranging a song the same way they heard another band play it and SU is one of the most copied when it comes to that. Even with the college bands, you now hear all of the bands playing the same songs, including old songs. There is far too much quality in the music world for most bands to be playing basically the same 20 to 30 songs year-end and year out. So, I'm glad to read that you aren't looking at trying to do a straight copy of the arrangement. Exposing them to quality bands is a great thing. Trust me, it motivated me to hear SU, JSU, TxSU while I was in HS. When I heard SU's trumpets, I started practicing even more than I had ever practiced (scales, reading, improving, arranging, etc...). It was cool to hear our version of an arrangment that they had and then hear them play their version. I would be like, "that band doesn't have a weak section". "I can hear every section hold its own" Wow!

So, don't misunderstand my comments in regards to exposing them to college-like arrangements. I'm just saying make sure it fits your band or is adjusted so that it fits your band. Best Wishes!

Peace...
 
ZNSPR8502 said:
Even with the college bands, you now hear all of the bands playing the same songs, including old songs. There is far too much quality in the music world for most bands to be playing basically the same 20 to 30 songs year-end and year out.
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There are ALOT of directors that need to make this a sign and hang it up in their bandroom. Including, some of the "top tier" bands.
 
dacontinent said:
First of all, thanks to all of you for your comments. I find several of them both insightfule. Now to the issues.

  • As I have stated at the site many, many times: NO ONE can out-SU the Jukes. It ain't gonna happen. What is there is truly unique.
  • As such, it cannot be duplicated, and most certainly not even approached by a bunch of HS'ers
  • In the band that I arrange for, I doubt that 2% have ever heard the song in any form, and even fewer have heard it played by an HBCU marching band. There are 275 kids in this band and less than 7 of them are Black. Of those 7, only one of them even knows that there was an iteration of the Jacksons after the J5.
  • 150 of these 275 are woodwinds. So, you know that it could never sound like SU no matter who did the arranging.
  • I have not and will not purchase or accept delivery of someone else's arrangement of anything for the purpose of generating my own arrangement. I hope and trust there will always be more creativity in me than to do such.
  • If I or the director ever caught a kid in this HS band taking his range higher than what is on the page without having been given our personal certification to do so in front of the entire band, that student is suspended immediately for the current performance and for the next and directly lower his grade by one letter. If a certified player choose to try to go there and misses, he gets warned once. If he misses again, he suffers the same suspension. The reason? He has compromised the ensemble.

What I really do like about the Jukes arrangement is introduction. That I will probably emulate. The body of the work will be closer to Morgan State's arrangement, which I happen to stumble onto recently. So, no, even if they ever do get to play the tune, it will never possess anything near the SU signature.
Click to expand...
That's what I'm talking about :tup:
Well,...I've heard your band.
I'm sending you a little something!!!!
 
ZNSPR8502 said:
...
Click to expand...
I appreciate all of the comments. You are right on target

ZNSPR8502 said:
... There is far too much arranging a song the same way they heard another band play it and SU is one of the most copied when it comes to that. Even with the college bands, you now hear all of the bands playing the same songs, including old songs. There is far too much quality in the music world for most bands to be playing basically the same 20 to 30 songs year-end and year out. ...
Click to expand...
Put your hand behind your ear, throw your head back and shout YEAH!!!

ZNSPR8502 said:
..So, don't misunderstand my comments in regards to exposing them to college-like arrangements. I'm just saying make sure it fits your band or is adjusted so that it fits your band. Best Wishes!

Peace...
Click to expand...
Thanks.
 
ZNSPR8502 said:
...So, don't misunderstand my comments in regards to exposing them to college-like arrangements. I'm just saying make sure it fits your band or is adjusted so that it fits your band...
Click to expand...

We have the largest band in the county and are about the 4th or 5th largest in the state. Marching rehearsal is 4 hours / week. So, we will never be great marchers. The Wind Ensemble plays Grade 6 & 7 (college-level) music on the concert stage for superior ratings when adjudicated with only 3 weeks of rehearsal. So, the leading kids can really play.

One of my goals is help the director to bring the concert band (all freshmen playing Grades 3-4) and symphonic band (playing Grades 4-5) up another notch. I think the way to do that is give more substantial music to the marching band. So, we'll do Can You Feel It for the fun of it and let them open their lungs while learning to hear 9th chords well. Then, we will come back with a transcription that I made of the fanfare from Festive Overture (Shostakovich).

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nWPX5nr6esM&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nWPX5nr6esM&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
This year's marching show has a country theme. The opener is The Devil Went Down To Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band. Most of the kids recognize it from playing Guitar Hero. It is a load, but they flat killed it during the spring concert after seeing it for only 4 days. The ballad will probably be Crazy by Patsy Cline. The fall will be fun.
 



IMO, as long as it sound like the music and is in the key that matches the vocals, i'm good with it

In HS we played SU's Can You Feel it, and well we added on an extra baritone part...
 
Yanno what we're expecting now, Phil.........

Clips...... :tup::tup:

I know back when I was in Jr. High at Chastain, we got a copy of the Boom's old 'Harvest for the World' (Isley Bros)... We sounded like some fish frying, trying to play it. But we hung in there, though.....

The 'SWAC' seed had been planted.... :swink:

 
Taylor-Made'90 said:
Yanno what we're expecting now, Phil.........

Clips...... :tup::tup:

I know back when I was in Jr. High at Chastain, we got a copy of the Boom's old 'Harvest for the World' (Isley Bros)... We sounded like some fish frying, trying to play it. But we hung in there, though.....

The 'SWAC' seed had been planted.... :swink:
Click to expand...

I can understand why. :lmao:

runs out of thread................
 
Taylor-Made'90 said:
Yanno what we're expecting now, Phil.........

Clips...... :tup::tup:

I know back when I was in Jr. High at Chastain, we got a copy of the Boom's old 'Harvest for the World' (Isley Bros)... We sounded like some fish frying, trying to play it. But we hung in there, though.....

The 'SWAC' seed had been planted.... :swink:
Click to expand...

Well, all I have left to do is the percussion parts. I hate writing percussion parts. I'm going to try to get this into the mix early in the one-day band camp. My goal is to get it played in the first pep rally. We will see how it goes from there. New football coach, new direction; it just fits.
 
Legend35 said:
That's what I'm talking about :tup:
Well,...I've heard your band.
I'm sending you a little something!!!!
Click to expand...

I walked into the kitchen yesterday afternoon and spied the envelope on the counter. I tore into it like a madman, leaving my wife wondering what was inside.

My response: "It's LEGENDary."

Thanks, little bro.
 
JR said:
I can understand why. :lmao:

runs out of thread................
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~~sniffing the air~~

Homey, I bet you went to Powell or Brinkley, didn'tcha????

We didn't have any 'spunk' over at James G. Chastain..... But we'd wear you out with that We Got the Beat, Centerfold, Billie Jean, She Blinded Me With Science and Imagination (we got from Alcorn). :lmao:

Nukka, we hadda BOOK.... Well, we hadda FLIP-FOLDA!!! :D:D:D
 
dacontinent said:
Well, all I have left to do is the percussion parts. I hate writing percussion parts. I'm going to try to get this into the mix early in the one-day band camp. My goal is to get it played in the first pep rally. We will see how it goes from there. New football coach, new direction; it just fits.
Click to expand...

Hey we need talk about percussion parts because I want to learn how to write them. I did an arrangement of children of sanchez in which I want to add some intresting percussion licks too it. My high school band is HBCU style , but we're trying to enhance the kids to be more technical while doing our style style.
 
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