Donna Lee

[Tobias]

Hello Jazzers,

i'm working on the head of Donna Lee.

Articulationwise I use bebop phrasing (da daha daha...) and adjust it to the lines.
But when I increase the tempo (>200) it's getting very hard for me.
I tried to slur the lines and to emphasize accents tonguing but I like the da daha version more.

How do you articulate the head of Donna Lee at fast tempos?

Thank you.

Tobias
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Conn Connstellation 38b
Olds Special (1954)
Getzen Eterna
Flgh Bach Strad 183

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu_ROyOxKhTAa_45c8H93lQ

[deleted_user_680e93b]

[Turkle]

In my experience, every trumpet player articulates Donna Lee a little differently. Listen to Clark Terry doodle-tongue it on "Serenade to a bus seat" album, and then listen to Wynton utterly crush it on the "House of Tribes" album... Clifford Brown has that super-staccato version on "The Beginning and the End" album... They are clearly doing different things with the articulation that suit their tempo and melodic approach.

I practiced it with a "bebop tongue" when I was learning it, the "ta taha taha" or whatever. But not only is that difficult at fast tempos, it also doesn't really sound musical. The melody as such isn't going to line up with a metric approach like that. I think that the ultimate articulation that's best to use is some sort of compromise between the "bebop tongue" and the natural contours of the line itself.

(In my opinion, too much emphasis on "bebop tongue" can give lines a very metric and square feel. There's another New Orleans rhythm that you hear all over Louis Armstrong's playing that you also hear in the beboppers' playing - that classic syncopated second line march beat. That's the spirit in which I think it's important to understand bebop heads...)

Now, with that said, I think it's extremely important to practice bebop tonguing every day at fast tempos. I work mine up to at least sixteenth-notes at 120 per quarter note every day across my scales and arpeggios, which works out to Donna Lee at 240. If you get your bebop tonguing up to that level then approaching Donna Lee in a natural, melodic fashion won't be as tough.

I hope this might be helpful, good luck!

ETA: THIS IS MY 2,000th POST. I should have been practicing!!
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Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3.

[jazz_trpt]

My practice, in general, is to slur and rearticulate a note if there's a closer note in the harmonic series that you want to avoid.

So, in that first four bars, articulate the first note (A), slur to the F, then tongue the Eb (so you don't accidentally slide up to F#), slur through to the B, then tongue the D (jumps over G), slur through to the E-G, then I tend to tongue the Bb and D before slurring the A-G.

Fun practice exercise: modulate to F concert on the second half, then back up to Ab concert and switch back and forth on the blowing.
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Jeff Helgesen
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