Ghosting Notes

[musicmonkey]

What is the proper technique for ghosting notes. (i.e. the note is written inside parentheses). Are there any recordings I can listen to that will give me a good sound model for ghosted notes?

The topic came up in jazz band, and since our director is a guitar player (and relatively new to the jazz world--he is working toward his masters in jazz studies) he is not sure of the proper trumpet technique.

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated!

-nate

[Larry Smithee]

Okay, I’m bragging now but this is something I’m particularly good at. But articulating it in so many words is harder (for me) to do. ALL the great beboppers you could probably name did this. The current crop of post bop players still do. Sometimes this effect can be subtle and sometimes not. The technique essentially involves leaving an almost imperceptible silence in the place of a sounding note, especially in fast moving eighth note bop lines. The note is more suggested than actually sounded.
Larry

[musicmonkey]

Thanks for the info! Actually, the ghosted notes we have are in an arrangement of "Fever" which is relatively slow. How exactly does one leave an imperceptible silence? Is there one technique, or a variety of ways to do it?

thanks,
nate

[musiclifeline]

Clifford Brown was excellent at this. The way I do it is by blocking most of the air for a ghosted note with the tip of my tongue. It's almost like saying "th" as in "the" or "there". This, IMHO is a better solution than actually dropping off your air support, esp in the upper register.

Brownie (and Miles) kind of made a little thing out of this technique... Listen to Brownie on Pent Up House... at one point he repeats a note but blocks most of the air for a kind of pinched quality. Miles did this sometimes too. Not sure where it originated...

As far as deciding which notes to ghost in a line, it depends on where the line moves. You can practice ghosting notes that fall on the beat, or ascending triplets before an eighth note... listen to Brownie and Miles and hear where they do it.

[ This Message was edited by: musiclifeline on 2004-04-09 16:13 ]

[PhxHorn]

There's a lick in the 1st trpt part of a fast Nestico chart (the title escapes me) in which the eighth-notes (above the staff) are Ab-F-G-F-Ab-F-G-F-Ab-F-G-F-Ab-F-G-F. That lick cries out for the Fs to be ghosted.