On 8th December I’ll be releasing something very exciting! For years I’ve wanted to release a 50s/60s inspired Christmas record; similar to Vince Guaraldi and Dave Brubeck in that Midcentury vibe and genre, and with @samjohnsontrio ‘s next release we’ll be bringing that to you! Featuring @richoakman as a guest soloist, ‘Up On The Housetop’ is a mix of some well known festive tracks, as well as some unexpected or unknown tunes which have ended up fitting the vibe so well. Big shout out to @georgiajohnsonmusic, James Wood and @richoakman for putting this together, and I can’t wait to hear what you all think of it! 🎹🎄 #christmas #festive #christmasjazz #vinceguaraldi #davebrubeck #harktheheraldangelssing #illbehomeforchristmas #christmasmusic #vinyl #jazzmusic #swingmusic #christmasmood #midcentury

When reading charts for jazz standards, pop, rock, musical theatre, just about any form of chordal playing, you may have come across Slash Chords & wondered what they are. The way they work are much simpler than they look and actually help to streamline and simplify writing and reading music. They can also be used in a more developed way in the form of ‘Polychords’ which we’ll take a look at a little later in this video too! #jazzpiano #piano #musictheory #slashchords #polychords samjohnson.uk

Score available for purchase; https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/get-back-digital-sheet-music/22561351 Read-along score for 'Get Back' by The Beatles from the 'Pop & Rock Big Band Vocal Series' published on Sheet Music Plus, and arranged by Sam Johnson This arrangement is written for; Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Sax Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Piano Guitar Bass Drums Vocals The arrangement contains full score for conductor & a piano vocal part, if leading band from piano. #thebeatles #getback #bigband

Score available for purchase; https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/god-only-knows-digital-sheet-music/22559065 Read-along score for 'God Only Knows' from the 'Saxophone Quartet Series' published on Sheet Music Plus, and arranged by Sam Johnson This arrangement is written for; Soprano Sax Alto Sax Tenor Sax Baritone Sax

Score available for purchase; https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/valerie-digital-sheet-music/22558037 Read-along score for 'Valerie' from the 'Pop Big Band Vocal Series' published on Sheet Music Plus, and arranged by Sam Johnson This arrangement is written for; Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Sax Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Piano Guitar Bass Drums Vocals The arrangement contains full score for conductor & a piano vocal part, if leading band from piano.

Let's talk about Secondary Dominants and Tonicization. This is a great way to add some extra flavour to compositions or reharmonisations in Jazz Theory. #jazzpiano #piano #musictheory #chords #jazztheory #jazz #jazzmusic samjohnson.uk

In your soloing and melodic playing you may have been wondering how you can create lines that are more interesting or more unique than just using chord tones or basing solos on the melody of the tune you’re playing. This is where we can begin to look at Modes. In this video, I'll be walking through the 7 standard 'Major' Modes and how you can use them to add extra colour, depth and nuance to your playing and composition. #jazzpiano #piano #musictheory #modes #jazztheory #jazz #jazzmusic samjohnson.uk

Quite often, certain jazz chord voicings are given a name due to how frequently they are played by a particular musician, or for their use in a famous jazz standard or other tune. Today I'll be taking a look at the 'So What' Chord Voicing. Digging a little into the history of the iconic Jazz Standard and taking a look at how we can take this seemingly simple chord voicing and using it to create extra colour and interest in our harmonic playing. #jazzpiano #piano #musictheory #milesdavis #sowhat #jazztheory #jazz #jazzmusic samjohnson.uk

You may have heard of the traditional way of constructing chords in jazz with stacked thirds, but Quartal Voicings offer a unique and fresh approach. In this video, we'll break down what Quartal Voicings are and when is best to use them in your playing. #jazzpiano #jazztheory #musictheory samjohnson.uk

I had the pleasure of recording some piano only versions of my new singles at ‘Theatre@41’ this week! Here is ‘Madison Ave’, the studio version released yesterday on all streaming services! bit.ly/madisonavestreaming #piano #madisonave #chromoscope

Merry Christmas from The Sam Johnson Big Band #bigband #thegrinch #jazz

I’m always looking for saxophone libraries with immediate inspiration and scripting that can keep up with an uptempo sax soli or even a solo instrument. Austin Saxes from Musical Sampling are fairly simple on the surface but with some clever scripting and up-close detailed sound, they’ve very quickly become part of my standard line up for saxes when writing and arranging. Here I’ll be running through the various kinds of patches included and the difference between their ‘Natural’ and ‘Tuned’ variations and the ‘Workhorse’ and ‘Emotional’ patches. Check them out here; https://musicalsampling.com/austin-saxes/ www.samjohnson.uk #austinsaxes #samplelibraries #musicalsampling

A full score preview for 'This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by Natalie Cole. Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'Don't Stop Me Now', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by Queen. Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'Isn't She Lovely'', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by Stevie Wonder. Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'December, 1963 (Oh What A Night)', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'September', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by Earth, Wind & Fire. Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'I Want You Back', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by The Jackson 5 Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For;; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'Dancing Queen'', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune by ABBA Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For;; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press

A full score preview for 'Dancin' In The Moonlight', a Big Band & Vocal version of the hit tune written by Sherman Kelly and released by both King Harvest & Toploader Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For;; Vocal Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press Score and Parts available here: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/22260059

A full score preview for 'Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)', an instrumental version of the hit tune written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin Arranged by Sam Johnson Arranged For;; Alto 1 / 2 Tenor 1 / 2 Bari Trumpet 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 / Bass Piano Guitar Bass Drums Published through SMP Press Score & Parts are available here: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/saturday-night-s-alright-for-fighting-arr-for-big-band-digital-sheet-music/22201608?ac=1

A full score preview for 'Christmas Is Coming' originally featured on 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' and written by Vince Guaraldi, arranged for Big Band Ensemble. The Score and parts for this arrangement are available from SMP Press; https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/sam-johnson-sheet-music/3002222 www.samjohnson.uk

A full score preview for 'Christmas Time Is Here' originally featured on 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' and written by Lee Mendelson & Vince Guaraldi, arranged for Big Band Ensemble. The Score and parts for this arrangement are available from SMP Press; https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/22151906 www.samjohnson.uk

Join me as I walk through my Logic Pro X template for writing Big Band arrangements and for exporting audio demos you can hear in my Score videos. In Part 3 I'll be walking through the sample libraries I'm using for the Rhythm Section (Pianos, Electric Pianos, E. Bass, Upright Bass, Guitar, Drums & Auxiliary Percussion) Let me know if you'd like me to go into a bit more detail on any of the libraries used! Sample Libraries used for this section; Pianos & Electric Pianos // Keyscape // Spectrasonics https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/keyscape/ Piano // Piano In Blue // Cinesamples https://cinesamples.com/product/piano-in-blue E. Bass // MODOBass // IK Multimedia https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/modobass/ Upright Bass // SA Upright Bass // Straight Ahead Samples https://www.straightaheadsamples.com/sa-bass Guitar // Evolution Jazz Archtop // Orange Tree Samples https://www.orangetreesamples.com/products/evolution-jazz-archtop Jazz Drums // Jazz Drums // Straight Ahead Samples https://www.straightaheadsamples.com/sa-jazz-drums Pop/Funk/Soul Drums // Deep // Ujam Instruments https://www.ujam.com/drummer/deep/ Vibraphone // Swing More! // ProjectSAM https://projectsam.com/libraries/swing-more/ Dulcitone (Celeste/Glock) // Dulcitone 1884 // Sound Dust https://www.sound-dust.com/dulcitone1884 Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:23 Sample Library Rundown 01:13 Piano / Keyscape C7 02:17 Piano / Cinesamples Piano In Blue 03:33 Piano In Blue / Controls 04:24 Electric Piano / Keyscape Rhodes Classic 06:00 E. Bass / IK Multimedia MODOBass 07:56 MODOBass / Controls 10:47 Upright Bass / SA Samples Upright Bass 11:28 Upright Bass / Controls 13:01 Guitar / OT Samples Jazz Archtop 14:15 Jazz Archtop / Controls 16:03 Drums / SA Samples Jazz Drums 17:48 SA Jazz Drums / Loops Engine 20:52 Celeste / Sound Dust Dulcitone 1884 22:28 Dulcitone / Controls 23:31 Vibraphones / ProjectSAM Swing More Vibes 24:27 Vibes / Controls 25:43 Pop Funk Soul Drums / Ujam DEEP 26:43 DEEP / Controls 28:12 Rhythm Section Demo 1 - Jazz 29:24 Rhythm Section Demo 2 - Pop/Funk 30:22 Outro #bigbandsamplelibraries #logictemplate #walkthrough www.samjohnsonmusic.co.uk