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PIANO/GUITAR
Piano and guitar parts are often very basic in big band writing and are just to supply a rhythmic backing (comping). Much of the interpretation is left up to the performer. In this case the parts may just consist of chord symbols which the player will interpret to fit the style.
Ex1: Basic chord symbol part for guitar or piano.
Symbols can be written above or below the staff, as long it is obvious which staff they belong to.
If specific melody lines are required on a piano or guitar part, they can be combined with the chord symbol part. Any parts that are unison with other instruments should have the same accent markings.
Ex 2: Combination of chord symbol and melody part.
With big band arranging it would be more common to give piano or guitar a melody part if they were featured in a small combo section of the arrangement, rather than playing a unison with a brass section.
It is not usually required to write out exact chord voicings for piano or guitar, but in some cases it may be worth writing the top note of a chord, especially if specific guide tones are useful to the part. In this case it is a good idea to use a different note head style:
Ex 3: Diamond note heads show the top note of the chord.
If a specific rhythm is required, slash type note heads can be used
Ex 4: Slash type note heads show rhythm of chords.
If an arrangement includes a written bass line, the piano part should include this, not so that the pianist can play the line in unison but so that they can see what the bass player will be playing so that they can voice their chords accordingly. Likewise any other instrument or section part can be given as a cue, so that the pianist can construct an accompanying part.
Ex 5: Bass part and sax cues.
