I'm aware of the earlier recordings with Mike Pingitore on tenor banjo, who can be seen in the movie The King of Jazz from 1930 (free to watch on Youtube). If there is any possdibilty of a recording=even in part-of your performance with this orcherstra, I, and I'm sure, others, would be interested in hearing it. The important part, I think, will be the blend of instruments and the conductor's preferences. The well-known clarinet glissando that opens the piece is not in the score, but was added when Benny Goodman was fooling around during a rehearsal.īecause "Rhapsody in Blue' is so rarely performed now with banjo included, it's doubtful if anyone will notice any bad notes. THere were also slight alterations made by musicians themselves. Ferde Grofe is credited with the one most used, althoughj it wasn't his first version (the first was for a smaller ensemble) and if I recall, Gershwin did a later score. 'Rhapsody in Blue' is tricky because there were several arrangements even when first composed. If the original part was written for regular or plectrum banjo, a copy of that part would probably be easier to transcribe. It's always been my understanding that the original part was not for tenor banjo, but I could be wrong. It's an ancient Victor record, one of the earliest "electrical process" recordings, so the sound quality is better than one might imagine (that, of course varies with condition. ONe of the original recordings of Rhapsody was performed by Paul Whiteman and uses the orioginal banjo part. Any advice or feedback on this project would be appreciated. I have had to play this with my natural fingernails like a classical guitarist in order to play the tremolo sections convincingly and strum like a flamenco player, anchoring my thumb between the 5th and 4th strings to mute them, and then strum with the side of my index or middle fingernail to make it sound like a tenor strum on the bottom 3 strings only. I'm interested in any recordings anyone might have with the banjo in the mix. I've attached a PDF of my work for those interested, as well as the original tenor part. I was then forced to change the placement of the notes because the range of the tenor exceeds that of the 5-strings ability to play the tenor banjo part as written. I spent about a week arranging the score for the 5-string, where I was forced into C-tuning because of the range of the notes. In my research I have found that it is hardly ever performed live with a banjo, so I am curious as to how many of you tenor players have ever done this, and also curious if any of you 5-string players have ever attempted this with an orchestra. I've been hired to perform the tenor banjo part of the 1942 symphonic scoring of Rhapsody In Blue on my 5-string banjo with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra next weekend.
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