(Dec 5 2025) Arranger VS Player: Who Should Have More Control?
As arrangers, we are faced with a constant decision in the charts we write: how much information do we present on the sheet music? From the outside looking in, this seems like a pretty straight forward question as the obvious answer is as much as possible that way the musicians will always know our intent, but when it comes to jazz, sometimes a less is more approach can be better. Recently, I’ve been preparing to create instrument specific resources, revisiting the basics on how to write for all of the common Western instruments in the hope that I can help others better understand what each instrument needs from the notation side of things. Although I am only getting started with the process, I decided to begin with one of the most notorious instruments - the drum set - an instrument that is quite ambiguous in terms of notation and one which poses an interesting spin on the debate about how much information we should give to the player. Ultimately, how we decide upon this answer is a question of control. Should the musician have more freedom to interpret the music or do we want the music to be played exactly how we want it to every time?
Looking back on the last decade or so of my career, I’ve changed sides on this debate many times. Starting out, I was in the classic situation of simply not knowing what I was doing, especially when it came to how much information to write on my charts. Instead, I did what most do when they begin and relied heavily on the abilities of those around me. I remember it as if it were yesterday, the first rehearsal for my big band album Vesuvius back in 2017. I had put together an all star band of my friends and colleagues and it was now time to run the music I had prepared. Having only ever written three big band charts prior to this point, I really was out of my league. My charts were filled with as little information as possible, not even having bar numbers! Somehow, the players worked around it and ended up recording an album I’m still proud of today. In this specific situation, I had left most of the control to the musicians, purely relying on their skills to make the arrangements come to life.
However, there have been countless other times later in life where I have been quite specific in the charts I’ve written. Whether it be detailed drum parts, horn parts with all of the phrase markings, articulations, and dynamics mapped out as well as specific cut off points, or even going as far as having comments on certain parts to guarantee it would be interpreted correctly. What I found was that even though I went to all of the effort to include as much information as possible, that didn’t guarantee that the music would be executed in the way I had intended. It also took a level of fun out of the performances because there was little room for the musicians to add their own elements into the music. Now before I move on, I should mention that this experience was specifically in a jazz setting, where musicians are often left to their own accord to bring personality to the music they play. In other cultures and styles this is not the case, such as the classical world where the norm is to follow the interpretation of the conductor or composer.
From how I’ve painted it so far, you might be thinking that the answer is to relinquish your control as an arranger in jazz settings. Yet there is one other factor that is crucial to consider: the experience of the players you are writing for. It is one thing to deal with a knowledgeable professional and another to write for a beginning student. Ideally, when writing for a pro you can assume that the player has a larger base of knowledge due to their years of experience. As such, they will be able to draw from that experience when interpreting your music as well as be able to act more as a musical collaborator and bring in ideas you may not have thought about. A student on the other hand is often operating at a limited capacity due to simply not having as much time under their belt. Interestingly, everyone has different levels of experience across their musical knowledge regardless of how many years they may have been playing. For example, I love writing Cuban styles but the average jazz musician is often not exposed to some of the styles I like to use. In this case it might be better for me to provide more information so that they can more accurately capture the sounds I am trying to emulate. Whereas if I was hiring someone from the Latin scene, the same level of detail may not be needed.
Unfortunately, when dealing with either over or under writing, it is hard to know exactly what is necessary. The best case scenario is when you know the musicians you are writing for and can cater to their needs, but the reality of being a professional arranger is that you are often not in that situation. In general there can be benefits from both, with more detail being great for recreating sounds authentically such as when you are transcribing a piece, and less detail perfect for more spontaneous musical moments and collaboration. At the end of the day the main factor you must realize is that the sheet music is simply the middle man and is only a guide to inform the player. Meaning that no matter how detailed or specific you are, the player has the final say. But as long as the end result sounds good and feels good, does it really matter? Some of my best charts were results of musicians either misinterpreting or ignoring what I had written, leading me to hear a completely different approach to the arrangement that I then went back and included. As you can see, there is no simple answer to whether the arranger or player should have more control with shaping a chart. The best you can do is simply be aware of the situation and act accordingly for every arrangement that you write.
Until next time,
Toshi