Good Time: Jazz Ensemble Conductor Score & Parts

Paul Murtha has crafted an arrangement that captures the song's infectious energy without demanding technical complexity from your ensemble. The Grade 1.5 setting means your students can focus on locking in the groove and executing clean articulations rather than wrestling with ranges or part independence. Audiences recognize the tune instantly, which gives your ensemble an immediate connection with listeners.

Bright, propulsive, and undeniably fun. The piece moves with the kind of forward motion that makes players want to lock in together, and the harmonic palette sits comfortably in the jazz idiom without requiring advanced harmonic vocabulary from listeners.

Jazz ensembles at the middle school level or early high school groups still building fundamental small-group skills. Directors seeking a contemporary tune that generates genuine enthusiasm while keeping arrangement demands manageable.

• Keep the groove propulsive and tight. This chart lives or dies by consistent subdivision and a locked rhythm section, so isolate those parts during early rehearsals.
• Balance the melody line so it sits clearly above accompaniment textures without the rest of the ensemble dropping back too far.
• Mark dynamic shifts carefully in your score. Young's original has distinct energy peaks, and Murtha likely maps these at key structural moments.
• Consider the recorded accompaniment as a rehearsal aid early on, then gradually reduce reliance so the ensemble builds confidence playing independently.

Use this as a closer or near-closer on a concert where you want to send audiences out with energy and a contemporary vibe. It works especially well on a program mixing standards with current pop selections, or on events where community engagement matters more than showcasing technical prowess.

• Groove-based rhythmic accuracy in a rock/pop context
• Balancing melody and accompaniment textures
• Clean articulation within a high-energy, syncopated arrangement
• Responding to recorded accompaniment while maintaining ensemble independence