Johns Creek Jump: Score
By Tim Aucoin
Grade: 3.5
Item: 00-PR-0003383
$7.00
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Description
Get your audience tapping their feet! This Cab Calloway-style up-tempo blues piece gives your string players a chance to sink their bows into an authentic jump groove. It is very playable, only straying from first position for solos! The texture allows for rhythmic interplay between sections that is easier to play than it sounds. With a section for solos or soli, including backgrounds in all parts, the students may improvise solos or play the ones that are written. Includes piano and drumset parts. Put on your dancing shoes and jump the night away . . .
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Johns Creek Jump: Score comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
Highland/Etling String Alternatives
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
132
SKU:
00-PR-0003383
Instrumentation:
string w/ pno acc and drumset
More about this title
About the Composer: Tim Aucoin
Tim Aucoin is a composer and educator whose work spans classical, jazz, and popular idioms. His compositions for string orchestra demonstrate a gift for writing idiomatically across different styles while maintaining pedagogical clarity, making advanced musical concepts accessible to developing musicians.
Why we love this
This piece captures the infectious energy of jump blues without asking your players to leave their comfort zone. The rhythmic interplay between sections creates an illusion of complexity that actually simplifies under the fingers, and the optional improvisation sections give your soloists a genuine moment to shine without requiring them to venture beyond first position.
What to expect
A night out at a 1940s jazz club transplanted to the concert hall. The energy is bright and propulsive, built on a walking bass and syncopated rhythms that make you want to move. It swings without being precious about it.
Who it's for
String orchestras at the 3.5 grade level looking for a piece that teaches groove and stylistic vocabulary without requiring extended techniques or high position work. This works equally well for festival programming, pops concerts, or closing out a spring concert with something your audience will remember.
How to get the most out of it
- Lock the eighth-note pulse between bow and rhythm section from the start. The groove lives in rhythmic precision, not rubato.
- Balance the written backgrounds behind solos carefully. They should frame the soloist, not compete. Have non-soloing sections think of themselves as the backing band.
- If students choose to improvise over the solo sections, set clear harmonic boundaries beforehand and rehearse those chords in isolation so improvisers know where they can safely land.
- Bring out the syncopated rhythms in the middle voices. Many string players default to playing time on the downbeats; this piece needs those off-beat figures to swing.
How to use it
Program this as a closer or encore. Its upbeat character and accessibility make it an excellent palate cleanser after more serious repertoire, and audiences respond immediately to its groove. It also works well as a spring concert opener if you want to establish energy early and keep it moving through the rest of your program.
Skills your students will build
- Playing with rhythmic precision in a swing/blues idiom
- Voicing chord progressions and reading figured backgrounds
- Balancing as an ensemble within sectional rhythmic roles
- Basic improvisation over a 12-bar blues form (optional)
- Interpreting style markings and articulation in a jazz context
- Negotiating syncopated rhythms that sit between the beat