When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
I would like to dedicate this score to the memory of Mark Walsen, the creator of the amazing Notation software.
This score is the offshoot of a duet of the same name that I had posted on the "Learning and Teaching" pieces Forum last year. If you're interested in that background, please visit that thread.
This is a break in my original intentions. I had planned to put into Composer all of my previously written pieces from my USAF Band days. However, after having written the Recorder Duet and playing it a number of times with my wife, Cynthia, I decided to develop my jazz band version of the song.
One anomaly on my PC's sound card -- the drum roll in the intro sounds like a swish. However, it plays as a drum roll on my midi device.
I've tried something new in this score. I've always enjoyed rhythm guitar in a big band, particularly as played by Freddie Green in the old Count Basie bands. So, I think I've approximated the sound here, at least for electronic music. The letter-form chords are included also, as the written voicings, while musically correct, may break the guitarist's wrist in moving from one to another. I dabbled many years ago with guitar, but I have not tried out the musical flow of these voicings. I hope to improve my knowledge in this area in the future. So many songs to write....
I feel like I've captured the spirit of this song, at least to my liking. I hope you find something of value here to help to expand your musical horizons.
In closing, I'd like to thank Mark Walsen for providing me a means of expressing myself in music and a special thanks to Sherry Cran and all of the forum respondents who have encouraged me along the way. Hopefully, we will continue on.
Ralph Rayner
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