Head (music)

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In its broadest sense, the head of a piece

of music is its main theme, particularly in
jazz, where the term takes on a more
specific set of connotations. In other types
of music, "head" may refer to the first or
most prominent section of a song. The
term may, though obtusely, be applied to
classical music, insofar as classical
pieces generally bear similar thematic
elements, but the preferred term in this
instance is (main) theme or subject. The
term "head" is most often used in jazz and
may refer to the thematic melody, an
instance of it in a performance of the
song, or a more abstract compilation of
ideas as to what the song is. It may also,
though uncommonly, refer to the first
section of the melody, or the theme riff in
the melody.
There is a slightly related musical
direction, D.C. or da capo (Italian, from
head), which means to go back to the very
beginning of the sheet music and play to
the end, typically ignoring all repeat signs.

What's in a head
The idea a head represents comprises a
combination of elements. No one piece of
written music defines what the "head" of
many jazz tunes really is, but a boiler-plate
jazz chart, which is often only a page long
in large print, will tell you:
 the key and time signature
the melody
the set of chord changes (referred to
simply as "the changes"), and
sometimes, but rarely, lyrics

as well as more general information such

as

the title and author of the piece

indications of style, tempo, dynamics
and form.

The form is an even more general and

abstract concept dealing with the
theoretical context in which the actual
music is being played: the chord
progression, its sections and other
miscellaneous events such as kicks or
time changes are all important information
that the performers must keep track of.
Two important standard forms over which
hundreds of heads have been written are
the 12-bar blues and rhythm changes.
Some heads are based on the forms of
other tunes, such as Charlie Parker's
"Ornithology", which is based on Morgan
Lewis's "How High the Moon".
Fake books may contain anywhere from a
handful to hundreds of charts like these,
occasionally stretching into two pages and
on rare occasions going further and
requiring page turns. There are many
heads that are considered such a part of
standard jazz repertoire (see jazz
standard) that professional players are
expected to know them by memory and be
able to perform them in a variety of ways
on the spot.

Use
In playing the actual music, the head refers
to any time the band or musician plays the
theme to the song. Usually this happens
once or twice at the beginning and the end
of a performance. For example, many
Clifford Brown recordings
characteristically feature a short piano
intro, the head, several choruses of solos
and a recapitulation of the head followed
by an outro coda. Although it most
commonly is, the head does not need to
be played at both the beginning and the
end of a performance, and is occasionally
played in the middle, for instance between
solos.

Head In and Head Out are commonly used

to refer to the first and last heads [of a
piece] played.

Jazz musicians often give each other the

"head" or "top" cue by patting their hand on
top of their head, which is usually meant to
make sure everybody "goes back to the
head," or starts playing the head again the
next time the "top of the form" comes
around. On the unfortunate occasion this
may be due to confusion about "where" the
top of the form actually is if the musicians
get off-sync with one another, or a frantic
attempt to regain composure and finish
the performance, as playing the head to
end a piece is default jam session
protocol.

Knowing heads
Jazz musicians are frequently called upon
to play a series of songs in short order
with no planning, either at jam sessions or
impromptu gigs. Therefore, it is important
for professionals to know as wide a variety
of tunes as possible and be able to play
them proficiently. Most of the time this
means memorizing the melody, chords
and anything else important about playing
the song with a band. Sometimes there
will be fake books available at jam
sessions, and sometimes it is easy to
recall a tune while playing it or learn it on
the spot, but for the most part it is
expected that professional jazz musicians
have a very large vocabulary of tunes
available by memory.

See also
Fake book
 Jazz

References

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