GLENN MILLER AND THE HISTORY OF

SWING

Nathan Schafer

Music 1010

ALTON GLENN MILLER

Glenn was born March 1st, 1904 in Clarinda, Iowa.

Got an early start in music when his father bought

him a mandolin.

He started playing trombone for the Fort Morgan

High School band at 14.

Glenn joined the Boyd Senter band after high

school.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

Glenn decided to start college in 1923 at the

University of Colorado.

Glenn’s college career was short lived because it

interfered with his ability to audition.

Glenn moved to Los Angeles to join the Ben

Pollack band.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

After a few years Glenn moved to New York and

became a trombonist and musical arranger.

Many accomplishments while in New York.• Married college sweetheart Helen Burger.• Worked with Dorsey brothers orchestra.• Organized an orchestra for Ray Noble.• Studied music theory and composition with Joseph

Schillinger.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

In 1937 Glenn formed his own band, this band did

not see much success.

In 1939 Glenn formed The Glenn Miller Orchestra.

The orchestra had a unique sound.• He used Clarinets and tenor saxes to highlight the

melody.• He used the saxophone to play the harmonic line.• Glenn was very meticulous in preparation, using

almost no improvisation.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

The Glenn Miller Orchestra saw great success!• Recorded 17 top ten hits in 1939.• Doubled that with 31 top tens hits in 1940.• They had 11 top ten hits in 1941 and 1942.• Glenn was making around $20,000.00 a week.• Glenn was a part of a weekly music program called

“Moonlight Serenade”.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

In 1942 Glenn felt the need to join the Army and

serve his country during WWII.

His was given the rank of Captain and put in

charge of the Army Air Force band.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

The Army Air Force band was very busy and played

many live performances.• They played over 800 shows.• 300 were live performances.• 500 were radio broadcasts.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

In 1944 Glenn had arranged a tour in Europe for

the troops.

On December 15th of that year he boarded a flight

to go to Paris and set up for a show.• The plane never made it to Paris and the wreckage

was never found.• There are a couple ideas of what happened.

• The flight went down in bad weather.• The plane was hit by bombs that were being dumped by

planes that had aborted missions.

ALTON GLENN MILLER

What ever story you believe, the country lost a

great musician and American!

THE HISTORY OF SWING

Swing music is an American style of music that came from

Jazz.

It became very popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Jazz was largely based on improvisation while Swing was

more structured and organized.

In Jazz musicians would “converse” with each other musically.

You still hear this in Swing music but it is written into the

song and not improvised.

THE HISTORY OF SWING

Another major part of Jazz and Swing is called “syncopation”.

Syncopation is when the musician places emphasis on the off

beats or the 2nd and 4th count of a measure.

This sounds very normal to us today, but in that time was very

different.

Swing music can be traced back to the mixture of African

ritual music being blended with European style harmony.

LISTENING GUIDES

In the mood, The Glenn Miller Orchestra

0:00-Clarinets open with the “head” or main theme.

0:14-Main theme repeats with brass highlights.

0:49-Theme B is introduced.

1:11-Saxophones begin to “Converse”. This is that improvisation feel that comes from the Jazz

roots, however Glenn Miller more than likely wrote this part in because of his seriously structured

music arrangement.

1:36-Transition into the trumpet solo, again with the structured improvisation.

2:06-Main theme or “Head” is back giving us a Rondo form.

2:53-Cowbell sneaks in for two measures (I found this very interesting, I would like to know if this

was supposed to be there)

3:05-Surprise like we learned about in an earlier chapter and coda begins.

3:31-Song ends with single note played by the trombones (Coincidence?)

LISTENING GUIDES

Moonlight Serenade, The Glenn Miller Orchestra

0:00-Song starts with the woodwinds playing the theme and you can notice

the bass in the background being played very gently.

0:36-Piano comes in very lightly for one measure and theme is repeated.

1:13-Piano again for one measure.

1:24-Transition and clarinet enters almost like a solo.

1:39-Piano again and the trumpets enter.

2:17-Clarinet solo.

2:40-Piano again for one measure.

3:15-Coda begins with a buildup to end the song.

LISTENING GUIDES

String of Pearls, The Glenn Miller Orchestra

0:00-Song starts with a quick note from the trumpets and all of the other brass mimics the

trumpets.

0:08-Woodwinds introduce the theme.

0:21-Trombones play a quick transition.

0:50-Piano plays a transition into the saxophone solo.

1:23-Two saxophones “conversing”.

1:59-Trombones begin comping.

2:05-Piano plays one measure leading into a trumpet solo.

2:29-Piano solo

2:36-Woodwinds repeat main theme.

2:49-Piano enters and coda begins.

LISTENING GUIDES

Little Brown Jug, The Glenn Miller Orchestra

0:00-Song begins with a 4 measure bass solo.

0:10-Saxophone enters.

0:31-The trumpets enter with the main theme.

1:02-Saxaphone solo with trombones and trumpets mimicking in the

background.

1:23-Theme B enters.

1:36-Trumpet solo begins and notice how it is very similar to the main

theme.

2:16-The head is repeated and coda begins.