Clarinet marmelade – Free Jazz Lead Sheet
F Major – Larry Shields 1917
Clarinet marmelade was composed by Larry Shields and is a landmark of early traditional jazz instrumental songs. It features multiple parts and interludes making the song interesting to play without having to arrange it more than it is.
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Support the projectAbout this song:
Clarinet Marmelade, composed in 1918 by Larry Shields and Henry Ragas of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, is a landmark early Dixieland instrumental. This free online lead sheet showcases its ragtime-style multi-strain format and virtuosic clarinet passages.
View this lead sheet online to study its energetic breaks and classic New Orleans jazz phrasing.
About the composer: Larry Shields
Lawrence James Shields (1893–1953) was an American dixieland jazz clarinetist and key figure in early jazz. He joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1916, helping launch jazz's commercial era with recordings like "Darktown Strutters' Ball." His compositions and collaborations with the band shaped the genre's early development.
Musical strucutre and form
This song is another example of a piece with an intro, 2 main parts and a major and minor interlude. A structure which comes from marches that were adapted into ragtime during that era. As an arrangement, you can either play the minor interlude once and continue with solos or play the minor interlude between every solo.
