prize17-2, Exercise 3: Listening to the front line

Model answer (an imagined example; your notes depend on the recording you choose):

In the opening chorus the cornet plays the melody nearly as written, with small bends. The clarinet moves above it in quick running lines that weave around the tune, and the trombone plays a lower line, often sliding between notes. All three play at the same time, so it sounds like a conversation in which everyone talks together. Later, one player may step forward alone, but the band returns to the three-way texture for the last chorus. The banjo and tuba keep a steady two-beat pulse underneath, with drums on top.

Care: do not describe a recording you have not played. If the music has solo after solo with the band silent between them, say so; that is a later style (Chapters 3 and 4), not a mistake in your listening.