jazz ch 1 slide

8/13/2019 JAZZ Ch 1 Slide

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Elements and Instruments

Chapter 1



Empathy

• Jazz requires a particular kind of empathy.• Although not absolutely necessary,

learning about the fundamental rules andtechniques of jazz can deepen one’sunderstanding and appreciation of the artform.



Timbre

• Timbre (tone color) refers to the distinctivequalities of a sound, as in the differencebetween instruments or voices.

• We control timbre: the tone of voice canindicate emotions; we can physicallychange the sound of an instrument withmutes.

• Timbral variation is a musical value in jazzand can be used to find one’s own sound.



The Ensemble

• Wind Instruments (Horns) – Instruments are often classified by the way

the sound is made. – Wind instruments are the largest category of

jazz instruments. – These produce sound by vibrating a column

of air that can be modified by changing thelength of the column (by depressing keys) oroverblowing.



The Ensemble

• Wind Instruments (Horns) – Reed Instruments

• Clarinet: cylindrical, wooden, popular in NewOrleans and swing jazz but declined in popularitysince then.

• Saxophone: alto, tenor, soprano, and baritone.• By 1930, saxophone became one of the main

instruments of American music (especially alto andtenor).



The Ensemble

• Rhythm Section – Another way to classify instruments is by their

musical use; for example, various kinds ofsolo instruments versus the more fixed typesof rhythm section instruments.

– The rhythm section consists of instruments

that provide harmony, bass, and percussion.



The Ensemble

• Rhythm Section – Harmony Instruments

• Piano (most important because of its popularityand range), guitar, banjo, electric piano, organ,vibraphone

• More than one harmony instrument may be used. A popular combination is guitar and piano. The

most common rhythm section is bass, drums,guitar, and piano.



The Ensemble

• Rhythm Section – Bass

• It is the foundation of the jazz ensemble, althoughit is seldom noticed.

• It provides two functions: harmonic support andrhythmic foundation; usually played pizzicato in

jazz.

• The electric bass is sometimes used instead of theacoustic bass.

• In early jazz, the tuba provided the bass.



The Ensemble

• Rhythm Section – Percussion

• Drum kit, drum set, or trap set (traps). Themusician uses all four limbs to play.

• It originated from marching band, where separateplayers played the bass drum, snare drum, andcymbals.

• The drum set uses the same drums with a footpeddle for the bass drum. The bass drum, thesnare drum, and hanging cymbals are all played byone person.



The Ensemble

• Rhythm Section• Tom-toms (middle-sized drums) can also be used

as part of this set, which is placed in front of the

drummer in a semicircle.• Cymbals: ride, crash, high-hat (two cymbals

controlled by a foot pedal).• Right foot on bass drum pedal, left foot on high-hat

pedal, right hand sticking the ride cymbal, left handsticking snare drum or tom-tom.



The Ensemble

• Rhythm Section• Can alter timbre: different size sticks, wire brushes,

mallets.

• Latin percussion is sometime used: congas,bongos, timbales, maracas, guiro.



From Polyrhythm to Swing

• Meter – Meter is related to biological phenomena such

as heartbeat, which is reflected in a steadyrhythmic pulse.

– Moving at a given tempo, or speed, this ―pulserhythm‖ is the basic approach to rhythm used

in jazz.




• Meter – Breath rhythm is more flexible and therefore

akin to free rhythm, for example, the cadenza(e.g., opening of Louis Armstrong’s ―West EndBlues‖).

– Count along with The Free Bridge Quintet’s

―Midriff.‖ – Beat equals a steady pulse.




• Meter – One can hear how pulse is grouped into a

meter. In jazz, duple meter is most common(group pulses by two or four).

– A measure, or bar, is regular grouping ofbeats, or the distance between downbeats.

This can be thought of as a small cycle —arepeated fixed unit.




• Polyrhythm – In contrast to European music, there are

usually at least two layers of rhythm occurringat the same time in African and African-derived music.

– The foundation layer in jazz (keeping time) is

persistent and repetitive: bass and ridecymbal.




• Syncopation – Jazz soloists add the variable layers of

rhythm. Rhythm section can add layers aswell: rhythmic placement of piano chords,drums.

– Syncopation occurs whenever a strong accent

contradicts the basic meter; central to jazzrhythm.




• Syncopation – A downbeat is the first beat of every measure.

The backbeat counters or alternates with thedownbeat.

– Accenting beats 2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3 ina four-four measure is an example of a

syncopated rhythmic pattern emphasizing thebackbeat.




• Swing – Groove: the overall rhythmic framework within

which rhythmic events occur; for example,four-beat rhythm with a backbeat.

– Swing is a type of groove basic to jazz that isdifficult to define but occurs when all the

rhythms interlock.



Melody and Harmony

• Melody – Scale: a collection of pitches within an octave.

There are twelve piano keys between twonotes of an octave. The distance betweeneach one is a half step. A scale of twelve halfsteps is called a chromatic scale.

– The Do Re Mi scale is called a major scale (ormode) and is made up of seven degrees.



Melody and Harmony

• Melody – A major scale is termed major because its

pattern of pitches is made up of the samearrangement or ordering of whole and halfsteps, regardless of the first note.

– The minor mode has a different pattern of

whole and half steps.



Melody and Harmony

• Blues Scale – Not just a set of pitches, but also a central

musical influence. – A system of making melody that includes

variable intonation (blue notes, bent notes).



Melody and Harmony

• Blues Scale – Blue notes are available on most instruments

but the piano is problematic. The solution is toplay two neighboring notes simultaneously.Their clash with underlying major scalesounds is appealing because of its―otherness‖ in sound.



Harmony

• The simultaneous sounding of pitchescreates a chord.

• The most fundamental chord to Westernmusic is the triad, a three-note chord withthe root (from which it takes its name, e.g.,an A major triad is built upon the rootpitch, A) usually located in the bass.



Harmony

• Voicings rearrange specific note orderingwithin a chord and may include the use ofchordal extensions.

• In jazz, a harmonic progression is a fixedseries of interrelated chords (usuallyrepeated) played in a strict rhythmicsequence.



Harmony

• A half cadence occurs when the end of aphrase sounds temporary and incomplete;a full cadence feels like a full stop (oftenon ―do‖ with the tonic harmony).

• The interaction of a half cadence followedby a full cadence mirrors the inflection inone’s voice between posing a questionand responding with an answer.



Texture

• Texture refers to the way melody andharmony are balanced. – Homophony

• Melody supported by harmonic accompaniment.• Usually melody and harmony are in separate

layers.



Texture

• Texture refers to the way melody andharmony are balanced.

• Sometimes in a single layer: block harmony occurs

when two or more instruments play the samephrase with the same rhythm but with differentpitches filling out the harmony often in the contextof soli.

• Countermelody (obbligato) occurs when thesubordinate instruments have their own melodicinterest, but it does not compete with the mainmelody.



Texture

• Texture refers to the way melody andharmony are balanced. – Monophony

• Melody performed by a single solo voice with noharmonic accompaniment.

• Rare in jazz but found in early jazz ―breaks,‖ wherea musician plays while the rest of the band is silent(usually two bars).



Texture

• Texture refers to the way melody andharmony are balanced.

• Similar to ―stop -time‖ in which band plays short

chords at brief intervals while the soloistimprovises.

• Monophony can be used to begin or end a piece,as in the case of Armstrong’s unaccompanied

introductory fanfare, or cadenza, at the start of―West End Blues.‖



Texture

• Polyphony – New Orleans jazz uses polyphonic textures.

Big (swing) bands are typically homophonic,

while avant-garde jazz often returns toexperimentation with more polyphonictextures in a new stylistic context.

jazz ch 1 slide

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