Attraverso l'ascolto e l'analisi delle registrazioni storiche del jazz (dal ragtime al repertorio

contemporaneo) acquisire le competenze teoriche per riconoscere e definire gli elementi che
determinano la forma, la struttura, la corrente storica e la strumentazione di un brano
musicale della tradizione jazzistica dagli inizi del 900 agli anni 40.
Altres individuarne le peculiarit nelle performance dei musicisti.
Modalit d'esame
Prova scritta: sulla base di un ascolto ripetuto della durata di due ore,
realizzare unanalisi scritta di un brano tratto dal repertorio del jazz, dalle origini alla fine
degli anni quaranta.
Lanalisi dovr essere fatta sulla base dei seguenti parametri:
1. Organico: indicare la formazione strumentale.
2. Diagramma di flusso: indicare la denominazione di ogni sezione del brano con la durata
precisa delle battute. Ruolo degli strumenti ed eventuali particolarit timbriche, figurazioni
ritmiche particolarmente caratterizzanti, cambi di ritmo o tempo.
3. Individuare il periodo storico
Programma
Programma Analisi delle forme I
Le origini della musica afroamericana, la nascita del linguaggio jazzistico, lo sviluppo
dellimprovvisazione e primi grandi protagonisti: Morton, Armstrong, Henderson, Ellington,
Beiderbecke. Il ragtime, il blues, lo stile New Orleans e il Dixieland. Gli anni 30 e
levoluzione
virtuosistica, le grandi orchestre e lera dello swing, Kansas City- Count Basie - il fermento
e
levoluzione dello stile.

Among the topics to be explored in the course will be melodic, harmonic and formal
concepts from: hot jazz of the 1920s, big bands of the 1930s and 1940s, bebop of the
1940s, the post-bop legacies of hard bop, cool jazz and their manifestations today, as
well as the jazz avant-garde and fusion of the 1960s and 1970s. Students will gain an
understanding of the formal principles of various types of small and large ensemble
jazz composition and improvisation.

Here students are guided toward recognizing and understanding two broad categories of jazz form:
the twelve-bar blues and the thirty-two-bar popular song (A A B A and its variants). We look at the
rhythmic and harmonic structures used in jazz, with the aim of familiarizing students with the
principles underlying improvisation. How do musicians make up music on the spot and still have it
make sense? The chapter also explores the venues and audience behavior associated with big-band
jazz and small-combo jazz. Although not strictly necessary to enjoy jazz, the ability to follow along
with the form of a piece provides greater insight into what the improviser is doing.
1. Form

a. Like African music, jazz form is cyclic, each cycle being defined rhythmically and
harmonically. Each cycle is called a chorus.
b. Choruses are a fixed length. Often choruses are twelve, sixteen, or thirty-two
measures, but they can be as short as two measures (e.g., "Heart and Soul").
c. "Heart and Soul," in which one person plays the chord changes and the other
improvises a melody, reflects the African principle of rhythmic contrast with two
distinct layers, one fixed and one variable, each complementing the other.
d. Common forms in jazz include the blues and popular song forms.
2. Blues Form
a. Poetic form: three-line asymmetric stanza (AAB) with each line consisting of two
vocal measures (call) followed by two instrumental measures (response), to make a
twelve-measure chorus.
b. Basic harmonic form consists of three chords: tonic for the first four measures, then
IV chord for two; tonic for two; V chord for two; tonic for two.
c. Often chords are added and/or substituted.
d. Turnaround or turnback: chord progression that leads the ear to a new part of the
cycle or the beginning of a new cycle.
e. "West End Blues" (Louis Armstrong) has both chord substitutions and turnarounds.
f. Blues can be played in different rhythmic grooves and tempos.
g. An example of fast blues is "It's All Right, Baby" ("Big Joe" Turner and Pete
Johnson).
h. Modern jazz blues: "Now's the Time" (Charlie Parker). Rhythmically different from
the previous two examples, harmonically more complex and dissonant, but still a
twelve-bar blues.
i. In small-combo jazz, the composed head of a blues distinguishes one blues from the
other.
j. It is harder to recognize the blues form in the Charlie Parker example due to musical
distractions.
k. In this book there are six blues recordings, which cover much of jazz history.
l. Blues can be interrupted by intros, modulations, and contrasting sections, but it is
still a blues regardless of tempo, rhythmic groove, and interruptions. It is the
foundation of rhythm and blues and of rock and roll.
3. Thirty-Two-Bar AABA Pop Song Form

a. Based on songs of the 1930s to the 1960s; often for movies or Broadway.
b. These songs were often in two parts: verse and refrain. Jazz musicians rarely use the
verse.
c. Form: eight bars repeated (A A) ending with a turnaround to the contrasting eight-bar
B section (the bridge) and then the last A.
d. Unlike the blues, defined by harmony and melody, not the words.
e. Unlike the blues, this form is not defined by a particular harmonic progression.
f. Example, "A Sailboat in the Moonlight" (Billie Holiday).
i.

AABA form starts after a four-bar introduction. Holiday varies the A sections
with saxophonist Lester Young's accompaniment and fills.

ii.

The second chorus is divided among the soloists and the last chorus is cut in
half due to limitations of recording technology at that time.

g. From 1930 to around 1950, jazz musicians used popular songs as a vehicle for
improvising. Knowing the melody gave listeners a way to keep track once the cycle
was established.
h. "Rhythm changes": for example, the chord progression for Gershwin's "I've Got
Rhythm," which became very popular with jazz musicians (although they omitted
the last two measures and made up their own melodies).
i. "So What" (Miles Davis) is an AABA, thirty-two bar form. It is one of many jazz
standards.
i.

Both As of this piece have the same single chord. The chord in the bridge is
one half tone higher than the A section.

ii.

Try to hear the bridge, which contains the real harmonic change.

j. There are many AABA tunes discussed in this book.

k. ABAC(AA") Form
i.

Contrasting sections in different places.

ii.

Could be two 16-bar sections with different endings (half cadence; full
cadence).

iii.

Both AABA and ABAC have the original melody in the third 8-bar section.

4. Improvisation.
a. What is it? How does the band keep playing together?

b. Bass
i.

Most restricted; must play basic harmony and keep time (walking bass)

ii.

Example: Paul Chambers playing bass on "So What." He's not obtrusive, but
rather is doing his job in a creative way.

iii.

The bassist can also play a pedal point-the pitches do not move. Example:
"Now's the Time" (Ronald Shannon Jackson)

iv.

Latin and funk bass lines may be more complex rhythmically but still
function as rhythmic foundation. Examples: "Manteca" (Dizzy Gillespie) and
"Acknowledgement" (John Coltrane)

c. Harmony Instruments
i.

Usually piano but can also be other instruments; play specified chords using
improvised voicings and can use chord substitutions; examples: first and
fourth choruses of "West End Blues" (Louis Armstrong)

ii.

The pianist can also take part in a variable layer rhythmically, by comping.

iii.

Drummer: right-hand ride cymbal pattern, backbeat on high-hat, right foot

plays bass drum accents ("dropping bombs"), left hand is variable; can play
improvised fills and various grooves

iv.

Listening can focus on the individual player or on interaction between

individuals.

d. Soloists
i.

Melodic paraphrase
1. Variation of the composed melody; often used in heads
2. Example: "Over the Rainbow" (Art Tatum)

ii.

Harmonic improvisation: more common; uses notes from the underlying

chords

iii.

Modal improvisation
1. Uses the scale suggested by the chord, not just chord notes; example:
"So What" uses the Dorian mode.
2. The blues scale is used in "Now's the Time" and "West End Blues."

5. In Performance (Big Bands and Small Ensembles)

a. Big Bands

i.

Starting in the 1930s and continuing until after World War II, big bands of
sixteen players became popular. They still exist mostly on university
campuses, but there are some new professional bands as well.

ii.

Grouped by instruments in sections of trumpets, trombones, reeds, and

rhythm section

iii.

They use arrangements: composed scores for the band with individual parts
for each musician. There are places for improvisation in arrangements.

iv.

Musicians are often formally dressed; bands use a front man and play for
dancing or concerts; members are relatively anonymous.

b. Small Combos
i.

Typically consist of a few horns and a rhythm section; usually named after an
individual.

ii.

Derive from jam sessions and small dance halls. Jam sessions are recreational
playing sessions in venues that encourage improvisational exploration.

iii.

Nineteen-forties: the jam session goes public but remains informal.

iv.

Heads are short and emphasis is on improvisation; typically, horns improvise

first, then the rhythm section.

v.

Drum solos can be open-ended or keep to the form of the cycle.

vi.

Trading fours: drums and soloist trade four-bar segments, usually after longer
solos; can be longer or shorter as well

c. Audience Behavior
i.

Quieter than for rock, more raucous than for classical music. No programs:
pieces are announced from the stage.

ii.

Some clubs, but not all, forbid talking during performances. Clubs are de
facto concert halls.