What is Jazz Music?

A style of music, native to America,

characterized being strong but flexible and

rhythmic.
A musical art form rooted in West African
cultural and musical expression and in the
African American blues tradition, with diverse
influences over time.

Characteristics of
Jazz Music

Blue note
also "worried" note
is a note thatfor expressive purposesis

sung or played at a slightly different pitch

than standard.
Typically the alteration is a between a
quartertone and a semitone

Syncopation
involves a variety of rhythms which are in

some way unexpected which make part or

all of a tune or piece of music off-beat
syncopation is a general term for "a
disturbance or interruption of the regular
flow of rhythm":

A "swing note" or "shuffle note"

is a performance practice, mainly in jazz-

influenced music, in which some notes with

equal written time values are performed with
unequal durations, usually as alternating long
and short.

A call and response

is a succession of two distinct phrases
usually played by different musicians, where

the second phrase is heard as a direct

commentary on or response to the first

Polyrhythm
is the simultaneous use of two or more

conflicting rhythms, that are not readily

perceived as deriving from one another
The rhythmic conflict may be the basis of an
entire piece of music (cross-rhythm), or a
momentary disruption

Improvisation
If a jazz band is playing a song, the song may

have several solos where one player will

improvise while the rest of the band, except
for the rhythm section does not play

Origin of the
word Jazz

As with many words that began in slang,

there is no definitive etymology for jazz.
However, the similarity in meaning of the
earliest jazz citations to jasm, a nowobsolete slang term meaning spirit,
energy, vigor and dated to 1860 in the
Historical Dictionary of American Slang,
suggests that jasm should be considered
the leading candidate for the source of jazz

History

Started in the United States in the early 20 th

century. Jazz was influenced by the music of

African slaves who were taken form Africa to
work in the plantations of the southern United
States, such as call and response and blue
notes. These characteristics are what
developed blues, a sad song that slaves sung
during their labor.
Jazz is generally thought to have begun in
New Orleans, spreading to Chicago, Kansas
City, New York City, and the West Coast.

Forms of Jazz

Blues
Ragtime
New Orleans Jazz
Swing
New Orleans Jazz
Swing
Bop
Progressive Jazz

Blues
The heart of jazz, the blues is a musical

form now standardized as 12 bars, based

on the tonic, dominant, and subdominant
chords.
In vocal blues the lyrics are earthy and
direct and are mostly concerned with basic
human problems.
The tempo may vary, and the mood
ranges from total despair to cynicism and
satire.

Ragtime
The earliest form of jazz to exert a wide

appeal, ragtime was basically a piano style

emphasizing syncopation and polyrhythm.
From about 1893 to the beginning of World
War I this music was popularized through
sheet music and player-piano rolls.

New Orleans Jazz

New Orleans, or Dixieland, jazz is played

by small bands usually made up of cornet

or trumpet, clarinet, trombone, and a
rhythm section that includes bass, drums,
guitar, and sometimes piano.
When the band marched, as it often did in
the early days, the piano and bass were
omitted and a tuba was used.

Swing
Originating in Kansas City and Harlem in

the late 1920s and becoming a national

craze, swing was marked by the
substitution of orchestration for
improvisation and a rhythm that falls
between the beats.
The average big band had about 15
members (five reeds, five brass, piano,
bass, and drums) and could generate
overwhelming volume or evince the most
subtle articulations.

Bop
The vigor of the music notwithstanding, a

revolt against the confining nature of the

harmony, melody, and rhythm of swing
arose in Kansas City and Harlem in the
1930s and reached fruition in the mid-40s

Progressive Jazz
After beginning in New York City,

progressive, or cool, jazz developed

primarily on the West Coast in the late
1940s and early 50s.
Intense yet ironically relaxed tonal
sonorities are the major characteristic of
this jazz form, while the melodic line is less
convoluted than in bop.

Scott Joplin
Joplin is considered the foremost composer

of ragtime music. Many of his

compositions, including Maple Leaf Rag
and The Entertainer,

Charles Buddy Bolden

Trumpeter Buddy Bolden is credited with bringing

a loose, raw approach to instrumental jazz with

his loud tone and emphasis on improvisation. He
infused ragtime with the blues and black church
music, and organized ensembles consisting of
brass instruments and clarinets, changing the way
jazz composers tended to orchestrate their music.

Nick LaRocca
Cornetist and trumpeter LaRocca was the leader

of the Original Dixieland Jass Band (later changed

to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band), which made
the first jazz recordings in 1917. The group
consisted of drums, piano, trombone, cornet, and
clarinet, and their first cut was called Livery
Stable Blues

Louis Armstrong
With his unique lyrical approach to the trumpet,

Armstrong changed the face of jazz, shifting the

focus from collective improvisation to personal
expression through soloing. He was also a singer
with a distinctive voice, and had a knack for
scat singing. Throughout his career, he never lost
the ability to appeal to a wide audience, and
because of his celebrity and his lovable persona,
he was selected by the U.S. State Department to
represent his country as a musical ambassador,
promoting jazz on international tours.

Sample Music
Video
Pink Panther Theme composed by Henry Mancini