Exam 1

In our musical language, there are two principal types of diatonic scales:

1) The major scale (for example, C to C on the white keys is the C major scale) 2) The minor scale (for example, A to A on the white keys is the A minor scale)

Adjacent keys come in three possible combinations:

1) White to Black 2) Black to White 3) White to White

Swing Eighth Notes

A quarter note is ordinarily divided into two equal eighth notes, what jazz musicians refer to as "straight eighth notes," or "straight eighths." With swing eighth notes, the quarter note is divided into twounequaleighth notes. The first eighth note receives slightly more than half of the beat; the second eighth note, the remainder.

Saxophone

A relatively recent innovation, the saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. His goal was to create a woodwind instrument that projected as well as a brasswind (e.g., the trumpet). Saxophones are reed instruments, which means that saxophonists play their instrument by blowing into a reed inserted into the mouthpiece. Today, the saxophone is closely associated with jazz music, although there exists a sizable repertoire in classical music for the instrument, too. Watch and listen now as tenor saxophonist Steve Bowman discusses the main types of saxophones used today as well as the art of playing saxophone in a combo setting.

Staves and Clefs

A staff (pl. staves) is a set of five horizontal lines used in music notation. At the beginning of the staff is aclef, which indicates the range of pitches to be played. The four clefs that are typically found in music scores are the treble, bass, alto, and tenor clefs. Of these, the two most common ones are the treble clef and the bass clef. The treble clef indicates a higher range of notes. The bass clef indicates a lower range of notes. The alto and tenor clefs affix middle C (C4) on the third and fourth line of the staff, respectively.

Essential Features

As we noted in our introduction, jazz is a uniquely American art, a marvelous blending of African Americans' musical heritage with that of European Americans. Throughout the history of jazz, African Americans have been the major innovators, furthering its evolution by creating new jazz styles. Yet, the music has drawn practitioners from all quarters, not only in America, but around the world. So... what is jazz? In truth, it is a music that remains difficult to define. When asked to define it, jazz great Louis Armstrong's response was quintessential: "If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know." With the variety of jazz styles that have developed over the last century, we might ask questions such as the following: What are the elements common to all of these styles? What makes it jazz? Many jazz musicians and scholars would identify three essential features: Improvisation, or performances that are made up on the spot by one or more of the players Rhythms that create a swing feeling A bluesy flavor is present.

Listening Skills

As we study the evolution of jazz, you will hear increasing harmonic and melodic complexity in the music. Certain harmonies, or chords, are idiomatic of jazz, as are certain melodic figures. Jazz musicians even have their own terminology of jazz chords. Listen, for example, to this 12-bar blues progression incorporating characteristic jazz harmonies. Notice that the increased harmonic complexity is largely the result of stacking still more thirds on top of seventh chords — producing 9th chords, 11th chords, and 13th chords of varying chromatic content.

Pitch Bending

At the heart of the blue note is pitch bending . Listen to Robert Johnson's classic guitar pitch bending in his rendition ofCross Road Blues♫. In fact, practically speaking, you can't have a blue note without pitch bending. Pitch bending is a gradual change of pitch, and it is one of the most distinctive ways in which blues singers sing their melodies. Certain instrumentalists may also incorporate pitch bending in performance. For example, you may have heard a trombonist slide between notes or a guitar player slightly raise or lower a note. It's not surprising, then, that some of the earliest blues singers accompanied themselves on the guitar, developing various techniques for bending the pitches of the strings. These include bending the guitar strings with the fingers on the fret board, as well as using a bottleneck on the pinky to slide over the strings. In Gus Gibson's "Railroad Song," we can hear individual strings being bent, as well as the guitarist's use of a slide. When Gibson begins to sing, the third note of the scale is a prominent blue note in his melody. Let's listen Railroad Song ♫.

Blues vs. Jazz

Blue notes and the12-bar formare staples of both blues and jazz. What, then, differentiates jazz from blues? While blues is predominantly a vocal genre, jazz is predominantly an instrumental genre. There is greater harmonic and melodic complexity in jazz, particularly as it has evolved.

12-Bar Form

Blues melodies in 12-bar form tend to divide into three four-bar phrases, creating a form that may be represented asAAB. That is, the words and melody of the first four-bar phrase are repeated as the second four-bar phrase, possibly with a slight variation. Then the last phrase consists of different words, and the melody is different from the first two phrases (providing sufficient contrast so that we label the phrase "B"). Listen now to Bessie Smith, the most popular blues singer of the 1920s, sing the first four stanzas of Back Water Blues ♫. She sings each stanza over a 12-bar blues chord progression provided by her piano accompanist. In jazz parlance, each repetition of a chord progression — in this case, 12 bars — is referred to as a chorus.

Call and Response

Call-and-response describes a kind of musical conversation characterized by alternation of two groups of musicians, or between a soloist and a group. While call-and-response is not solely a practice of African origin, the tradition of call-and-response in West Africa is characterized by overlapping between the call and the response. As a feature in the blues and in other earlier African-American music, the call-and-response is similarly characterized by this overlapping. The style later became a feature of jazz as well. Listen, for example, to classic blues singer Bessie Smith sing Back Water Blues ♫ with James P. Johnson accompanying on piano. There is a sense of call-and-response between her voice and the piano. We will hear similar interplay and overlapping of instruments in much of the jazz we study.

Simple Meters

Duple meter is heard as alternating strong and weak beats. 2/4 is the most common duple meter. Yankee Doodle ♫ is an example of a song that features 2/4 duple meter. Triple meter is heard as strong-weak-weak. 3/4 is the most common triple meter. Oh My Darlin' Clementine ♫ is an example of a song that features 3/4 triple meter. Quadruple meter combines two duple groups, with a greater accent (or emphasis) on the first beat and a slightly lesser accent on the third beat. 4/4 is the most common quadruple meter. Beethoven's Ode to Joy ♫ is an example of a piece that features quadruple meter.

The Blues

Historically, the blues developed among African Americans through the combining of elements of earlier African-American genres: field hollers, street cries, and gospel hymns. Like its predecessors, blues is foremost a vocal genre. That is to say, someone is singing a song. Early blues singers often accompanied themselves with guitar or banjo. While this accompaniment became a distinctive feature of the blues, the melody (or tune) — what was being sung — was always the most prominent and most important aspect of the blues. As it was then and continues to be today, the most distinctive feature of the blues melody is the blue note . Blue notes derive from the vocal tradition, and as such they are notes that do not precisely fit the 12-note system of Western music. Characteristically, a blue note is of variable pitch that can slidebetweenthe notes on the keyboard, and blue notes are often intended not to match any fixed pitch within our 12-note system. One might describe a blue note as a note in the "cracks" of the piano. Listen to Bessie Smith's voice as she slides from note to note (the "blue note") in this recording ofBackwater Blues♫. On the piano, one may approximate blue notes by simultaneously pressing two adjacent keys, a black key and a white key. Listen for the simultaneous key press in the blue note examples that follow. In standard music notation, blue notes are represented by lowering the third, fifth, and seventh notes of the major scale by one-half step. Recall that the seven-note C major scale comprises the following series of notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. The six-note blues scale, by contrast, comprises the following series of notes: C, E♭ (lowered third), F, G♭ (lowered fifth), G, B♭ (lowered seventh).

Chromatic Scale

In addition to the diatonic (seven-note) scale, there is another musical scale called the chromatic scale, made up of twelve pitches. This scale comprises the complete succession of semitones along the span of an octave. For example, the ascending chromatic scale starting on C looks like: C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B

Tonality

Jazz is arguably the most sophisticated extension of tonality , the musical language of Western art music. Tonality is the language of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. It is a musical language that we can easily take for granted because it is so familiar to most of us, and it sounds so natural. In tonality, there is one note in the scale that serves as the tonal center. It's the note we expect to hear at the end of a piece of music. It is the note that provides a sense of resolution to the chord progression. In the language of tonality, the tonal center is the first note of the scale, also known as the tonic . What distinguishes tonality from other musical languages is how the tonic is reinforced as the tonal center by a special harmonic relationship to the fifth note of the scale, the dominant. The tonic-dominant relationship (the I and V chords) is the hallmark of tonality. Tonality is the language of the blues, rock and roll, and almost all pop music. It is a language as simple as "shave and a haircut, two bits" and as profound as Beethoven's 5th symphony. And it is the language of almost all jazz.

Origins of Jazz

Jazz originated among African Americans in New Orleans, a group that combined a diversity of musical styles and elements. Some of these styles had roots traceable to Africa, while others derived from European practices. The early genres of African-American song — slave songs, spirituals, field hollers, street cries, gospel hymns, the blues— were fundamental to this emerging art form. Also essential were various instrumental genres exhibiting both European and African-American influence: military marches, assorted dances, and the piano rags so well exemplified by the works of Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf Rag♫).

Adjacent Keys: Half steps

Keys that are right next to each other on the keyboard are adjacent. The difference in pitch between adjacent keys is the smallest pitch difference between two sounds in most Western music systems. That pitch difference is called a half step or semitone. Two black keys are never adjacent keys. There will always be either one or two white keys in between two black keys. The following interactive exercise shows the three possible key combinations that produce half steps on the keyboard. Try playing the semitones after viewing the presentation.

Clarinet

Like the saxophone, the clarinet is a reed instrument. Invented in the Baroque period around the year 1700, the clarinet features an intricate set of keys that allows for a very large pitch range. The clarinet enjoyed its heyday in jazz during the big band swing era. Since then, the saxophone, with its simpler key system and powerful projection, has largely taken the clarinet's place on the front line.

Meter

Meter is the grouping of beats in a piece of music—we recognize each group of beats because the first beat of each group is accented. Typically, a group of beats fills one measure. A measure, or bar, is indicated by a vertical line on the staff dividing one group from the next. Groupings of beats may be in 2s, 3s, and 4s, called duple, triple and quadruple meters, respectively. The type of meter is indicated in the time signature, which appears at the beginning of the staff, next to the clef. Four-four time signature In simple meters (which we will limit ourselves to in this course), the top number of the time signature indicates how many beats are in each measure, and the bottom number indicates the note value (i.e., duration) that carries the beat. In this case, the quarter note — signified by the bottom number 4 — is the one that carries the beat.

Seventh Chords

Much of the blues has been written using the I, IV, and V chords as the basis for a 12-bar form that conforms to the following chord progression: This chord progression uses what we call seventh chords. Seventh chords are triads with one extra third stacked on top, adding an interval of a seventh above the root. Seventh chords are used extensively in blues pieces. The following exercise demonstrates stacking an extra third on top of a triad to form a seventh chord.

Brass Bands and the Musicians of New Orleans

New Orleans in the late nineteenth century was full of musicians. Brass bands played for parades by day, while string bands were preferred for evenings. Dancing was the principal entertainment, and mazurkas, waltzes, polkas, cakewalks, and other dance pieces were part of the musicians' repertoire. During the last two decades of the century, string bands began to include brass and woodwind players, moving toward an instrumentation that would characterize the sound of early New Orleans jazz. The mandolin and violin of the earlier string bands eventually gave way to the cornet or trumpet, the trombone, and the clarinet. New Orleans brass bands tended to perform a mix of European-style military marches and African folk music. This eclectic blend of music was par for the course for New Orleans. Its community of musicians heard and played music of great diversity: marches, opera, religious music, slave music (field hollers and spirituals), and perhaps even spectacular displays of West African dance and music in nearby Congo Square. These musicians, of all ages and abilities, found employment in the red-light district just outside the French Quarter, a place known as Storyville. Together, they created a style of performance we now call jazz, although in its earliest years, it was known as ragtime. Watch and listen now to an excerpt from the 1999 video "I'll Make Me a World: 1 - Lift Every Voice," which provides a description of the culture and music of early New Orleans.

The Pickup

Not all melodies begin on the downbeat — that is, on the first beat of the first measure. Often there is a note (or group of notes) leading to the downbeat — what we refer to as the pickup . (In fact, the triple meter example on the previous page,Oh My Darlin' Clementine♫, began with a pickup on beat 3.) The pickup is also known as the upbeat or anacrusis. InThe Entertainer♫, the notes preceding the first measure form the pickup. (Note that when we count measures, measure 1 is the first complete measure).

What makes a scale either major or minor is the specific succession of whole steps (W) and half steps (H) in the scale.

Note that there are more whole steps than there are half steps. For example, the C major scale — and every other major scale — consists of the following succession: W W H W W W H The following interactive exercise features the C major scale. Study it carefully to memorize the distribution of whole (W) and half steps (H) in the major scale. When the animation finishes, you may click on W or H to see and hear where whole steps and half steps fall within the major scale. In particular, notice how the whole tone between steps 4 and 5 divides the scale into two equal halves of four notes each.

New Orleans

Of all the regions of America, New Orleans has historically been one of the most ethnically diverse. From the intermingling of French, Spanish, African, Caribbean, Mexican, and other influences, a rich and vibrant cosmopolitan culture sprang. As a port city, New Orleans enjoyed considerable prosperity, and a host of travelers who passed through further enlivened the city. No city enjoyed its music more than the so-called Crescent City. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, African Americans in New Orleans were generally categorized into two groups: One group consisted of predominantly African ancestry, referred to as "Negroes" The other group comprised people of mixed ancestry, often French and African, referred to as "Creoles of color." (Creoles were Europeans of mixed French and Spanish ancestry.) Through most of the eighteenth century and into the early nineteenth century, Creoles of color were accorded a status closer to that of Europeans than were Negroes. Creoles of color spoke French, had ownership rights, could travel abroad, and they mixed in the same circles as European Creoles. Over the course of the 1800s, though, with a greater influx of white European immigrants, their status eroded. By the end of the nineteenth century in New Orleans, Creoles of color had lost any special status they had previously enjoyed above that of Negroes. The two formerly distinct classes were now forced to live and work together. While this initially fostered resentment among the Creoles of color, the integration of their largely European cultural background with the African traditions preserved by the Negroes may well have provided the genesis for many of the distinctive features of the New Orleans music that in turn "birthed" jazz. Watch and listen now to an excerpt from the 1990 video "American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America — Jazz Parades: Feet Don't Fail Me Now," which provides a description of the Creoles' contribution to the creation of jazz.

Syncopation

Ordinarily, rhythms reinforce the meter. That is, prominent notes occur on the strong beats. Syncopation occurs when an accent falls on a note located on a weak beat, or between beats. In such cases, the musician plays "off the beat." Listen again to The Entertainer ♫, which features syncopation throughout.

The Blues

Originating in the Mississippi delta area in the late nineteenth century, the blues provided repertoire and performance practices for New Orleans musicians. Pitch bending and the use ofblue noteswere distinctive features of the blues that were appropriated by New Orleans musicians for this new emerging music. Early blues, or rural blues , such as the blues songs of Robert Johnson, were generally performed by male singers who accompanied themselves with a guitar. The form was often irregular, with beats added or removed to accommodate the lyrics. The songs of rural blues presented a decidedly male perspective, reflecting the lives and experiences of the men who traveled through the South playing in juke joints and otherwise doing what they could to make a living. Robert Johnson (1911-1938) was not the first Mississippi Delta blues guitarist and singer, but the performances of 29 of his songs, recorded in the 1930s, capture the essence of the style. They have also been as influential as any individual contribution to guitar in American popular culture over the past century. Johnson's songs, his guitar playing, and his singing have influenced not only blues and blues guitar, but the guitar and music of jazz and rock as well. The Faustian-like myth surrounding his tragically short life — that he sold his soul to the devil — has further heightened interest in his life and art.1 Earlier we heard Robert Johnson's I Believe I'll Dust My Broom ♫. Let's listen to another of his recordings, Cross Road Blues ♫. Observe the liberties that a solo performer such as Johnson takes with his song. His melody and accompaniment, as well as the lengths of his phrases, exhibit a host of distinctive irregularities in response to the individual character of each verse. Pitch bending and blue notes abound in both voice and guitar. The Mississippi Delta blues style influenced other regional blues styles in the South, notably the Texan, Georgian, and the northern Mississippi/Memphis region's styles. Let's listen now to Mississippi Fred McDowell's You Got To Move ♫, in which McDowell provides an excellent example of rural blues in a North Mississippi style that draws its roots from the Mississippi delta blues. Notice the similarities to Robert Johnson's rural blues songs — especially the style of singing and playing. Also, take note of their differences. For instance, there is no real chord progression here. The entire song is sung over a tonic (I) chord, and the chorus is a 16-bar, four-phrase form. Yet, the overall blues effect is strikingly similar to blues songs in more traditional forms.

Urban Blues

Over time, the blues spread from the country to more urban environments and evolved into classic blues, or urban blues. At this time, the 12-bar blues form became firmly established. Female singers took the primary role, accompanied by one or more jazz musicians. Urban blues, in contrast to rural blues, offered a decidedly female perspective. While themes of love, longing, and loneliness are woven through both rural and urban blues, the question of "who done who" wrong is answered quite differently, depending on whether a man or a woman is singing. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) was the greatest and most popular urban blues singer of the 1920s. Known as the "Empress of the Blues," her vocal style was also highly influential in the world of jazz. She had a powerful voice, with flawless control and expressive melodic nuances that helped define the meaning of the blues. Listen now to her recording of Lost Your Head Blues ♫ and hear her impressive vocal style. Smith's life, like Robert Johnson's, was cut tragically short. She died in an automobile accident, riding as a passenger on the highway outside Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Ragtime

Ragtime piano had come out of Missouri around the turn of the century and swept the country. Its greatest composer was Scott Joplin (ca. 1867 — 1917). Joplin was a champion of African-American music, an accomplished composer beyond the rag idiom that he helped define. He spent his later years struggling to bring to the stage his magnum opus, Treemonisha ♫, a full-scale opera that only received recognition and its first complete performance in the 1970s, long after Joplin had succumbed to the final stages of syphilis. Joplin received posthumously a Pulitzer Prize for his contribution to American music. Ragtime shared much in common with the marches of brass bands. Both tended to be in duple meter, with a bass note emphasizing each beat and a chord sounding between each bass note. We sometimes characterize this sound as "um-pah, um-pah." What distinguished the rag were the syncopations that repeatedly filled the melody above the steady duple background. And, as we'll hear in the lesson on early jazz, the piano style of ragtime would have a great influence on early jazz stride piano. Listen now to another of Scott Joplin's well-known pieces, Maple Leaf Rag ♫.

Horns

Recall that a horn, in jazz parlance, refers to any wind instrument, and it's usually one of the featured lead solo instruments. Saxophone and trumpet are the most popular and prominent horns. Trombone and clarinet are also horns one hears in jazz.

Bass

The bass player provides the harmonic backbone of a piece, even as he serves a critical timekeeping duty. The standard way to play upright bass (known formally as double bass) in a jazz piece is to pluck a string — a technique known as pizzicato . (Bowing the strings is the normal way to play bass in the classical style — which is calledarco.) Often the bass player plucks a note on each quarter note beat, a style of playing referred to aswalking bass. The bass player knows the chord progressions of the chorus, and he reinforces the changing harmonies with his choice of notes. But there is also considerable freedom in the walking bass lines, and he improvises within the limits of the bass's role in the rhythm section. And like the pianist, the bass player will often take his turn as soloist, at which time his playing becomes much more rhythmically varied and melodically daring. Watch and listen now to Professor Robert Nairn discuss the art of playing double bass in a combo setting.

Drums

The drummer is both the timekeeper and the creator of bountiful syncopations and polyrhythms that add rhythmic color to a performance. With four limbs at work on four drums, two cymbals, and a high-hat — the standard "set of traps" — the drummer is at once he most primal, intricate, and versatile performer of the combo. Let's go through each of the drummer's limbs, starting with the feet. The drummer's left foot is devoted to the hi-hat, also known as the sock cymbal. It's actually two cymbals mounted together on a vertical rod, with a pedal mechanism operated by the foot that brings the two cymbals together, allowing an alternating opening and closing of the high hat that creates its own distinctive "chick" sound. Since the modern jazz era, the high hat has frequently been used to create a backbeat — that is, an accent on the weak beats — by closing the high hat on every 2nd and 4th beat. The right foot is on another pedal that operates a soft mallet that strikes the bass drum. In the modern jazz era, the tendency has been to strike the bass drum lightly, creating a soft, deep thud that may be used to mark the strong beats (1 and 3), or even to play on all four beats. Occasionally, the drummer creates an additional syncopation by striking the bass drum with greater force — what is referred to as a bomb — that may be part of a rhythmic interaction with the soloist. Drummers tend to use sticks in both hands. If they want a softer, lighter sound, they'll use brushes. The left hand is, in many respects, the freest of the four limbs. The drummer will often play syncopated patterns with the left hand on the snare drum, or occasionally strike the small tom-tom on top of the bass drum. This left hand activity often contains kicks or prods that respond to the soloist and establish a rhythmic interaction. The drummer's right hand is frequently devoted to the ride cymbal, playing ride rhythms. These are the rhythms that lend such a strong "swing" to jazz, sometimes described with syllables such as "ching, chick-a-ching, chick-a-ching..." In addition to playing the ride cymbal, the right hand will often make its way to the large tom-tom to the right of the snare drum, adding punctuations or, during turnarounds, working with the other limbs to provide a fresh break from the repeated patterns. A turnaround comes at the end of a phrase or chorus when the melody has come to repose, opening up room for additional rhythmic activity. It consists of two bars, or measures. For example, in a 12-bar chorus, it consists of measures 11-12. In a 32-bar form, there's typically a turnaround at the end of each 8-bar section (i.e., measures 7-8, 15-16, 23-24, and 31-32). During the two bars of the turnaround, the steady rhythmic patterns established through most of the chorus are abandoned to allow various different featured activities among the musicians, even as the tempo is maintained. In addition to his role within the rhythm section, the drummer also takes his occasional turns as a soloist. Because of the trap set's inability to convey either melody or harmony, lengthy drum solos are not as common. Often a drum solo is divided into solo passages of four or eight bars, alternating with the entire combo playing passages of the same length — which is known as trading fours or trading eights. (Similarly, a pair of soloists may alternate in the same fashion with one another or with the drummer, rather than having each solo for a complete chorus.) Watch and listen now to drummer Mason Neely discuss the art of playing drums in a combo setting.

Improvisation

The first and most essential feature, improvisation , is the heart of jazz. Improvisation means that the performer is spontaneously composing the music that he or she is playing — at that very moment. It's worth noting that improvised performance is not the sole province of jazz. Rock music and much of the music of India and Africa also feature improvisation. Certain aspects of performance in Western art music historically include improvisation as well. However, apart from jazz, no other Western music emphasizes improvisation in a group setting to such a high degree. And while most jazz groups have some sort of preset structure that shapes their music, each piece includes significant segments of spontaneous performance by one or more of the players. In Lesson 3, we will consider ways to appreciate jazz improvisation, all of which involve becoming a more attentive listener. Right now, though, let's get a basic understanding of improvisation. The principal way that we as listeners identify when a player is improvising is by recognizing that he or she is no longer playing the melody. In each of the two duo performances below, you will hear a melody that is likely familiar. In the first videos, it's a version of "Frere Jacques" ("Are you sleeping, brother John?").

grand staff

The grand staff combines the treble and bass clefs, which is typically how piano music is notated.

African-American Music Traditions

The origins of jazz — and jazz itself — are inextricably tied to the painful history of Africans in America. For more than 200 years, Africans were brought to America against their wills, enslaved, and forced to serve European masters. They brought little or nothing with them, and they were often separated from their family members and countrymen. Through memory, though, they carried with them the musical elements of their African traditions. These included the use of polyrhythms and the employment of the equi-heptatonic scale : a seven-note scale that produced tones approximating the lowered third and seventh — notes that would become the primary blue notes in jazz. The oral traditions of story, music, and dance were also retained in some manner, and these traditions were reinterpreted in the languages and settings of the new world. Even though there were multiple generations of oppression and slavery, African Americans preserved and handed down traces of their African heritage. In an effort to "convert" their African slaves to Christianity, European masters introduced them to European-derived sacred hymns. The musical results were not what they intended. African Americans absorbed these European musical idioms and transformed them in the process. The spirituals (Amazing Grace♫) that sprang up blended African and African-American musical practices, not just with European-American religion, but with elements of European-American music as well. Like the work songs that had emerged earlier, African-American spirituals are among the earliest examples of a genuinely "American" music. The spiritual's contribution to later musical developments in African-American culture is vitally significant. Watch and listen now to an excerpt from the 1995 video "Flight to Freedom: The Underground Railroad," which provides a narrative and musical account of this critical period in the evolution of African-American music.

Piano

The pianist most often plays the chords that correspond to the pre-set chord progression of the chorus, but the particular arrangement of the notes of the chord — what we call the voicing — and the rhythmic placement of the chords are decisions made by the pianist during the performance. This type of intricate improvisation of accompanying chords is characteristic of the modern jazz era, and it is referred to as comping (short for "accompanying"). Sometimes the pianist will substitute a different chord for the expected chord within the chord progression to add a different harmonic color — a technique known aschord substitution. In addition to his role within the rhythm section, the pianist will also take his turn as the lead soloist, improvising new melodies over one or more choruses. Watch and listen now to Arthur Goldstein discuss the art of playing piano in a combo setting.

Keyboard

The piano has a total of 88 keys, with a recurring pattern of 12 white and black keys. The keys are identified by the notes they represent using the first seven letters of the alphabet, from A to G. Counting usually begins with the letter C. The black keys are referred to as either sharp (#) or flat (♭), depending on whether they are a half step above (#) or below (♭) the letter name note.

The Rhythm Section

The piano, bass, and drums constitute the rhythm section of a jazz combo. Sometimes guitar substitutes for piano, and other times it is featured in addition to the other instruments. These instruments and their players provide the rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment while the horn player plays the tune or improvises a solo. Remarkably, even when the rhythm section is serving in this subordinate role, the players may still be improvising their parts. We'll take a closer look at these instruments in the following pages.

Pitch

The placement of notes on the staff indicates pitch: the higher up that the note is place on the staff, the higher its pitch will be. Conversely, the lower a note is placed, the lower its pitch will be.

Octave

The repeating pattern of notes on the keyboard represents an octave. An octave is the span of eight letter-name notes. To identify an octave, start with any note in the seven-note scale, for example, the left-most C in the image below. Then count eight notes to the right or left, but include the starting note. If we start with the left-most C in the image below, we count C (1), D (2), E (3), F (4), G (5), A (6), B (7), C (8), arriving at the right-most C to form an octave. The first note and the eighth note are said to be an octave apart, and they have an arithmetic relationship of 2:1 in terms of pitch frequency. Two notes an octave apart sound so similar that we call the two notes by the same letter name, and if they are played at the same time, they sound much like a single pitch.

Syncopation

The second component of the swing feeling is an abundance of syncopation. A syncopation (as you have already learned in Lesson 1) is an accent on a note somewhere unexpected, off the main beats; for example, in 4/4 meter, somewhere other than on beat one or beat three. This has the effect of strengthening the weaker beats and undermining the strong beats. Since much of the music we listen to in Western culture emphasizes the metrical placement of the beat, the frequent use of syncopation is an aspect that instantly identifies jazz sound. Syncopation using swing eighth-notes provide still more rhythmic drive.

Harmony

The sounding of two or more pitches together creates harmony . For example, harmony is created when an instrument, such as a guitar or piano, is played along with (i.e., accompanies) a singer. Guitar and piano are both instruments capable of sounding more than one pitch at a time — producing harmony without the need for further accompaniment. Not surprisingly, they have remained important instruments in both blues and jazz. Let's listen to an example of blues harmony in Robert Johnson's I Believe I'll Dust My Broom ♫. As we explore the characteristics of harmony, and specifically of blues harmony, we will gain a better understanding of the harmonies we hear in this blues piece. For now, let's focus on the high notes of Robert Johnson's guitar (0:05-0:06, 0:09-0:11, and 0:19-0:21). The two prominent notes we hear sound the interval of a third . Harmony in Western music is based on the interval of a third. An interval is the distance between two notes. Take, for example, the interval C to E: that's a third. We call it a third because we count the notes of the scale in the interval, C-D-E, one-two-three. Similarly, F to A (F-G-A) is a third.

Trumpet

The standard trumpet used in jazz is the B-flat trumpet, which means it has a fundamental tone of B-flat. Its predecessor, the bugle, is valve-less; the addition of valves and extra tubing in the trumpet extended the instrument's range. Early jazz features the similar cornet in place of the trumpet. The flugelhorn, sometimes dubbed the valved bugle, has a plusher, mellower tone and is often used as the trumpeter's secondary instrument. The trumpet, as well as other brass instruments, may be played either "open" or with the insertion of a mute inside the bell, which is used to dampen and color the sound of the instrument. In jazz, the two most frequently used mutes are the cup mute and the Harmon mute. The Harmon mute is among the most distinctive sounds in jazz trumpeting, made famous by such notable players as Harry "Sweets" Edison and Miles Davis. Watch Dr. Langston "Fitz" Fitzgerald III, Professor of Trumpet, discuss the history of the trumpet and demonstrate the instrument's timbre — both with and without mutes.

Swing Feeling

The swing feeling in jazz may be achieved by one or more of the following: Using swing eighth notes. Using an abundance of syncopation. Using frequent polyrhythms.

Chord Progressions

The term chord progression refers to a series of chords that aims to establish tonality (which we'll learn more about on the next page). You may very well recognize the sound of the chord progression I - IV - V- I because it is common to much of our music. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and many others all wrote music using this chord progression. It's also a conspicuous feature of much rock and country music. Watch the following video for a country music example.

Polyrhythms

The third component of the swing feeling is frequent polyrhythms. A polyrhythm is a combination of two or more rhythms sounding simultaneously. It is not uncommon to encounter polyrhythms consisting of three, four, or even more rhythms within a single jazz piece. With one instrument sounding one rhythm, and another instrument a second, and yet another sounding a third, the rhythmic complexity produces excitement and intensity. Jazz tends to breathe, much like inhaling and exhaling (except the "breaths" are longer). This alternation of tension and relaxation in a jazz piece may be attributed to the various increases and decreases in rhythmic complexity.

Trombone

The trombone is a fifteenth-century instrument with a straight sliding tube used to change the range. Its length led to the development of a U-shaped slide, halving the demands on the player's reach. The slide acts as valves do on other brass instruments and is ideal for jazz with its bending, indeterminate notes. Watch Mark Lusk, Professor of Trombone, discuss the history of the trombone and demonstrate the instrument's timbre — both with and without mutes.

Standard Forms

The two principal forms of jazz music are the12-bar blues formand the32-bar song form. These two forms constitute what are known as thestandard formsin jazz. We have already observed the formal characteristics of the 12-bar blues form: three four-bar phrases, exhibiting a form that may be represented as AAB. The 32-bar song form is a bit more elaborate. It tends to divide into four 8-bar phrases or sections, creating a form that may be represented as AABA. To wit, there is an original 8-bar section (A) that is repeated, possibly with slight variation (A) followed by a contrasting section (B), also known as the bridge and closed with a return to the original section (A). Listen now to Billie Holiday singing Body and Soul ♫, which follows 32-bar song form. As you listen, keep in mind that there are four beats per measure (4/4 meter) as is the case with most jazz. A piece such as this is known as a ballad , because it is not up-tempo; a ballad is a song form played in a slow tempo.

Bluesy Flavor

There is a third element cited by many jazz musicians as essential to jazz: a bluesy flavor . The historic connection between jazz music and blues music is significant. Some would say it is hard to overstate the importance of blues to jazz. Just as blues led to the development of rhythm and blues (R&B) and (along a similar vein)rock and roll, blues contributed significantly and substantially to the development of jazz. Which leads us to the following question: What is blues? This question will be addressed in the next part of the lesson.

Rhythm is created by the notes we hear.

Think of a tune — it is a succession of notes. We primarily associate a note with its pitch, but for purposes of understanding rhythm, let's focus on the note's duration. Rhythm is the succession of articulated durations from one note to the next. Our bodies and brains make sense of the rhythms we hear because we feel the beat in the background behind the music. In other words, the beat provides the context that allows us to make sense of the rhythm. Not only do we feel the beat, we also sense how the beats are grouped because the first beat in each group is emphasized. The way the beats are grouped speaks to the next concept that we'll cover, meter.

Chords

Three or more notes sounding together create a chord . For example, the C major chord consists of three notes: C-E-G. It is the result of stacking thirds on top of the note C (note that both C-E and E-G are intervals of a third). Because the chord is built on C, we call C the root of the chord. E is the third of the chord because it is separated from the root by a third. Similarly, we call G the fifth of the chord because we count five notes from C to G. The C major chord is a classic example of a triad: a chord in which each note is separated from the next by an interval of a third. The triadic chord is one of the fundamental building blocks of Western music harmony. Let's listen to the C major triadic chord played simultaneously, and then consecutively.

Non-adjacent Keys: Whole Steps

Two semitones make up a whole tone, also called a whole step . This is the smallest pitch difference betweennon-adjacentkeys. It is also known as a tone. Differentiating between half and whole steps is one of the most important aural skills one may acquire. Listen carefully and compare ascending and descending half and whole steps.

Diatonic Scale

Whenever individuals begin learning a musical instrument, they generally start with the C major scale, which is a diatonic scale beginning on the note C and continuing with each successive letter-name note up to the note B. These notes correspond to the solfège syllables with which you may already be familiar: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. The eighth note of the scale -- the second "do," or the second note C — is an octave above the starting pitch.

Jazz Soloists

Whether it's the horn player, pianist, bass player, or drummer, whoever is taking the solo has the spotlight. Since the days of Louis Armstrong, jazz has been a soloist's art. The measure of individual performers, or of groups and their performances, comes down to the merits of their solos. While crisp ensemble playing is admired, virtuoso solo playing is revered. The great jazz musicians possess extraordinary facility on their instruments, a keen mind and ear, a fertile imagination, and — most important of all — an individual voice. "Voice" in this sense refers to the sounds emanating from a player's instrument. Through his horn, the jazz musician expresses himself, conveying his personality and convictions. In his solos he finds the music to describe the experiences of his life and to affirm his personhood, his identity, and his very being. Watch and listen once again to the Arthur Goldstein Quartet, this time performing "Hour Changes," a 32-bar tune that uses the same chord changes as Gershwin's "I've Got Rhythm." After the initial chorus, we hear successive solo improvisations by the saxophonist, pianist, and bassist, each playing for one chorus. Following the individual solos, the saxophonist and pianist take turns trading fours with the drummer for one chorus; that is, soloists alternate turns every four measures. Finally, we hear the tune again to close out the piece.

The Chorus

Whether the tune is a 12-bar blues or a 32-bar song form (or some other length), playing through the chord changes — that is, playing through the tune one time — is referred to as a chorus . Each successive repetition of thechanges— that is, the complete chord progression of the form — is an additional chorus. Keep in mind, most jazz is instrumental music, not vocal. However, jazz instrumentalists will often take an existing song as the basis for their performance. In fact, much of the jazz repertoire is drawn from the American songbook; that is, the wealth of great songs written for Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1920s to around 1960. Many of these songs reside in the collective consciousness of American culture, all the more so because they have been thoroughly absorbed into the jazz repertoire to become known as "jazz standards." Body and Soul ♫ is just such a jazz standard. Listen now to the second chorus of the Billie Holiday recording of Body and Soul ♫. It consists of two different instrumental solos: Ben Webster, on tenor saxophone, improvises a lyrical new melody over the first 16 bars. Harry "Sweets" Edison, playing muted trumpet, steps in to cover the bridge . Webster returns for the final eight bars to close out the chorus. As you listen, see if you can identify the sound of these two instruments, the tenor saxophone and the trumpet.

Jazz Performance

Within the first ten years of its recorded history, jazz evolved from an art of collective improvisation into a virtuoso soloist's art. Louis Armstrong, the first great jazz musician, was key in ushering in this important stylistic change. Most jazz pieces that we hear feature one prominent soloist at a time during their improvisatory sections. With the exception of the Big Band era, most professional jazz is performed in smaller combos of four to seven musicians. (Trios are also not uncommon.) Since the mid-1940s, the instruments in jazz combos have tended to consist of piano, bass, drums, and one or more "horns." In jazz parlance, a horn is any instrument sounded by blowing though it — that is, any brass or woodwind. These are the instruments that constitute thefront lineof a jazz combo, whether singly or in combination. Normally, they are the instruments that play the tunes and do most of the soloing in jazz. Since the advent of the modern jazz era in the early 1940s, jazz combos have tended to use a standard pattern in performance: The group plays the first chorus using the original tune. After the first chorus, each successive chorus features a soloist improvising a new melody over the changes. During the final chorus, the original tune typically returns to close the piece. In this way, jazz performers can take their turns in the spotlight as soloists, improvise new melodies, try out new ideas, and probe the depths of their own creativity as jazz musicians — composing and performing simultaneously. Sometimes with a 12-bar blues progression, the tune is played twice at the beginning and end of the performance, particularly if the tempo is fast. This is the case with the Dan Yoder Quartet's performance of "Hungry Cat Blues." The tune is played twice before three of the musicians take turns improvising.

Rhythm

You may already have a good idea of what rhythm is — it's the way music moves and grooves. To convey a more formal definition of rhythm, let's familiarize ourselves with a few concepts: The beat is the pulse we feel in the music. Tempo refers to the speed of the beat, i.e., how fast the beats pass. A note is an actual musical sound, consisting of pitch but also duration (i.e., how long the note is sounded).