Lesson 1: Introduction

Jazz Introduction

As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth century, a new form of music was developing in North America: jazz. It has been called “America’s classical music.” The U.S. Congress passed a bill in 1987 stating that 'jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated.' The impact and influence of jazz music, not only on music in general, but also on society, was a great one. In this unit, we will consider this form of music and its development in the first part of the twentieth century.

“Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.”
-Art Blakely

Up until now, we’ve discussed the development of Western classical music. You may be thinking that jazz seems a little out of place with the classical music that we have been discussing. However, classical music was one of the influences on the development of jazz. In fact, some scholars have argued that jazz is really American classical music.

What Is Jazz?

One of the problems with defining jazz music is that jazz has so many different subtypes. The innovative nature of jazz has meant that over the last 100 years or so, many different types of jazz have developed. In fact, scholars have identified at least two dozen different subgenres of jazz. Jazz also incorporates elements of many other types of music, including the blues, rock, and forms of Latin music. Thus, putting a single definition on all of these different types and still managing to capture the essence of jazz music is difficult. In fact, jazz almost defies a precise definition because there are so many variations.

When trying to define jazz, most musical scholars will agree on three aspects. First, jazz originated around the turn of the twentieth century in the United States. Second, jazz was created mainly by African Americans. Finally, jazz incorporates elements of both European and African music. Beyond those three aspects, however, definitions differ, and placing one definition on all of the different types of jazz is almost impossible. Perhaps the issue is best summed up by the jazz great Louis Armstrong: “If you don’t know, don’t mess with it.”

Many forms of jazz feature key elements, however. One aspect is that jazz is a style of playing a piece of music. Jazz players can take almost any melody and make it sound like jazz. This is done by “putting a feeling of triplets behind the basic beat.” Most music uses a straight eighth note beat or feel. You can see a bit of the difference in these beats if you tap your foot and add two claps for every foot tap. This approximates the standard eighth note feel. Now, instead of two claps, use three claps for every foot tap. This approximates the jazz triplet beat feel. This triplet beat feel is said to “swing” the melody, and you may notice that it creates a looser feel to the rhythm of the music. Jazz musicians often use this triplet beat feel with the melodies that they play, enabling them to change many traditional melodies into jazz melodies. Changing a melody to a jazz melody is known as jazz interpretation.

Another key feature in jazz music is improvisation. Improvisation is the act of creating music in the moment by responding to aspects such as the music of others playing, the atmosphere, the musician’s inner feelings, and so on. Improvisation is found in many of the subgenres of jazz, but it is also found in other types of music as well. There are many musicians in other genres (such as the blues, rock, and classical music) who also improvise while performing or playing. However, it can be said that most jazz music incorporates this element. Some argue that improvisation is really what makes jazz, jazz. It is also one of the most difficult elements for jazz musicians to master. Those musicians who master improvisation and do it well are those who often rise to fame and are considered great jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, who we’ll learn about later in the unit.

Jazz music also tends to use a syncopated rhythm. Syncopation is placing emphasis or accents on beats that are unexpected, or, alternatively, it can mean not having emphasis or accents on beats that are expected. A syncopated rhythm tends to add a great deal of variety and “life” to music. To get a feel for syncopation, try clapping out a regular, even eighth note rhythm with your hands (One, Two, Three, Four). Now place emphasis on some of the notes (ONE, two, THREE, four). This is an expected emphasis on the first part of the note that we see in a lot of music. For a syncopated rhythm, try moving the emphasis to unexpected beats (ONE, two, three, FOUR) and see how the feeling of the music changes. Keep moving around the emphasis on the beats (you can also increase the speed of the rhythm) to get a sense of some of the different ways that syncopation can change a piece of music.

As noted above, the many forms of jazz may feature a range of different elements, and there are other forms of music that use these three aspects. However, these features tend to be found within most jazz music, even when that music incorporates other elements.