![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
Music Information |
|
![]() |
Jazz: What In The Heck Is It?
All of us know what jazz is when we hear it, but trying to define it is a different matter. With so many variant styles, coming up with an accurate definition of jazz is difficult if not impossible. But I suppose that an article on jazz really ought to attempt to define the term "jazz." My Thorndike-Barnhart Dictionary defines jazz like this: *jazz (jaz), noun. 1. American music with the accents falling at unusual places; syncopated music. 2. Slang, liveliness - adj. of or like jazz: a jazz band. Besides not telling us very much, it is also obviously false. I think immediately of ballads played by jazz musicians, such as Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight and Bill Evan's Peace Piece, and countless other examples. They are based on neither syncopation nor liveliness; they are slow, extremely thoughtful, and the antithesis of "jazzy." Yet they are considered by both jazz musicians and jazz critics alike to be well within the mainstream of jazz. Let's try A New Dictionary of Music and see if we can get closer to the essence of jazz: *jazz, a term used at least from 1914 for a type of American popular music originating among blacks of New Orleans and taken over also by whites; also used generally for various types of dance music indebted to this (though purists reserve the term for such music as retains the original flavor and the original basis of improvisation.) The jazz idiom, characterized by certain syncopations over strongly reiterated rhythms, has influenced e.g. Lambert, Stravinsky, and Milhaud, as well as many American composers. That's better than the Thorndike-Barnhart definition, but it still leans heavily toward defining jazz in terms of rhythm alone: "characterized by certain syncopations over strongly reiterated rhythms." I think again of ballads, but also of much contemporary jazz which is not characterized by "certain syncopations,: such as the work of pianists Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. What then is jazz? If the general dictionaries and musical dictionaries can't satisfactorily answer the question, what hope is there for us? Ask a hundred jazz musicians what jazz is, and you'll get a hundred different answers (I know - I've asked at least a dozen and gotten as many different responses.) I would like to suggest that the answer may lie, not in music, but in semantics. I think it is entirely possible that we are lumping together widely disparate types of music, and labeling them all with the term "jazz," then wondering why we can't come up with a lexical definition of the term. Maybe we should abandon the word "jazz," and use terms such as "improvised fast syncopated music," or "improvised slow non-syncopated music." Maybe we should, but we won't. So we are stuck with the non-definable term "jazz." So let's not define jazz. We all know what it is, more or less. We would disagree mainly in the "grey" areas, such as ballads, some contemporary works, and so forth. But let's agree not to disagree, and just enjoy it. The following articles in this series will deal with the various styles we find in jazz, from ragtime to fusion. So stay tuned. Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His course on blues and jazz improvisation titled "How To Make Up Music As You Go Along: Improvising On The Piano!" is being used by musicians and pianists around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions! with over 57,400 current subscribers.
MORE RESOURCES: *NSYNC, Ed Sheeran, Jung Kook & More: What’s Your Favorite Music Release of the Week? Vote! Billboard Becky G proudly shows her roots in 'Esquinas,' inspired by regional Mexican music The Associated Press DIY music venue Black Lodge reopens in Seattle's South Lake Union The Seattle Times 10 Female Rock Stars Who Changed '80s Pop Music American Songwriter New Music Friday: The best releases out Sept. 29 Radio Milwaukee 5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right Now The New York Times Texas Music Office Announces Weatherford Designated Music ... Office of the Texas Governor U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken Launches Global Music ... Department of State Fall Concert Series Showcases Country Music Artist Gary Allan Texas A&M University Today Jeune Lio, the Cameroonian-born ‘music conductor’ charming the Ivory Coast Al Jazeera English The Resonant Beauty of Cold Blue Music bandcamp.com Do We Need Better Music Education? The New York Times Discovering Arabic music, harnessing Jewish piyutim - Israel Culture The Jerusalem Post Don't miss your chance to remember the 'Paramount Music Palace' WRTV Indianapolis Singer-songwriter Fisher makes a difference through his music Lewistown Sentinel Music of the Americas! Eight, Arizona PBS Randy Zinn: I Love That Music | | thedailycitizen.com Searcy Daily Citizen Michigan Music: Local Spins on WYCE, Sounds of the Zoo localspins.com Bay Chamber's Midday Music Series features musical theater ... PenBayPilot.com Midday Music - 9/29/23 WYSO Public Radio Floriani: Musical Missionaries for Sacred Music National Catholic Register October playlist: Music provides a fall experience that Bakersfield lacks The Bakersfield Californian What it's like working in the Tejano music industry NewsWest9.com 'Melissa Etheridge: My Window' Review: Musings on Life and Music The New York Times Music Series at Akin returns for 13th season MSU Texas News Scandinavian duo to present Danish folk music concert Sunday at ... Grand Forks Herald Supreme Court to Clarify Copyright Infringement Limits in Case Against Warner Music Hollywood Reporter How Atlanta United's DJ EU got his start Los Angeles Times Detroit's Tejano music legacy honored on emotional, festive day Detroit Free Press Here's what's going on in Lincoln's music scene, Sept. 29-Oct. 5 Lincoln Journal Star 7 Music Icons Who Left Us Too Soon American Songwriter RED Shares Music Video For 'Surrogates' From 'Rated R' Album BLABBERMOUTH.NET Country Music Legends Diamond Rio to Rock the Stage at Jasper ... Dubois County Free Press How Bono's daughter Eve Hewson tapped into her music instincts ... Entertainment Weekly News Top 5 Contemporary Pop Stars Shaping the Music Industry American Songwriter Music program at Evergreen High School cut back due to low ... Westside Seattle Riverside’s Village Concerts will present program of violin, clarinet and piano music The Press-Enterprise Review | Laurel Halo's ambient music deserves your undivided ... The Washington Post City of Austin gives tips as ACL Music Festival preps begin KEYE TV CBS Austin Northwest Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Music from Latin America’ family ... The Tukwila Blog Want to Enjoy Music More? Stop Streaming It. The New York Times Arthur Russell’s ‘City Park’: Reconstructed, Newly Performed The New York Times Asheville-based Moog Music confirms firings in statement Citizen Times Behind “Words, Music, Memory: (Re) Presenting Voices of the ... The Oberlin Review Bravo to JPS Music Boosters for $48K donation Jamestown Sun Music Tonight: Saturday, Sept. 30 | A+E North Coast Journal Backtracking: The early years: A music club pre-dates Norwich ... Oneonta Daily Star For Alijah Clark, Music is an Outlet Sports Illustrated |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
Shopping For Your First Drum Set Your first drum set purchase is very exciting! You have probably waited a long time to buy your first drumset and have thought a lot about it. Even though it is exciting, it is important to be patient and do your research before you buy a drum set. Top 50 Music Quotations Discover the phenomenonal complexity of music and reflect on the way it can positively influence your life with this sound collection of riveting quotes.. Reaching For The Soul Zone Every searching artist wants to get there. It's that magical place where something takes over, you know, when something bigger than you whispers in your ear and says "Relax - I'll take it from here!"I like to call it the 'soul zone', others simply call it the 'zone', I'm sure there are many other names for it. A Dying Cat And A Nylon String Guitar "Music isn't just learning notes and playing them, you learn notes to play to the music of your soul" - Katie Greenwood.Why are you learning music anyway? Is it to pick up chicks? Is it to fulfill a void in your mundane life? Is it an indescribable calling?I always wanted to learn the drums. The Secrets of Correctly Stringing Your Guitar Why do you care about stringing your guitar you may ask. Well the reason is simple. Common Thoughts That Kill Inspiration Do you sit down at the piano and feel anxiety or peace? Are you anxious to begin creating or does the thought of being at your instrument bring you a sense of well being? It all begins with what you're telling yourself. If you think that what you are doing is not good enough, it's sure to kill off that quiet little motor of inspiration. Piano Music, Perfectionism, and Self-Expression Is your heart in the music? If so, it won't matter what you play so much as what is received through your playing. Do you still think you need to learn 43 chords to sound good or are you concerned with the joy of expressing yourself through this wonderful instrument called the piano? People who sound like they know what they are doing may indeed know what they are doing but does that mean you want to listen to the music?Let's look at pop music for example. One Way to Improve Your Music Journalist Relationship Boy, I really detest how some people do websites. Bands are some of the worst. How to Be in the Moment when Playing Piano Your best music will always come when you are in the moment and just playing the piano. Why is this? Because you have forgotten about trying to make music. How To Make a Fortune Teaching Piano (or Guitar, or Drums, or Singing, or?) To Beginners "But I'm not in it for the money" you say.Me neither. Your First Guitar Congratulations, you just bought you first guitar! Now that you've met the love of your life and made that big commitment, you're probably excited about building a good relationship with your new partner. But where do you begin? You've just come home from the music store with this beautiful, mysterious stranger, or perhaps even rescued an abandoned orphan from the flee market or pawn shop. Creating Your Own Unique Music Have you ever dreamed of penning your own compositions? Writing music has been a dream of mine for the longest time. And it's a dream I am fortunate enough to have realized. Are iPods Changing the Way We Listen to Music They're everywhere, and not only are they everywhere, they look cool too. Since its launch in 2001, 10 million have sold and 8 million of those were in 2004. How To Play The Violin This article gives the essential basics for how to play the violin. Generally violins are quite commonly available instruments and it is reasonably easy to rent or buy a violin. Mp3s - The Future of Music? Mp3 music is audio that has been digitally encoded and compressed to make the amount of data smaller without compromising the overall sound quality. It's a revolutionary technique with incredibly good results; mp3 music is frequently indistinguishable from music found on a CD (though some audiophiles with very sensitive ears dispute that statement). Writing Hit Songs There are a lot of factors to writing a hit song. First, you should focus on writing a good song. Facts about Betty Kresin, Eminems grandmother Betty Kresin, Eminem's grandmother from the maternal side , got married at the age of 14. She got six children from 3 different marriages. Say Something The music of Rush influences and inspires, at least that's what it's done for me over the past 25 years. Now, the question is, is the music that powerful, or am I just too easy to inspire? Both I guess. Jazz: What In The Heck Is It? All of us know what jazz is when we hear it, but trying to define it is a different matter. With so many variant styles, coming up with an accurate definition of jazz is difficult if not impossible. Play Piano in the New Age Style It's not what you play, it's how you play it. These words summarize the art of piano playing in general and New Age piano playing in particular. ![]() |
home | site map |
© 2006 |