Jazz Music Terms Everyone Should Know

Jazz is a wonderful, complex and varied genre of music. To truly appreciate it, it helps to know some of the key terms used by musicians. Here are eight essential jazz terms everyone should know.

Introduction

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was developed from roots in blues and ragtime, and features improvisation, swing, and call-and-response. Jazz has been described as “the sound of surprise”, and it has influenced many other genres of music, including rock, pop, hip hop, and classical.

There are many terms used to describe jazz music, and some of them can be confusing to those who are new to the genre. In this article, we’ll explain some of the most common jazz terms you’re likely to come across.

Jazz Music Terms Everyone Should Know:

Avant-garde: A term used to describe a style of jazz that is experimental or innovative.

Bebop: A style of jazz that developed in the 1940s, characterized by fast tempos, complex harmony, and improvisation.

Big band: A large ensemble featuring brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, typically playing arranged pieces.

Blue note: A note that is played slightly off-key to create a feeling of melancholy or sadness.

Boogie-woogie: A style of piano blues characterized by a repeating bass pattern and dense chordal textures.

Brass: The section of a big band or orchestra that includes trumpets, trombones, and French horns.

Chorus: The main melody or theme of a piece of music. Also refers to the section of an improvisation where the soloist plays the melody.
Bop: see Bebop

Break: see Solo break

Bridge: The section of a piece of music that comes after the chorus and leads back to the chorus or main theme. Also known as the “middle eight”. Call-and-response: A musical form often used in jazz (and other genres) whereby one instrument or vocalist “calls” by playing/singing a phrase, and another “responds” by playing/singing a phrase in response. Chorus: see also Main melody

Comping: Accompanying a soloist on chord changes using chords – often played on guitar or piano – rather than single notes (see also Single note comping). Contrafact : A contrafact is a new melody written over an existing harmonic structure – usually the chord progression from another tune (for example All Blues is based on the chord progression from I Got Rhythm).

Cool jazz : A style of jazz that developed in the 1950s as an alternative to bebop , characterized by relaxed tempos , light textures , and articulate phrasing .

Cut time : Cut time is simply 2/2 time (four beats per measure) played at twice the original tempo . This gives an overall feel like 4/4 time played at half speed . It’s sometimes indicated with “ C” instead of “ 2/2” .

Cymbal : The cymbal is a percussion instrument made from two metal plates which are struck together . Cymbals are often used for accents or for creating sustained sounds .

The Different Types of Jazz

Jazz is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jazz is characterized by syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, and improvisation. There are many different types of jazz, such as bebop, hard bop, and free jazz.

Bebop

Bebop was a reaction to the big band music of the 1930s and 1940s. Bebop bands were small, usually consisting of five musicians or fewer. The leader of a bebop band was typically the saxophonist or trumpet player, who also served as the primary soloist. The other instruments in a bebop band were the piano, bass, and drums.

Bebop emphasizedcomplex harmonic structures and fast tempos. Bebop musicians often employed “breaks” in their solos, during which they would play rapid runs of notes that departed from the melody. These breaks were usually based on the chords being played by the rest of the band.

Bebop was developed by African American musicians in New York City during the 1940s. Many prominent bebop musicians, such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, were also pioneers of a related style known as “hard bop.”

Cool Jazz

Cool jazz is a subgenre of jazz that emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It is characterized by a relaxed, mellow sound and an emphasis on complex harmonies and sophisticated melodies. Cool jazz often features a light, airy touch and a use of space that gives the music a sense of openness.

Some of the most famous cool jazz musicians include Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, and Bill Evans. Cool jazz has had a significant influence on later styles of jazz, such as post-bop and smooth jazz.

Hard Bop

One of the most popular and influential genres of jazz, Hard Bop is a term used to describe a style that emerged in the mid-1950s. It’s a direct response to BeBop, characterized by a return to more conventional harmonies and rhythms. Musicians associated with Hard Bop include Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and Sonny Rollins.

Modal Jazz

Derived from “modes,” modal jazz is based on improvisation over static chord changes. This type of jazz became popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” being one of the most famous examples.

Free Jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s. It takes the approach of breaking down the barriers between different genres of music, and emphasizes improvisation and personal expression over traditional song structure. Free jazz is often considered to be a more experimental and avant-garde style of music, and while it has gained a small following over the years, it remains fairly niche.

The Different Jazz Instruments

Jazz is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime.

Piano

The piano is one of the most important instruments in jazz. It’s used to provide the basic harmonic foundation (or “chords”) that the other instruments solo over. The piano is also used to play melodic lines and countermelodies, and it can offer a solo performance all on its own.

Pianists need to have a strong understanding of chord progressions, as well as a good sense of rhythm and timing. They also need to be able to improvise using the various scales and modes that are associated with each chord.

Pianists who want to play jazz should be familiar with some of the following styles:

– stride piano
– boogie-woogie
– blues piano
– gospel piano
– modal jazz

Guitar

Guitar is a stringed instrument that is usually played with the fingers or a pick. Guitars can be acoustic or electric, and they are used in a wide variety of music genres, including jazz.

Acoustic guitars have a hollow body that amplifies the sound of the strings when they are plucked or strummed. Electric guitars have a solid body and require an amplifier to be heard.

Guitars can be played solo or in ensemble settings. In jazz, guitars are often used in combo settings with other instruments such as drums, bass, and horns.

Bass

The bass is the lowest-pitched instrument in a jazz band. It provides the rhythmic pulse that drives the music forward and gives it its unique flavor. The most common type of bass is the acoustic bass, which is a large, hollow instrument that can be played with a bow or plucked with the fingers. Other types of basses include the electric bass and the double bass.

The bassist typically plays a walking bass line, which means that he or she improvises a continuous line of quarter notes that moves up and down in stepwise fashion. This line provides the foundation for the rest of the band to solo over. In some cases, the bassist may also play more complex patterns known as progressions.

Drums

The drums are a vital part of every jazz band. Each drummer has their own unique style that they bring to the music. The most common type of drums used in jazz are the snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals.

The snare drum is the most important drum in a jazz band. It is used to keep the rhythm of the music and provides the “backbeat” that is so essential to jazz. The bass drum is used to keep time and provide a steady pulse for the other instruments to follow. Cymbals are used for accents and to add color to the sound of the drums.

Other percussion instruments that are sometimes used in jazz bands include tambourines, shakers, and triangles. These instruments add an extra level of excitement to the music and can be used to create special effects.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this quick tour of some important jazz music terms. If you’re interested in learning more, there are many excellent resources available online and in print. With a little exploration, you’ll be able to discover the wealth of knowledge that exists about this truly unique and gratifying genre of music.