What Type of Music Is Jazz?

Jazz is a type of music that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is characterized by a complex structure that includes improvisation, syncopation, and a swing rhythm.

Origins of Jazz

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a genre of music that is characterized by syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, and improvisation.

New Orleans

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz styles range from the tightly coiled, futuristic harmonic abstractions of bebop (a style that noticeably influenced many Western art music artists) to swinging, often highly improvised renditions of popular tunes (“Dixieland” or “New Orleans jazz”). In between these extremes are New Orleans–style brass bands, big bands, ragtime (and eventually early forms of rock music). The roots of jazz are firmly planted in the communion of West African musical traditions with those of Western Europe.

Ragtime

Ragtime is a type of music characterized by a strong rhythmic feel and a continuous flow of syncopated sound. It was popularized in the early 1900s and was particularly associated with the African American community.

The term ragtime comes from the fact that this type of music was often played on the rag, an old-fashioned name for a piano. Ragtime is usually considered to be the first type of jazz, and it laid the foundation for many of the musicians who went on to define this genre.

Ragtime is characterized by its use of syncopation, which is when two or more notes are played out of time with each other. This gives the music a choppy, staccato sound that is very different from the smooth, flowing melodies of classical music.

Ragtime was originally mostly used for solo piano performances, but it eventually began to be performed by bands and orchestras as well. One of the most famous ragtime bands was The Original Dixieland Jass Band, who recorded some of the earliest jazz records in history.

Ragtime has had a major influence on many different genres of music, including blues, gospel, and rock and roll. Many famous jazz musicians got their start playing ragtime, including Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, and Duke Ellington.

Blues

The blues is a fundamental element of jazz and has been present in the music since the genre’s inception. Jazz arose from a blend of African and European musical traditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The blues is a style of music that is indigenous to the African-American experience and was developed in the Deep South of the United States. It is characterized by a call-and-response pattern between a singer and an instrumentalist, as well as by a distinctive 12-bar chord progression. The blues has been a major influence on jazz since the genre’s beginnings.

Characteristics of Jazz

Jazz is a type of music that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jazz is characterized by syncopated rhythms, Polyrhythms, and improvised solos.

Improvisation

A key characteristic of jazz is improvisation, or the ability to spontaneously create melodies, harmonies, and rhythms while performing. This aspect of jazz is what sets it apart from other types of music, such as classical and rock.

In jazz, improvisation is not only tolerated, but encouraged. In fact, many jazz musicians consider improvisation to be the essence of the music. When improvising, a jazz musician will often take a melody (or “head”) and then spontaneously create new melodies and harmonies over the original melody. This can be done by adding embellishments such as grace notes or trills, or by completely transforming the melody into something new.

Rhythm is also important in jazz improvisation. Jazz musicians will often “swing” a rhythm, which means playing it with a slightly different timing than the original melody. This gives the music a more lively feel. Improvisation can also occur in the form of solos, where one musician will take the lead for a brief period of time before passing it back to the rest of the band.

Syncopation

One of the defining characteristics of Jazz is syncopation, which is the alternating of accents between strong and weak beats. This creates a more complex rhythm than what is found in traditional marches or classical pieces. One of the best ways to understand syncopation is to clap along with a Jazz piece and feel the accents that fall on the “off-beats” or weak beats.

Swing

Swing is the biggest contributor to what we know as jazz. This up-tempo style evolved from the New Orleans tradition in the 1920s and 1930s and was further developed in the big bands of the Swing Era. It’s characterized by a strong rhythm section (usually made up of a piano, double bass, and drums), lead melody instruments (trumpet, trombone, and clarinet), improvised soloing, and call-and-response vocals.

Types of Jazz

There are many types of jazz, each with their own unique history and sound. Here are just a few of the most common types of jazz:

Dixieland

Dixieland, also called Traditional Jazz, style of jazz originating in New Orleans around 1900 and subsequently developing in Chicago and New York City. Though its origins are in blues and Ragtime, Dixieland’s hallmark is a collective improvisation format, whereby themes are announced and then variations are played by different instruments in turn. In contrast with Swing-era big bands, which featured elaborately written arrangements, Dixieland depended on strong melodies that everyone could play. The best-known melody associated with the style is “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

The classic Dixieland band consisted (at minimum) of five players—clarinet or soprano saxophone, cornet, trombone, piano, and string bass or tuba—although larger ensembles also were common. The leading exponents of the style were Louis Armstrong on cornet (later trumpet) and Sidney Bechet on clarinet and soprano saxophone; other important innovators included Jelly Roll Morton on piano, Kid Ory on trombone, Sharkey Bonano on trumpet, Zutty Singleton on drums, Dave Tough on drums, Edward (“Kid”) Howard on trombone, Pops Foster on string bass (later tuba), Johnny Dodds on clarinet (later alto saxophone), Jimmy McPartland on cornet (later trumpet), Red Nichols on cornet (later trumpet), Muggsy Spanier
on trumpet, Mutt Carey on trumpet (later trombone), and Jack Teagarden
on trombone.

Bebop

Bebop is a style of jazz developed in the early and mid-1940s in the United States, which features songs characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody.

Cool Jazz

Cool jazz is a style of jazz music that emerged in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by a relaxed, smooth sound and is often associated with the West Coast of the United States.

Some of the most famous cool jazz musicians include Miles Davis, Chet Baker, and Dave Brubeck. Cool jazz reached its peak in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, but its influence can still be Heard in many modern jazz styles.

Fusion

In the 1970s, jazz began to splinter into different directions. One major development was fusion, a style that combined jazz with rock music. Another important direction was jazz-rock, which combined jazz improvisation with the dependable backbeats and amplified instruments of rock music.