Gill-+Blues+and+Early+Jazz

= Blues and Early Jazz =

=__Origins of Jazz__ = The influences and origins of Jazz date back to the early 19th century. The slave trade was booming at this time and approximately half a million Africans had been brought to the United States. The slaves brought with them from Africa strong musical influences. The use of African music was mainly for functional purposes, like work songs and field hollers which could often be heard on plantations. These work songs often contained single-line melodies, call and response patterns and the notes used were often that of pentatonic scales, and these are all basic components of jazz music. Click here to listen to a clip of an African work song: media type="file" key="african work song.wav" width="210" height="35" After slavery was abolished in the late 19th century, African Americans found it very difficult to find work in most industries, except for the entertainment industries. According to Mervyn Cooke’s //Jazz//, black musicians provided lower class entertainment for dances, minstrel shows, bars, clubs and brothels and that one of the stepping stones for jazz, ragtime, was developed in these locations. Ragtime was mainly written in sheet music for the piano. It combined syncopation with the classic call-and-response style used commonly by the slaves. Scott Joplin was one of the more famous ragtime composers with famous songs such as //Maple Leaf Rag// and //the Entertainer.//

New Orleans is often considered to be the birthplace of Jazz. Players in the bars took instruments often used in marching bands and they became the primary instruments of jazz music. The bands were generally small and composed of self-taught, African American musicians and would travel through the south, spreading the jazz. Some famous jazz musicians such as cornetist Buddy Bolden and pianist Jelly Roll Morton (who wrote the first jazz arraignment in print) started their careers in the clubs of New Orleans.

__Fundamentals of Jazz__ There are said to be four primary elements of jazz: melody, harmony, timbre and expression. All music is made up of these elements but depending on the style of the music, the elements are used differently.

__**1) Melody**__ The melody of a jazz piece is usually the most identifiable element of the composition. In general, jazz performances last around 10 minutes, and you will hear the original melody numerous times. This original melody is called the “theme” or the “head” and it is played generally once or twice and the beginning and end of the piece. Its purpose is mainly to aid the listener in identifying the piece being played and to “establish a context for the improvisations”. Improvisation on a melody is a key concept when playing jazz. Sometimes referred to as “taking a solo”, an improvised melody “may be a single variation on the original theme. In this case, the composed melody itself serves directly as a basis for improvisation”. Look and listen to the two exerts below. The first one is the original melody and the second is an improvisation on the melody. media type="file" key="original melody.wav" width="432" height="36" media type="file" key="improvisation melody.wav" width="408" height="34"

Harmonies in jazz are used to create layers in the music that form a richer sound. “Instead of using chords of three or four notes, chords used by jazz musicians often contain five or six different notes, some of which may be considered dissonant at first by ears accustomed to pop or classical music”. The example below shows a chord progression as written in most music, and a chord progression as written in jazz music.
 * __2) Harmony__**

Dissonances in chords that are used in jazz derive from adding the blues notes on top of the regular seventh chords.

__**3) Rhythm**__ Syncopation in jazz was very much influenced by the ragtime piano which most jazz originated from. Syncopation is used to, in a sense, create a rhythmic surprise. This “surprise” is created through accenting certain notes to create an unexpected emphasis on certain notes. These accents do not tend to fall on the beat, but rather in between beats, and are not done regularly or in even intervals. Early jazz often had strong accents on bets one and three however as the years progressed the emphasis changed. The first image below is an example of syncopation in early jazz, and the second is an example of syncopation in modern jazz. While swinging eights notes and swing rhythm was and is a popular rhythmic style of jazz, it was not developed until later on in the history of jazz, in a time referred to as the "Swing Era". When it comes to expression in jazz a lot of it has to do with the interpretation of the melody. Musicians have the ability to interpret the tempo, dynamics articulation, note pitches and rhythms to create a song that is whatever they wish. Take for example the eight bars below. Listen to the first clip and then the second clip. The first clip is the melody played exactly as it is seen, and the second is a possible interpretation by a jazz musician. media type="file" key="exerpt 1 straight.wav" width="432" height="36" media type="file" key="exerpt 1 expression.wav" width="432" height="36"
 * __4) Expression__**

=Sources: = ="A Jazz Improvisation Almanac." //The Outside Shore // . Web. 27 Apr. 2010. . <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;">**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">Cooke, Mervyn. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Jazz // <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999. Print. ** David, Ron, and Vanessa Holley. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Jazz for Beginners // <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">. New York, NY: Writers and Readers, 1999. Print. =