Final Exam Flashcards
Timbre
quality of sound or “tone/color” of sound
Timbre variation
you can take almost any instrument and mess with the sound; expressive changes in timbre
rhythm section
harmony, bass, and percussion (usually)
rubato
stretching of time for expression, having trouble determining where the piece ends, kind of just keeps going
downbeat
where you begin counting “one”
measure/bar
the space from downbeat to downbeat
meter
patterns of pulses
rhythmic contrast
a basic african-american rhythmic element, also known as polyrhythm
polyrhythm
always has two contrasting rhythmic layers happening simultaneously
layers in polyrhythm
foundation layer: keeps time, stable, not usually improvised
variable layer: constantly changing and improvised
dropping bombs
big accent booms of bass drum in unpredictable places
genres of african folk music
work song, spiritual, ballad, field holler (&blues), call and response
variable intonation
ex: blue notes
the “father of blues”
W. C. Handy
countrified blues
male singer with a guitar
classic or vaudeville blues
female singer on stage with a small jazz band
race records
recordings for the new urban black market c. 1920’s
who is credited for discovering blues?
Ma Rainey
powerful vaudeville and blues singer in the 1920’s
Bessie Smith
pitch
frequency of a note
tonality
scales’ center of gravity that they are working towards
diatonic scale
seven-note scale, simpler more “ordinary” scale, gives very non-western sound
pentatonic
five note scale that sounds much simpler (ex: black keys on piano), “folksy, simple sound”
chromatic scale
twelve notes, all half steps, more complicated and sounds more sly and forlorn
blue notes
a form of variable intonation, a way of bending/sliding pitches for expressive pitches
riff
a short, catchy melodic idea like a hook that is usually repeated
call and response
sometimes improvised but sometimes composed, continuous dialogue or interaction between instruments
tonic chord
chord that starts on note “1,” stable and good sounding
dominant chord
chord that starts on note “5”
basic extended chord
7th chord
harmonic progression
saying the music progresses through time and the chords are what progress it (“changes”). Each harmonic progression has a center of gravity
dissonance
unpleasant and unstable sounds that makes you want to move the music to new notes; moves you away from the tonic
cadences
different resting places that serve as sort of punctuation marks
chromatic harmony
based on chromatic scale, complex, dissonant, adds tension
modulation
change of key
atonal music
music with no tonal center, sounds dissonant but the dissonance is irrelevant
ragtime piano
based on improvisation but spread by composition, gives rhythmic contrast with left hand doing foundation layer and right hand doing variable layer, played in march form
Scott Joplin
ragtime composer, music was entirely notated
the only large city in the south
New Orleans
what made New Orleans different and good for jazz
had Riverport, which provided a gateway to the Caribbean or “sugar islands” (major port for french america)
important african element of new orleans
Congo Square
difference in racial caste systems
in the rest of the US: “one drop of blood” rule, if you have even the littlest of black heritage, you’re black
in NO: there are castes with different degrees of blackness
important caste of NO
Creoles of Color/mulattos, who have their own culture and form a unique artisan class of skilled trained workers (like musicians)
T/F: the black population in New Orleans in growing in the early 1900’s
True
plessy vs. ferguson
court case that wore down black privelage
Buddy Bolden
“the first jazz musician” and first jazz celebrity, cornet player, no recordings of him
jazz celebrity who was locked up as a schizophrenic
Buddy Bolden
New Orleans style jazz
strong influence from marching bands, contains a “frontline” with a rhythm section, small band groups
texture/structure and form of New Orleans jazz
collective improvisation and block chord harmony; either in 12-bar blues form or march/ragtime NOT AABA
jazz slowly replaces ______ in new orleans
ragtime
Why did music leave new orleans?
Great migration; music moving north (ex: chicago)
Joe “King” Oliver
cornet player, famous for using mutes to vary timbre, takes over Creole Jazz Band in 1922
harmonic improvisation
using notes from underlying chord progression
melodic paraphrase
varying a preexisting melody
Sidney Bechet
clarinet and soprano saxophone player, from prominent creole family, spent lots of time in Europe & overseas, good at changing timbre and improvising
Jelly Roll Morton
pianist and composer/song writer, wanted to break away from creole heritage so changed name, known for being a pool shark, hustler, and pimp
who was considered the first jazz composer
Jelly Roll Morton (found balance between improv and composition)
Jelly Roll Morton’s band
Red Hot Peppers
1917-1920’s New York
start getting vaudeville and recordings which begin to reach the mainstream and middle class
father of symphonic jazz
Paul Whiteman (violist)
Paul Whiteman
violist from colorado, puts on famous concert in NYC, brings in Bing Crosby as a vocalist
Fletcher Henderson
pianist and bandleader/arranger, considered a “black Paul Whiteman,” graduated from Atlanta University with a degree in Chemistry
known as the ‘black capital of the world’
Harlem
Harlem Renaissance
growth in the black arts. “Official Art” was considered poets, painters, novelists, classical music
specialty in Harlem
nightlife that were black clubs with black musicians and performers that catered to white trade
Duke Ellington
pianist and composer, from a “fiercely proud black community,” dance bandleader, plays at Cotton Club
Duke Ellington’s music
mix between “high class” with orchestral sound and “low class” with African roots and folk qualities that appealed to black people
Known for playing with timbre and using growls, snarls, and mutes in his compositions
Duke Ellington
the father of stride piano
James P. Johnson
person who is a big influence on Duke Ellington
Bubber Miley (cornet player)
Eubie Blake
stride piano player
known as the first soloist in jazz
Louis Armstrong
Mentor to Louis Armstrong
Joe “king” Oliver
pianist who marries Louis Armstrong
Lil Hardin
where Louis Armstrong originally learned music
reform school, where he was sent after firing a pistol
Louis Armstrong’s music career progression
Starts with King Oliver, but moves to work with Fletcher Henderson in NYC as a “hot soloist” within dance-band arrangements
Why was Louis Armstrong seen as the hero of the great migration?
○ Gives urbane, northern sophistication in music; but gives southern “downhome” authenticity and makes people feel comfortable
Louis Armstrong’s group
Hot Five (later the Hot Seven), played in cabaret style with a star soloist
male known for using scat singing
Louis Armstrong
Earl Hines
stride pianist that played with Louis Armstrong, extremely experimental and bizarre & eccentric & risky
Coleman Hawkins
tenor saxophonist and soloist that works with Earl Hines and Louis Armstrong
Bix Beiderbecke
White cornet player, learns jazz from recordings, “drops out” of white world to go play music
Frankie Trumbauer
White saxophone player
White swing generation musicians
Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw
Louis Armstrong’s later career
becomes involved in bigger bands, considered a hero to the black community, starts to embrace black stereotypes but begins to lose black audiences b/c he starts to be found as “old fashioned,” moves back to new orleans style jazz
Swing band structure
bigger band (12-16 people), more structured than jazz, more on the beat, less improv with more notation, more integral to pop culture than new orleans jazz bands
swing band music sections
wind: saxophones, trumpets, trombones
rhythm: piano, drums, banjo, tuba
trademark of swing music
dance music, flashy solos, more polished and sophistocated
Benny Goodman
clarinet player, helps make swing a big fad, has a large band and hires black arrangers and makes his music sound black
Musician who plays a revolutionary jazz/swing concert in Carnegie Hall
Benny Goodman, leads to thinking of jazz as “art music”
John Hammond
entrepreneur, activist, helps with fighting racism and injustice, promoted black music
Post-bop
rhythm section getting looser, playing outside
post-bop band leaders
Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Miles Davis
Bill Evans
white piano player, quintessential modern pianist, rethought how harmony was used in jazz
John Coltrane
tenor saxophonist for r&b groups like Dizzy Gillespie band, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis Quintet; struggled with drug addiction, incessant practicing, formed a quartet
John Coltrane’s aesthetic
serious, spiritual, and followed by many musicians, used harmonic improvisation
origin of the phrase “Avant Garde”
french for “advanced guard,” meaning sending troops out into new territory
Avant-garde’s goal
not being stuck in tradition, creating something new, modernism, rethinking tradition, abstract, “free jazz”
the two strains of Avant-garde music
bebop and cool jazz
avant-garde form
rhythm section disappears, very open & democratic with very little steady beat, no reliance on chords or scales, lots of noisy timbres like squeaks and squawks, using all different types of instruments
Avant-garde presentation
not for entertainment, to be considered “serious” and enjoyed in its totality and not as background music
Ornette Coleman
alto saxophonist and composer, called the “most disruptive figure in jazz,”bebop musician, very weird mix between joking and serious
Cecil Taylor
pianist and composer, virtuosic & intellectual, has classical training and knows a lot about modern avant garde in europe
Sun Ra
“here to give people wisdom from the galaxies,” black nationalism through intergalactic imagination, avant garde improvisation
collectives
groups that have gathered for political and cultural purposes
examples of collectives
AACM (association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), BAG (Black Artists Group)
Loft jazz
“the eternal avant garde,” idea comes from factories/lofts in NYC that have shut down where people gather to live and perform in their own ways
Fusion jazz
between jazz, rock, and pop, focuses on popular culture, dance music
history of fusion jazz
new orleans (functional music, dancing), swing (pop song & dance/mass entertainment), and bebop (modernism)
Where did traditional jazz and pop go during fusion jazz?
rhythm & blues (originally dubbed “race music”), focuses on urban, affluent, vibrant black populations
what does rhythm and blues eventually turn into?
rock n’ roll
what is a popular subgenre of rock n’ roll?
soul
jump music
up-tempo swing + vocals (ex: Nat King Cole trio)
soul jazz
offshoot of bebop, “keeping up with black pop,” commercially similar to pop, more syncopated bass line not on the beat, considered “funky,” gospel harmonies with ethnic themes
what were some important instrument inventions during fusion jazz?
electric piano and Hammond B-3 organ (doesn’t have pipes attached to the walls, moved from the black church to the nightclub)
organ trio
organ + guitar + drums
popular soul/fusion jazz pianist
Jimmy Smith
during soul jazz, what happens to jazz and pop?
lots of singers appear and break off from big bands and dominant pop music, becoming very famous, don’t write their own songs
swing era singers
becoming pop icons; rosemary clooney, nat king cole, frank sinatra. sarah vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
bebop jazz singer, worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, recorded first version of Night In Tunisia
images of jazz on tv/film
comic symbol of “beatnik” culture, representative of crime, drugs, violence, sultry women, and urban decay
latin jazz
more percussive, different kind of dance beat, interesting to Dizzy Gillespie
cubop
fusion of jazz + afro-cuban music
salsa
new dance music in 1950’s-60’s, jazz brass/saxes, intense polyrhythm, timbales and congas
Eddie Palmieri
salsa bandleader
brazilian jazz
stems from cuban revolution, includes bosa nova (sweeps US in early 1960’s)
what does 1960’s fusion eventually become?
(Jazz) Rock
Rock
gives a more steady pulse, vocalists, electronic instruments, appeals to younger audience, limited audience
jazz in relation to rock
jazz is on the defensive bc more people are liking rock more thas jazz and they can’t beat rock, but also rock on the attack bc forms rock groups with improvisation and jazz instruments
instruments used in rock
electric guitars, effects (wa-wa pedal), keyboards, synthesizers
types of rock
jazzy rock, improvisational rock, virtuosic rock
prime example of virtuosic rock
Jimi Hendrix
prime example of soul music
James Brown
what jazz elements does soul use
saxes and other jazz instruments, extended chords and modes, rhythmic layers (polyrhythm), improvisation
Miles Davis and fusion
experimenting with youth fashion and rock music, opening up to a new audience, discards solos, more layers with more things going on, layered funk texture
Chick Corea
piano/keyboard player, plays with Miles Davis
Herbie Hancock
important funk-fusion person, inspired by Sly Stone and James Brown
Pat Metheny
guitar player, known for doing virtuoso solos
Keith Jarett
musical piano prodigy, only does acoustic music, very weird and idiosyncratic and annoying and eccentric
Oregon
acoustic-fusion group
“New Fusion”
jazz + rhythm & blues
Grover Washington Jr
fusion saxophonist
smooth jazz
created to fit in with the radio bc of limited playtime and upbeat mood
the king of smooth jazz
Kenny G
Jam bands
“different” from ordinary rock bc closer to jazz than rock, performance based, not recording bassed, non-commerical, committed audiences, sometimes dont have vocalists
Acid Jazz
term invente by DJ’s in Britain in 1980’s
Robert Glasper
mixed jazz with modern r&b and pop
historicist jazz
links jazz to the past, trying to keep older music alive
mainstream jazz
between modern (bebop) and ancient (new orleans)
Herman Leonard
photographer known for using black & white, lighting, and smoke to create visual jazz myths
Martin Williams
UVA grad, fascinated with jazz, went on to do journalism in NYC
Marian McPartland
piano jazz, had a radio show and invited other pianists to talk and play with her
historicism
how musicians use history in their music, begins with avant garde in 1970’s and picks apart conventions
Dexter Gordon
returned from Denmark and made best selling album “Homecoming”
Wynton Marsallis
trumpet player, born to a musical family, trained by juilliard, known for funk, jazz, and speaking
Harry Connick Jr
newer pop, singer w/ sinatra style
