Midterm 1

Question 0

The simultaneous use of contrasting rhythms; also known as rhythmic contrast.

Answer 0

Polyrhythm

Question 1

The quality of sound, as a distinct pitch; also known as tone color.

Answer 1

Timbre

Question 2

Continuous, unchanging patterns whose very repetition provides a framework for a musical piece.

Answer 2

Foundation Layers

Question 3

Contrasting parts played above the foundation layers in a piece.

Answer 3

Variable Layers

Question 4

1. Jazz from the period 1935-1945, usually known as the Swing Era; 2. A jazz specific feeling created by rhythmic contrast within a particular rhythmic framework. (Usually involving a walking bass and a steady rhythm on the drummer’s ride cymbal.)

Answer 4

Swing

Question 5

A general term for the overall rhythmic framework of a performance. Includes swing, funk, ballad, and Latin.

Answer 5

Groove

Question 6

The organization of recurring pulses into patterns. Duple 1-2, triple 1-2-3, irregular 1-2-3/1-2

Answer 6

Meters

Question 7

The speed of a piece of music.

Answer 7

Tempo

Question 8

The preconceived structures that govern improvisation in jazz. These may include cycles of various kinds, popular song (like AABA), or compositional forms such as march/ragtime.

Answer 8

Form

Question 9

Wind instruments, some of which are made of brass, use a cup-like mouthpiece to create the sound.

Answer 9

Brass instruments

Question 10

Wind instruments whose mouthpieces are inserted between the lips, blowing air through a thin passage way with a limber reed.

Answer 10

Reed instruments

Question 11

Instruments that provide accompaniment for jazz soloing: harmony instruments such as piano, guitar, bass, tuba, or percussion.

Answer 11

Rhythm section

Question 12

A texture featuring one melody supported by harmonic accompaniment.

Answer 12

Homophonic texture

Question 13

A texture in which two or more melodies of equal interest are played at the same time.

Answer 13

Polyphonic Texture

Question 14

A texture featuring one melody with no accompaniment. Uses of break and stop-time.

Answer 14

Monophonic Texture

Question 15

A composed section of music that frames a small-combo performance, appearing at the beginning and again at the end.

Answer 15

Head

Question 16

1) A single statement of the harmonic and rhythmic jazz cycle defined by the musical form (12 bar blues, 32 bar popular song); 2) The repeated portion of a popular song, often introduced by its verse.

Answer 16

Chorus

Question 17

A standard song form, usually divided into shorter sections, such as AABA (each section 8 bars long) or AA (each section 16 bars long).

Answer 17

32 Bar Song Form

Question 18

A twelve bar cycle used as a framework for improvisation by jazz musicians.

Answer 18

12 Bar Blues Form

Question 19

The most common 32 bar popular song form, referring to melody and harmonic progression (but not text).
Each portion is 8 bars long, with B, the bridge, serving as the point of contrast.
A = statement, A = repetition, B = contrast, A = return.

Answer 19

AABA Form

Question 20

Second most common 32 bar popular song form, referring to melody and harmonic progression. Each portion 8 bars long, with the A section returning in the songs middle. Can also be considered AA’ form.

Answer 20

ABAC

Question 21

A short, catchy, and repeated melodic phrase.

Answer 21

Riffs

Question 22

A short melodic or rhythmic idea.

Answer 22

Motives

Question 23

A musical utterance that’s analogous to a sentence in speech.

Answer 23

Phrases

Question 24

Short melodic ideas that form a shared basic vocabulary for jazz improvisers.

Answer 24

Licks

Question 25

A preexisting melody used as the basis for improvisation.

Answer 25

Melodic Paraphrase

Question 26

A new melodic line created with notes drawn from the underlying harmonic progression; also known as running the changes.

Answer 26

Harmonic Improvisation

Question 27

The process of using a scale as the basis for improvisation.

Answer 27

Modal Improvisation

Question 28

A slow romantic popular song;

A long, early type of folk song that narrated a bit of history.

Answer 28

Ballad

Question 29

An unaccompanied, rhythmically loose vocal line sung by a field worker.

Answer 29

Field Holler

Question 30

African American religious song

Answer 30

Spirituals

Question 31

An early style of blues, first recorded in the 1920’s featuring itinerant male singers accompanying themselves on guitar.

Answer 31

Country Blues

Question 32

An early theatrical form of the blues featuring female singers, accompanied by a small band; also known as classic blues.

Answer 32

Vaudeville Blues

Question 33

A style of popular music in the early twentieth century that conveyed African American polyrhythm in notated form; includes popular song and dance, although it’s primarily known today through compositions written for the piano.

Answer 33

Ragtime

Question 34

A musical form exemplified by composers like John Philip Sousa, consisting of a series of sixteen-bar strains, usually repeated once and not brought back.

Answer 34

March Form

Question 35

The earliest jazz style, developed early in the twentieth century and popularized after 1917 in New York and Chicago; native to New Orleans, it features collective improvisation.

Answer 35

New Orleans Style

Question 36

Method of improvisation found in New Orleans Jazz in which several instruments in the front line improvise simultaneously in a dense, polyphonic texture.

Answer 36

Collective Improvisation

Question 37

Texture in which two or more melodies of equal interest are played at the same time.

Answer 37

Polyphony

Question 38

In New Orleans Jazz, the melody instruments: trumpet, trombone, and clarinet.

Answer 38

Front Line

Question 39

A form of jazz popular in the 1920’s that attempted to elevate the music through symphonic arrangements.

Answer 39

Symphonic Jazz

Question 40

A style of jazz piano relying on a left-hand accompaniment that alternates low bass notes with higher chords.

Answer 40

Stride Piano Style

Question 41

A style of jazz in the 1920’s that imitated the New Orleans style, combining expansive solos with polyphonic theme statements.

Answer 41

Chicago Style

Question 42

In the 1920’s and early 1930’s, dance bands that serviced an area defined by a days drive from an urban center.

Answer 42

Territory bands

Question 43

A blues piano style in which the left hand plays a rhythmic ostinato of eight beats to the bar.

Answer 43

Boogie-Woogie piano

Question 44

Empress of the blues. Most popular blues artist of the era. Helped bring 12 bar structure to popularity in jazz.

Answer 44

Bessie Smith

Question 45

Most prolific ragtime composer. Ice cream truck tune.

Answer 45

Scott Joplin