Musc 1236 Midterm 1 Final Notecards - Terms and History Flashcards
Timbre
Timbre refers to quality of sound, or tone color. (same pitch, sounds different)
Mutes
Physical devices inserted into the bell of the instrument to distort the sounds coming out.
Timber Variation
The use of unusual sounds for expressive purposes
Where did timber variation come from?
Came to jazz through African American folk culture
Vibrato
Most wind playeres generate a slight wobble in pitch, known as vibrato
Half valving
depressing one or more of the valves only halfway
Shake
A quick trill between two notes that mimics a wide vibrato
Cup Mutes
Adds an extension that more or less covers the bell, further attenuating the sound while rounding it out
Straight Mutes
Inserted directly into the bell of the instrument, quiets the sound without too much distortion
Harmon Mute
A hollow mute with a hole in the center; originally the hole was filled with an adjustable sliding tube, sutable for comic effects, but most jazz musicians simply discarded the tube, creating a highly concentrated sound
Plunger Mute
It’s the rubber end of a sink plunger (can resemble human speech)
Glissando
Glide seamlessly from one note to another (also known as smear)
Cornet
a version of the trumpet with a mellower timbre and deep mouthpiece.
Single-Reed Instruments
Clarinet, saxophone
Purpose of Rhythm section
Provide harmony, bass, and percussion
bass (or string bass)
The bass is the rock on which the jazz ensemble is built. Two critical functions: plays notes that support the harmony, and provides a basic underlying rhythmic foundation
pizzicato vs bowing
Pizzicato is the plucking of the strings with fingers. Arco is just playing with bow
Rhythm
a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound
Meter
The grouping of pulses (beats) into patterns of two, three or more per bar
Tempo
given speed
Pulse Rhythm
Moving to a given tempo
Free Rhythm
Speed up or slow down or even stop time altogether
Polyrhythm
The simultaneous use of contrasting rhythms; The thythmic contrast resulting from the simultaneous use of contrasting rhythms
rhythmic contrast
same as polyrhythm
call and response
a succession of two distinct phrases usually written in different parts of the music, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first
syncopation
Every time a strong accent contradicts the basic meter. Occasional rhythmic distruption, a tempory “special effect” injected for variety.
backbeat
The mid beats emphasized 1 2 3 4 (2 and 4)
downbeat
The first beat of every measure
groove
The overall framework within which rhythmic things happen
swing
Steady, four-beat rhythm in the bass and cymbal with a backbeat
melody
main
scale
The basic unit of melody, the pithces that fall within the octave.
chromatic scale
The twelve notes in an octave make up a scale by themselves
half-step
Interval separating each note
major mode
C to C whole whole half whole whole whole half
scale degree
Each note in a major scale
tonic
The note the tune insists on ending on. The first note, the do.
tonal music
Music that insists on returning to the tonic
whole step
C to D (black in between) two absolute keys up on the piano
mode
The whole half pattern that makes up and defines the scale
major mode
WWHWWWH
minor mode
Most important difference from whole is the third degree of the scale. In minor, the interval between do and mi (known as a third) is a half step lower;.
whole-tone scale
a scale consisting entirely of intervals of a tone, with no semitones
pentatonic scale
A scale in which the tones are arranged like a major scale with its fourth and seventh notes omitted, a musical scale of five tones in which the octave is reached at the sixth tone
blue notes
Certain notes are played with a great deal of flexibility, sliding through infinitesimal fractions (microtones) of a half step for expressive purposes (variable intonation). Notes inbetween cracks on piano
motives
a short melodic or rhythmic idea
riffs
short, catchy and reapeated melodic phrase
chords
Play two or more notes at the same time (basis of the harmony)
harmonic progression
(changes), a series of chords played in a strict rhythmic sequence
consonant harmony
(stable) chords
dissonant harmony
(unstable or jarring) chords are pulled as if by gravity
cadence
The end of a phrase, where a chord progression comes to rest (temporarily or finally)
harmonic substitutions
the substitution of one chord, or a series of chords, for harmonies in a progression
chromatic harmony
complex harmony based on the chromatic scale
texture
The balance between harmony and melody
homophony
A melody is supported by harmonic accompaniment
polyphony
Two or more melodies of equal interest are played at the same time
monophony
A melody exists on its own without harmonic accompaniment
breaks
A break is an interruption of homophonic texture by monophonic texture; when the rest of the band briefly stops playing to let a musician solo
stop-time
Created when the ensemble plays a short chord at brief intervals, say, once every bar or once every other bar, and the soloist improvises with just these interruptions from the band prodding him on. Open-ended, lasts as long as the musician wants
counterpoint
polyphonic texture, especially when composed. (polyphonic texture: two or more melodies of equal interest are played at the same time)
licks
melodic phrases, simple and basic part of the common lore of jazz
riffs
A repeated fragment of melody
What are jazz forms derived from?
Jazz forms are derived from African Music
Where does improvisation happen?
Improvisation happens within a cycle or chorus
What is the purpose of rhythmic contrast?
In jazz rhythmic contrast is used to prevent boring repetition; where rhytmic contrast is when there are two distinct layers, one fixed and one variable
What is the origins of blues form?
The blues form has its origins in African American folk poetry
What is the blues form?
12-bar blues
What is a chord progression?
I, V, IV, V
I (chord progression) means?
I means a chord built on the first note of a particular scale
IV (chord progression) means?
IV means a chord built on the fourth note of a particular scale
I (chord progression) is known as?
tonic
V (chord progression) is known as?
dominant
What is tonic?
I (chord progression)
What is dominant?
V (chord progression)
Use of harmonic substitutions?
Variety can be added through harmonic substitutions
What is a head?
composed portion of a small-combo jazz performance; the straight tune with no improvisation
What is a 32-bar pop song form?
AABA. Compose an eight-bar phrase, Repeat it. Contrast it with a new eight-bar phrase (known as the bridge). Finally, repeat the oriign phrase one last time. All thirty-two bars make a single chorus.
What letters denote repetition or contrast?
B
Contrast of what?
phrases
What songs are in 32 bar form? Give an example
A Sailboat in the Moonlight, So What, The Pot Boiler
How does AABA form differ from ABAC form? What has changed?
While AABA adds contrast (the bridge) precisely halfway through the song, ABAC uses that same location to return to the opening melody
Name a song in AABA form.
A Sailboat in the Moonlight, So What by Miles Davis
Name a song in ABAC form.
Hotter than that by louis armstrong, singin the blues by bix biederbecke, star dust by artie shaw, ESP by miles davis
Walking bass
A steady four best to the bar, providing the foundations to the chords while still generating melodic interest.
Chart
the musical score that serves as the basis for jazz performance
Comping
a rhythmically unpreditable way of playing cords to accompany a soloist; typicaly one of the variable layers in the rhythm section
Pedal Point
a passage in which the bass note refuses to move, remaing stationary on a single note
Ride pattern dropping bombs
The right foot of the drummer controlling the bass drum pedal plays thunderous acents
Fill
Drummer adds an improvised passage
Melodic Paraphrase
Takes a preexisting melody and varies it, typically adds notes and distorts the rhythm into something that swings, but does not disguise the source material
Harmonic Improvisation
rely on the changes, create new melodies that fit over the basic chord progression
Triad
a harmony consisting of three or more different pitches
Modal Improvisation
replaces a welter of chords with a stable scale or mode
big bands
Large groups, grouped by instrument section, use arragnements or charts usually in block chord texture and use call and response; consists of three sections brass, reeds, and rhythm
small combos
A few horns plus rhythm section
trading fours
in a jam session, “trading” short (usually four-bar) solos back and forth between the drums and the soloists, or between soloists, can involved call and response
Jazz is an art form known as:
“America’s Classical Music”
Jazz is considered ___ and ___.
Jazz is also a popular music and folk music.
Where can jazz be traced to?
Jazz can be traced to Africa
What are some characteristics of African music? Why is this important?
African music has traditional aspects which were characterized by polyrhythm, call and response, blue notes, timber variation, and combined ideas. These became an important part of jazz, especially early jazz.
ballads
The retelling of local history, long romantic
work songs
thrived on railroads, levees, and anywhere else music was needed to pace manual labor.
spirituals
transformed call-and-response songs into religious poetry.
field hollars
A rhythmically loose vocal line that expressed his or her lonesome individuality
blues
a new poetic genre that emerged at the dawn of the twentieth century marked by its unusual three-line stanza. Earlier forms of folk poetry usually fell into stanzas of two or four lines, but the blues took the two-line couplet and repeated the first line.
country blues
early blues style, performed ciefly by solitary male musicians throughout the rural south, from the Carolinas to the Mississippi Delta into Texas. The form was llose and improvisatory, suting the needs of the instrument.
vaudeville or classical blues
Female singers wer accompanied by a small band on the stages of black theater circuits in the 1910s and 1920s
Brass Bands
originally a military institution that in peacetime became a local “people’s ochestra, with new brass instruments like the sousaphone.” The brass bands primary contribution to jazz turned out to be the struture of its music.
March form (AABBCCDD or AABBACCDD)
Marches are made up of a succession of strains (sixteen-bar defining unit), each usually repeated before passing on to the next. A typical march with four strains could be diagrammed as AABBCCDD or AABBACCDD (with the returing A offering a hint of closure and transition). Widely used in ragtime.
Significance of third, or trio strain of march form, C
The third, or trio, strain © is particularly significant. It modulates to a new key (the subdominant, or IV), sometimes with the aid of a short introductory passage, and is often twice as long, lasting thirty-two bars instead of sixteen. Composers used the trio to change the piece’s dynamics, texture, or orchestration.
What is dance music influence on on Ragtime?
subversively syncopated music was inescapably black, and derived from the contemporary piano style known as ragtime.
How did dance music influence jazz?
transition from private clubs, to more accessible middle aged dance clubs.
Dance Music and the Charleston
Most fashionable new dance (steps). The Charlestone derived its name and syncopations from the highly Africanized islands of South Carolina.
Ragtime
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.
New Orleans-how did this area enhance the development of jazz?
Lies in the city’s geographical, racial, political, cultural, and musical peculiarities. Port (location): blended elements of American commerce with those of a Caribbean island; half the population was black; Creole and black mix of culture
What is Buddy Bolden’s Style?
Played loud, seductiveness of his approach to slow blues.
What became known as the New Orleans style?
collective improvisation; its instrumentation derived from two sources. Brass band societies, which spawned smaller dance groups, gave the music its melody instruments: trumpet or cornet, trombone, and clarinet. (front line). Drumset, string ensembles, originally a lead violinist.; During the trio section of a piece, the band often switched to block-chord texture or, more rarely, presented a single horn plus accompaniment. Breaks and stop-time were common, soloing more rare.
What is collective improvisation?
A highly unusual polyphonic technique, where several instruemets improvise their parts simultaneously, and it is a defining characteristic of New Orleans Jazz
What change in the 1920’s with regard to Jazz? With regard to society in general?
NYC’s largest contribution to jazz was the development of large bands and orchestrations. Better recordings, radio, and movies. Electric recordings. Radio. Prohibition and speakeasies. Simmering pot of styles.
Symphonic Jazz, what was that?
created by Paul Whiteman, “king of jazz”, symphonic jazz represented a fusion of musical styles
What is a Charleston beat?
two emphatic beats followed by a rest, usually enunciated by the trumpets, alternates with the more even rhythms stated by the violins.
What was Tin Pan Alley?
The center of the songwriting industry in New York; The first songwriting factory of its kind (where all the recording studios were on a street). Introduced the idea of the professional songwriter.
What was the Harlem Renaissance? How did it develop?
An artistic movement of the 1920s that attempted to display African American abilities in painting, drama, literature, poetry, criticism, and music; jazz was usually not included by critics of the time, although in retrospect the music of Duke Ellington seems central. It developed in 1904, when the Afro-American Realty Company organized a campaign to lure African Americans to Harlem.
What is stride piano?
An aggressive, competitive, joyous way of playing piano that directly refected the musical vigor of New York. Impetuous, flashy, and loud. Stride describes the motion of the pianist’s left hand, striding back and forth from low to high in the bass clef.
Know about the Cotton Club. Who opened this?
Opened by Duke Ellington. It was a segregated citadel, thought to represent the height of New York sophistication, it actually exploited tired minstrel cliches. Refused to admit blacks
What is programmatic music?
attempting to describe specific places, people, or events.
Who’s music was often programmatic?
Duke Ellington
Who were Louis Armstrong’s five influences that really can be measured as jazz progresses through the 20th century? (see pg. 108)
Blues, Improvisation, Singing, Repertory, and Rhythm.
What is scat-singing?
wordless vocalizing, using nonsense syllables instead of words
What is the Chicago style of jazz?
began by imitating New Orleans bands and evolved into a more slapdash, aggressively rhythmic school that combined expansive solos with polyphonic theme statements.
