The Craft

Blue/bent Notes

Blue notes, also called bent notes, are a common feature in jazz derived from it rots in Blues. They are notes played flat, or slightly lower pitched, than they are written. Blue notes play a key role in giving jazz its distinctive sound. 

Swing Rhythm

In swing rhythm, the second and fourth beats are emphasized, as opposed to the first and third in traditional march music. Also, where as march music gives each beat equal duration, swing rhythm alternates between short and long beats.

Call and Response

A common element of traditional African music, call and response occurs frequently in jazz as well. In jazz, one instrument plays a phrase, the call, then another instrument responds by playing the same phrase or a variation of the phrase.

Structure

Head, Solo, Head

While jazz may seem unstructured, it typically follows a distinct pattern. one of the most common structures was first seen in the baroque era:

Introduction: two or three bars of music written to introduce the piece

Head: a composed piece of music consisting of melodies and harmonies. The head also establishes the chord progression and number of bars used in the solos. Frequently, ensembles play through the head twice before moving to the solos, though they may only play through them once if it is long.

Solos: each musician takes a set number of bars to improvise a solo while the other instruments provide rhythmic and harmonic support through the established cord progression.  depending on how log the progression is, musicians may improvise through it twice.

Head: after the ensemble has finished the solos, they return to play the head once more. While ensembles may play the head twice at the begging, they typically only play through the head once at the end.

CODA: a short section at the end of a piece to give closure to the performance.

16 bars blues:  As one of the early influences of jazz, many element of the blues appear in jazz music today. One such influence is the sixteen bars blues, a distinctive chord progression used in both blues and jazz.  The progression uses only three chord, represented by roman numerals; the one (I) chord, the four (VI) chord and the five (V) chord.  the progression is as follows:

I, I, I, I

IV, IV, I, I

V, IV, I, I

The I chord is the chord based on the key note, or home note. The IV and V chords are based on the notes four and five notes above home, respectively. For example, a sixteen bar blues in C major would be as follows:

C, C, C, C

F, F, C, C

G, F, C, C

• New Orleans: Boasting the title of the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans is style jazz is one of the earliest forms of jazz.  

• Big Band/Swing: First appearing in the late 1930's, Big Band style jazz reached its height during the 1940's. As its name suggests, Big Band/Swing jazz uses large ensembles of musicians of ten or more performers. Whereas small ensembles have one or two of the same instrument, Big Band/ Swing ensembles have entire sections devoted to any given instrument. One of the most prominent composers of this era was Duke Ellington.

• Bebop: in the late 40's, bebop appeared on the jazz scene, Pioneered by such musicians as Charlie "Bird" Parker and Miles Davis. Some defining characteristics of bebop include rapid tempos, wide note range, and emphasis on harmonic elements.

• Cool Jazz: A complete break from bebop, cool jazz is characterized by smoother melodic lines and narrower note ranges. Often, cool jazz uses slower tempos than bebop. Trumpet player Miles Davis played a major role in developing cool jazz in the 1950's.

• Fusion: Coming onto the jazz scene in the 1960's and 70's, jazz fusion blend elements of jazz with rock and funk music. 

• Caribbean: Caribbean jazz combines classic jazz with instruments and rhythms from Caribbean music.  

• Smooth Jazz: often considered the most commercial style of jazz, smooth jazz mainly focuses on a pleasant listening experience. Musicians sometimes refer to smooth jazz as "wall paper jazz" due to its common use as ambient or background music.

• Free jazz: the opposite of smooth jazz, free jazz places the least emphasis on listening. Unlike other forms of jazz, free jazz follows no structure or chord progression, nor does it remain in any key.