Jazz is developed from folk songs, and it comes from many sources, so it is not easy to study it carefully. During the19th century, music was an important means for black slaves to express their lives and feelings on plantations in the southern United States. From the end of 19, jazz was based on traditional British and American music, and it was a product of "mixed blood", combining blues, ragtime and other music types. African-American music retains many African characteristics, obvious rhythm characteristics and collective improvisation characteristics. The combination of this tradition and the music (mainly vocal music) of the new residence not only produces a new sound, but also produces a brand-new musical expression.
The most famous African American music is religious music. These beautiful and moving songs are also listened to by white people, but they are more fashionable than those sung in rural black churches. The gospel music known today more accurately reflects the emotional strength and sense of melody of early African-Americans, rather than the religious inheritance of Fisk Jubilee singer's music in the first decade of the 20th century.
Other early musical forms, including labor songs, nursery rhymes and dance music dating back to slavery, have become important musical heritages, especially considering that musical activities were severely restricted under the system at that time.
Among jazz tunes, apart from the elements absorbed from European traditional music, white folk songs and pop songs, the most distinctive one is the "blues scale" (we will introduce the structure of this scale in the part about blues). Jazz harmony can be said to be completely based on traditional harmony, but it is more free to use various chords, and the main difference is also brought by blues chords.
Jazz is very distinctive in musical instruments and playing methods, which is completely different from traditional bands. Since the Jazz Age, saxophone has become one of the best-selling musical instruments. Trombone can play funny or grotesque glide that other brass instruments can't, so it causes a sensation in jazz bands; Trumpet is also a jazz musician's favorite instrument. The novel timbre produced by this instrument combining different mutes and several notes in the highest range has almost become a unique timbre feature of jazz. Piano, banjo, guitar and later electric guitar occupy an important position with their powerful ability to beat music and play chords. On the contrary, the most important stringed instruments in traditional bands (violin, viola and cello) play a relatively minor role; The rich timbre of the French horn is very attractive in the orchestra, but for the jazz band, its temperament is so tame that almost no one uses it. In an orchestra, every instrument tries to integrate the whole sound in tone and volume control, but in a jazz band, on the contrary, musicians try their best to make every instrument "stand up".
The organization of the band is very flexible, and the most basic part is two parts-rhythm group and melody group. In early jazz bands, the rhythm group consisted of bass, banjo and drums. Later, bass and banjo were gradually replaced by bass and guitar, and the piano was also added. In 1930s, a dance band appeared, which was called "Big Band" at that time. It consists of three parts: rhythm group, brass group and woodwind group. The musical instruments used in the rhythm group are still bass, guitar, piano and drum; The common compilation of copper tube group is three trumpets and two trombones, but this figure is not fixed; Woodwind bands usually consist of four or five saxophones, and everyone plays clarinet or other woodwind instruments. If the arrangement is five saxophones, it is usually two alto, two tenors and one alto. There is also a business band (sometimes called "Sweet" and "Hotel", etc. ), similar to the "big band", but saxophones are often all alto, and woodwind groups will use more other instruments (such as flute and oboe), sometimes with three or four violins. The sound of this band can often be heard on commercial tapes.
Compared with traditional music, another major feature of jazz is its pronunciation and timbre, which is enough for people to never confuse them with the timbre of any traditional music, whether it is an instrument or a human voice. Most of these features come from imitating African-American folk songs with musical instruments or sounds. If we have the opportunity to listen to the real black field songs and soul songs, we will find that the great changes from coarse to fine, from boring to loud, from harsh to soft, from barbarism to lyricism are so distinctive and touching. In jazz, there are even non-singing roars, shouts and moans, which highlight this feeling. In addition, special playing and singing skills are also important means to produce special effects. Among these techniques, vibrato is the most commonly used, which is different from the traditional concept. As we know, the so-called vibrato is caused by the regular change of pitch (sometimes it may be strength); For example, kneading strings on the violin takes advantage of this change to produce a dynamic sound effect.
In jazz, vibrato changes, the direction of change is generally from narrow to wide, and the speed is from slow to fast. The amplitude and speed of vibrato are often increased near the end of a note, which further strengthens the expressive force of this technique. At the same time, at the beginning of a note, the jazz musician will slide to the predetermined pitch from bottom to top, and then slide down from the original pitch at the end. These changes can't be recorded in detail by music. Experienced jazz musicians have mastered this method, especially the concept that they can "create" these effects according to different melodies or accompaniment patterns. Therefore, it can be said that jazz is jointly created by composers and musicians because of the tradition of improvisation and the exertion of personal skills. It is difficult for musicians with traditional education to play jazz because they have not cultivated such a special musical concept. If we carefully compare the difference between real folk singers and formally trained singers singing the same folk song, we will have a more intuitive concept of this meaning.
Jazz has attracted many demobilized composers since its birth. 1920, American conductor paul whiteman organized a famous band and brought the adapted jazz works into the concert hall. This new trend has aroused fierce opposition from many "serious" jazz lovers. However, since then, jazz has become a household name in the United States and Europe and has been widely welcomed. Gershwin's "rhapsody in blue" was born at this time, and the composer of Whiteman Band, Groffe, was the composer who arranged the music for this work. According to the records in the manuscript, the writing of this work took only three weeks, and it caused a sensation almost immediately after the performance. European composers also have many works based on or influenced by jazz, such as Debussy's piano music Ugly Black Gait Dance (1908), Bard (19 10) and Weird General lavina (19/kloc-0). Slow motion in Ravel's violin sonata (Bruce); Stravinsky used 1 1 for solo instrument Regetime( 19 19), soldier's story (19 18) and blackwood concerto; Hindemith's first chamber music (Op.24, atonality) and piano suite (1922).
Bruce blues music is created to express the singer's personal feelings. As the name implies, this kind of music sounds blue. This way of expressing one's inner thoughts directly with songs is completely different from the music of white society at that time. The most important composer of blues music is W.C. Handy, who is the "father of blues". 1873 was born in Alabama. He composed many famous blues, such as St. Louis blues, Yellow Dog blues, Aunt Hagas blues, Memphis blues, Beale Street blues and so on.
Ragtime is an early jazz music, which adopts black melody and combines syncopation, cyclic theme and distorted phrases. It was very popular around the First World War. It originated in St. Louis and New Orleans, and later became popular in the southern and midwest of the United States, which influenced the solo and improvisation style of traditional jazz in New Orleans. Polyphonic beats later developed into a combination of pop music, marches, waltzes and other popular dances, so polyphonic songs and tracks compiled by instrumental orchestras appeared one after another, which were not only welcomed by black musicians and fans, but also accepted by the white middle class in the United States.
The traditional jazz in New Orleans is as complex and diverse as the United States, and it is a melting pot of national culture. Including blues, dance music, marches, pop songs, hymns, rags and other tonal elements, and subjective music creation such as counting points and syncopation of complex beats is the driving force. The traditional jazz band in New Orleans is dominated by small groups, and the instruments that play the main theme are: cornet, black flute, saxophone and retractable horn; Accompaniment instruments are: tuba, banjo, bass (usually plucked), violin, drum and piano. They often play several songs at the same time, creating a lively and pleasant atmosphere.
Odjb (formerly Dixieland Jazz Band) This is the first white quintet band in history to record jazz records at 19 17. Its five original members, Henry Lagos, were born in New Orleans: Nick larocca (* * *, cornet), Larry Shepard (clarinet), Eddie Edwards (telescopic horn) and Tony Balbal. ODJB rose gradually in Chicago, and then moved to new york, causing a sensation in new york. However, this kind of music style, which lacks creativity and only caters to the public's taste, was quickly challenged by a new generation of talented jazz musicians, and was dissolved in the mid-1920s and entered the history of jazz.
Dixieland jazz is an early jazz style developed by jazz experts in New Orleans and Chicago during the period of 19 17- 1923, and it is also a branch of traditional jazz in New Orleans. Dixieland's English original meaning is "Dixie's land", so it can be imagined that it is related to music such as March. Most of the materials of this style come from blues, marches, pop music at that time, and even a short section of a piece of music, which can be used to extend and popularize, and this is the origin of improvisation. Some jazz historians call "traditional New Orleans jazz" played by "white" musicians Dixieland jazz. The "New Orleans traditional jazz" played by blacks is called New Orleans traditional jazz.
The era of Big Band originated in the middle and late 1920s, and the jazz styles were dominated by Bill Clinton, Count Bessie, Benny Goodman and others. It not only flourished in the swing period in the mid-1930s, roaring music in the mid-40s, cool jazz and improved roaring music in the 1950s, and free jazz in the 1960s and 1970s. The establishment of a big orchestra is generally more than 10, covering more than 3 small speakers, more than 2 telescopic speakers, more than 4 saxophones and accompaniment instruments such as bass, guitar, drums and piano. Through this huge organization, various jazz styles are played.
Swing music originated around 1930 and reached its peak during 1935- 1946, among which Sejkot, the king of swing music, was the best representative. In the middle and late 1920s, jazz bands were very popular in nightclubs, dance halls and other places in American cities. Many young fans are attracted to play here, so more music suitable for dancing is needed to satisfy the young and middle class. Swing music later evolved into an accompaniment band and concert music for song and dance performances with the footsteps of the Duke Ellington Grand Orchestra (for example, Duke Ellington performed regularly in Carnegie Hall every year); Swing music is also called "four-beat jazz" because it is suitable for dancing, and there are four beats in each bar.
Literally, Bebop or bop is a kind of noisy jazz. Its original English names, Bebop, bop or Rebop, were all used in the early 1940s. Rebop may have originated from the song "Cry" played by some Latin American bands, but it is no longer used. Roaring music is a kind of rebellious jazz, which not only inherits the traditional musical elements of New Orleans jazz and swing music, but also makes innovations, breakthroughs and revolutions in creative ideas. Its most important feature is the emphasis on height change and layered rhythm. At the same time, roaring musicians also invented new harmony, giving full play to their musical potential and creativity in a more free and broad space. The representative figures of roaring music are Charlie Parker, dizzy gillespie and thelonious monk. Little jazz bands were the mainstream in the early days, and then big bands performed.
Generally speaking, Cool Jazz refers to the music style represented by the album "The Birth of Cool", which was recorded by the ninth ensemble led by trumpeter Miles Davis during 1949- 1950. Its birth made the mainstream jazz style "hot" from the roaring music style to another one. Cool jazz represents a kind of introverted and introspective emotion, which is a kind of soft, indifferent and lyrical implicit emotion; Its timbre is not as bright as ordinary copper pipes, but soft and beautiful. If roaring music represents enthusiasm, then cool jazz is introspection. In short, cool jazz is a rebellion and review of roaring music, and it also awakens the conscious movement of some white musicians on the west coast of the United States, forming a new jazz trend-West Coast cool jazz. The most famous work of Cool Jazz is "Blues" by Miles Davis quintet. Hard Bop In the mid-1950s, when many people were tired of the dull and sleepy cool jazz, the jazz army that once lost its motivation and took the opportunity to make a comeback was officially born. The improved roaring music is an intense and difficult jazz style, and its representative musicians and groups include the quintet "The Jazz Messengers" led by drummer Art blackie and the quintet "Clifford Brown" led by MaxRoach. Some people also translated "hard Bop" into "hard roar". The improved roaring music has more harmonious timbre, clearer melody, less impromptu solo, and a lot of blues, church hymns and harmony, with special emphasis on the rhythm and pulse of drums. In the late 1950s, the improved roaring music developed into two schools: "Soul Music-Jazz" combined soul music and gospel music; A school that combines rhythm and blues, swing and soul music becomes a "Funk".
Free Jazz was named after the album "Free Jazz" recorded by founder ornette coleman in 1960. The representatives of the same period were Cecil Taylor and Albert Eller, and the later advocate was John Coltrane. Free jazz is a kind of music form that abandons the chord structure of jazz before and re-establishes its own loose and free collective improvisation. It doesn't follow the script, doesn't repeat repeated sentences and the speed of change, so its musical style is often mixed with the cries of human voices and the wailing of trumpet or saxophone instruments. The birth of free jazz has its political and racial background factors, because it is a battle song for black people's rights and self-awareness, so it is closely related to the black civil rights movement in the early 1960 s.
Rock jazz and fusion jazz (jazz-rock &; In the mid-1960s, the "Top Four", the king of rock music, was warmly welcomed by fans and gradually eroded the country of jazz. Unable to resist this powerful new music trend and save jazz music, Miles Davis adopted the strategy of joining rock music, and released two successful albums, In A SilentWay and Bitches Brew, which combined the rhythm of rock music, electronic instruments and jazz, and opened a colorful new door for jazz music, through which all music materials could be integrated. With the opening of the rock jazz style represented by Miles Davis, the so-called "fusion" followed. Until 1980s, all jazz related to this style was called "Jazz-Rock-Mix".
Neo-roar music and post-modern roar music (neo-bop & amp； In 1980s, apart from the fusion of jazz and the surviving free jazz, the development of jazz music seems to have reached the point of spent force, and the jazz with weak vibration lost its original focus and center of gravity. Facing the situation that every musical style has been explored by predecessors, jazz musicians in the 1980s can only go back to the past and seek new themes and creative inspiration from classical jazz. In this trend, the traditional upsurge of returning to rules, led by trumpeter wynton marsalis, created a so-called "neoclassicism" or "new roaring music" which is based on the style of roaring music, has the colors of New Orleans jazz, swing and soul music, and highly emphasizes playing skills and elegant melody. Neoclassicism was the mainstream style of jazz in the 1980s, but whether a new jazz style will become the jazz style in the 1990s, perhaps "postmodern Bop", remains to be verified by facts.
Bossa Nova: Speaking of Bossa Nova, we should advance the development of jazz to the era of "Big Swing Band". The "big swing band" was hard to survive because of the economic depression, and actually became a "small swing band". The "Swing Band" combines the musical elements of Latin music such as Calypso mythology, Mambo, Salsa and Cha-cha, and gives birth to "Latin Jazz". Posanova changed the strong rhythm of Brazilian style in Latin Jazz, and attracted people with his brisk rhythm and singing. In the meaning of bossa nova, bossa means special talent, and nova means freedom in Portuguese. Posanova can be interpreted as unrestrained and creative jazz. Fusion): Jazz 60: In the late 1960s, there was a rock wave all over the world. Young people are obsessed with rock music, which began to erode the field of jazz. Miles Davis added rock music to his jazz dance, resulting in "fusion jazz". Fusion jazz is also called "jazz rock" because it absorbs the concepts of jazz and rock. In the early days, there were two forms of fusion jazz, one was mainly singing, the other was improvisation with wind music, and the other was pure musical instruments with jazz style.
Funk music: Music that combines modern jazz with early black music such as gospel music and blues.
Postmodern BOP: The development of jazz began to decline again in the 1980s, and jazz musicians began to go back to the past to absorb creative inspiration and find creative themes. Under this trend of regression, wynton marsalis created a musical style based on Bibo spectrum, which has the colors of New Orleans jazz, swing and soul music, and highly emphasized playing skills and elegant melody. This style is defined as "post-spectrum" Post-music can be said to be more popular than music and free jazz.
Psychedelic jazz: Psychedelic jazz was born in the London ballroom in the 1980s. This is a dynamic and smooth music. Its main purpose is to combine jazz with business, so as to open the jazz market and make more people like jazz. Sour jazz combines funk jazz, hip-hop music and requiem from the 1960s and 1970s, with a little psychedelic and hip-hop.
Modern jazz: it is mostly used to describe the jazz style from the early 1940s to the mid-1960s, but it does not include free jazz.