Different Characteristics of Jazz Music - Essay Example

Music is one way that humans use to communicate most of their feelings. There are different types of music being are commonly listened to one of them being Jazz type of music.

Jazz music has shown African musical influences, which are evident in the use of improvisation, polyrhythm, the swung note, and blue notes.
Jazz music has different characteristics as will be discussed. Jazz music has seen its development and modification through the years of evolution as it has changed and another form of music has developed from Jazz music examples being rhythm and blues, which is an affiliate of Jazz music. Histories itself have not seen jazz music at any given time as one form of single music. Before the 1930s, jazz music was known by the big bands and by ragtime. (Ward, 2005 ) As jazz music developed great depression brought on smaller bands, which by then had been to as the bebop era, which saw the development of other smaller groups, which were seen in rock and roll in most modern genres over the period that jazz music was at its peak. Another form of Jazz Classic jazz was a form of the smaller groups type of Jazz that was characterized by the use of instruments such as cornet, trombone, tuba, banjo, saxophone, guitar, and bass, and in some occasions, it was accompanied by a piano.

Jazz has the preliminary cultural mixing as products of extensive cultural mixing in various locations, as jazz music had incorporated the use of rhythms and use of percussion. (Weatherford, 2008) Some cultural information is usually exchanged during the performance of jazz music as different cultural backgrounds example Africa, Spain, and France interacted with each other in the past. Improvisation was been regarded as the key element in this type of music. Improvisation in Jazz is attributed to earlier forms of music that used repetitive sounds that allowed call and response. Use of accompaniment developed in jazz music such as ornaments is used, as the performer's primary goal is to play a composition as it was written.

Armando Anthony who was known as “Chick Corea” was a renowned jazz musician who tirelessly composed hits of jazz fusion and piano. (Ward, 2005 )As a member of Miles Davis's band in the 60s, he was a vigorous participant in the electric jazz fusion movement. He was a collaborator with other musicians as he took the chance to explore various musical styles with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Keith Jarrett. He developed his talent for playing the piano as he tried to explore the music of his own; musicians of Jazz fusion at his young age influenced him examples of stars like Dizzy Gillespie and Horace Silver. He builds his career by studying music education in New York. He took a profound stylistic turn from Avant-garde playing at a crossover jazz fusion that incorporated Latin jazz elements that build his relations with other artists in the jazz fusion industry.
As a pianist, he played the tune, stated the melody, and played the tune all the way through with his long solos. The accompaniments he used to make his song appealing made people more excited and the audience loved it as they applauded him. (Weatherford, 2008) His work was known, as musicians would sing his compositions. (Weatherford, 2008) Chick Corie started composing Piano concerts and adapted a signature piece that he performed in Spain for a full symphony orchestra. In the late 8os, Corea joined forces with another young musician such as John Patitucci who was then known as Bass this made corea realize that the use of instruments led to opening new possibilities with labels that resulted in a series of tours and recordings.

The characteristics that Corea mostly used which were aspects of Jazz improvisation was to create interesting melodic lines which were a result of repetition in the harmonic structure this led to overlapping of the melodic and harmonic elements in his composition. This made his composition memorable. (Weatherford, 2008) A core often preferred Lydian and altered scale that added which added tension to the improvised line that he composed making them colorful to listen to. (Ward, 2005 )Corea often used chromatic ascending rhythms that were melodic to listen to. Corea composed short pieces of his mastery set that made them easily memorable.

Corea Latin America rhythms became a trademark of his style and this was evident in songs such as “My Spanish Heart” Samb song” among others. (Ward, 2005) He organized the melodic lines referred to as phrasing and displayed rhythmic mastery and versatility. He also mastered and was most disciplined in mastering the use of his instruments as he provided a clean and clear attack of the sounds that he produced using the instruments. (Clarke, 2006) Corea did not limit the palette of sounds to convectional means of playing the piano key.

Corea as a jazz artist offered insight into the artistry as seen in one of his performances, “It could happen to you”. He substitutes some of the harmonies, harmonizes the melody, and suspends the resolution to the tonic in measure. The solo displays an emphasis on the composition's content. Read More