The Music of America - Assignment Example

The music of America has many countenances. Few of these musical expressions survived a temporary level of popularity, but one type of music is saidto “ultimately mature in a way that wove itself into the American fabric itself.” (Jazz 9th Edition 1) It is frequently called “America’s classical music” which is a subject of study for various colleges and universities around the world. This type of music is named quite uniquely beginning as a west coast slang term of uncertain derivation used sometime in 1912. The meaning of which varied but which never referred to music or sex. It was only associated to music around 1915 when it was constantly played in Chicago and then it was indelibly called JAZZ music. Throughout the 19th century, there was a growing interaction between black and white people in the United States. This meeting of cultures led to the merging of two musical ethnicities, and the combination of which inspired the development of JAZZ. This type of musical genus was born in America. During the time African slaves were brought to the United States, these slaves preserved much of their culture. The city of New Orleans in Louisiana had a “population of white settlers, black slaves, and mixed race, most notably the descendants of French and Spanish settlers and blacks known as the Creoles.” (The Story of Music Vol. 5 1) Plantation slaves meet at the Congo Square were they dance to African drumming. Even after the time slavery was abolished during the Civil War, the Congo Square remained to be the favorite meeting venue to perform African rhythm which was soon picked up by other local bands. “They were black bands made up of freed slaves and house servants throughout the South.” (The Story of Music Vol. 5 2) New Orleans then became the birthplace of jazz being the most prolific ground for the expression of black music. One facet is their musical culture, including rhythms, songs and dances, wherein African Americans were introduced to the European and white popular music. Likewise, European Americans were introduced to the “off-beat” rhythms and various pitches used in the African melody. For that reason, the development of jazz which became the most important music genres of the 20th century came into being. Jazz is said to be America’s greatest contribution to music. Its impact on American society has been massive and its influence on world culture has been far reaching. “Its message has been direct, vital, and immediate, enabling it to hurdle cultural, linguistic, and political barriers.” (Jazz 9th Edition 2) Music is said to be as ancient as the human race. The earliest people came up with prehistoric methods to produce pleasant tunes from things around them. It is identified that whistles and pipes, clay drums, and shell trumpets were all used in the olden times. “These early musical instruments and human voices were probably used for practical everyday purposes, such as hunting, communication, warfare, and religious or spiritual rituals.” (The Story of Music Vol. 9 1) It is somewhat impossible to know how these early instruments would produce music, nevertheless, it is a fact that music existed long before man learned how to come up with the written words. “The earliest instrumental music was probably played using “found” objects.” (The Story of Music Vol. 9 2) Simple percussive outcomes would have been made possible by striking an object with a stick, and then the variety of sounds will be produced by hitting the object differently. “People found out that dried animal skin stretched over a pot produced an altogether different timbre or sound – in this way the first specially made instruments were created.” (The Story of Music Vol. 9 3) The “twang” of a hunter’s bow may have given people the idea that strings are also sources of pleasing sounds and if given different tensions would also create a variety of pitches. This inspiration would eventually lead to the stretched strings of the violin family. It is known that people belonging to different cultures had a diverse collection of musical instruments, signifying a long period of earlier development. But still, the fundamental acoustic principles seemed to be common to all these cultures – “each musical instrument was based on the idea of striking, blowing, or plucking different objects.” (The Story of Music Vol. 9 4) These principles are still the foundation of all wind, percussion, and stringed instruments that are still widely used today. One type of musical instrument belongs to the woodwind family. The origin to this is when during the olden times, people observed that a hollow bone or wood produces sound when wind blows through or across it. The oldest discovery is said to be 43,000 years old and was found in a cave in Slovenia. It was made of a bear’s leg and holes were carved in it. These holes are finger holes evident that it was designed to make music. These instruments produce sound when the player blows air on one end and it cause vibration. Most of these instruments are made out of wood, unlike some which is the saxophone and other flutes which are made of plastic or metals. The newest of the woodwind instruments is the saxophone. It was first invented by a Belgian by the name of Antoine- Joseph “Adolphe” Sax who was an expert instrument maker and talented musician. He was born in 1814 in Dinant, Belgium and learned to make musical instruments in his father’s shop. His father was a career instrument maker. In 1840, Sax decided to create an instrument that would fulfill the middle range sound of a military band. During those times the French military made use of bassoons, clarinet, and flutes. Sax’s objective is to create a tune between the woodwind tone of the clarinet and the brass sound of the trumpet. He was able to complete his work in 1845; patented in March 20, 1846 and named the instrument “saxophone.” The saxophone is a form of a woodwind instrument because the way it is played is very much similar to a clarinet. It is made of brass, and it is the only instrument belonging to the woodwind family that has never been made of wood. This is made of a single reed mouthpiece and is made of long, bent tubes with holes in it which are covered by keys. These keys are similar to pads that cover the air-holes and players operate these keys by opening and closing them to determine the pitch. This complex keying system is similar to that of an oboe. The saxophone was soon appreciated by many orchestral composers and was used later on in little orchestras. In 1841, the first saxophone, a C bass, was displayed by Hector Berlioz, a famous composer. He was astounded at its versatility, exceptional tone, and control of dynamics. In 1842, Sax moved to Paris to launch his new instrument to the entire world. Soon to follow was the creation of fourteen different saxophones completing an entire line of the saxophone family and each differed by size and pitch. They were the: E flat sopranino, F sopranino, B flat soprano, C soprano, E flat alto, F alto, B flat tenor, C tenor, E flat baritone, B flat bass, C bass, E flat contrabass, and F contrabass. However, many of these variations are seldom used or have become outmoded. Saxophone became so popular with the military band but not until the 1920s when it gained prominence in jazz music. While it became an official part of the military band, the sax began to die out when the French no longer makes use of these said bands. When Sax died in 1894 he was unable to witness the rise of his greatest invention since it is already beginning to spread across the world. But it was truly in the United States that the saxophone indeed flourished, notably in the extremely popular marching bands of John Philip Sousa. By the early 20th century the saxophone’s use was in full swing. Its trenchant sound made it a natural choice as a solo instrument in the newly rising dance bands. It was the eras of swing and the bebop types of jazz rhythms that brought the saxophone to the vanguard of music as virtuoso performers like Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane “turned melodic improvisation into an advance art.” (Story of Music Vol.5) The saxophone made a great addition to the world of marching, but it was through its use in the American vaudeville stage that the saxophone began its crossover into the field of jazz. When the Ragtime and Dixieland bands sprung up in the United States, particularly in New Orleans, the saxophone truly began to find its home. The saxophone suddenly became the sound of jazz as it attracts people to crowd the dance floor and dance to the beat. Its undeniable flexibility and grace provide the player with a world of options that simply cannot be explored with a trombone or trumpet. The 1920’s marked the age when playing the saxophone was in fact the modish thing to do, and it was the first time in history that the sax truly found its ultimate purpose. The saxophone was refined in the 30s and some artists experimented with the sounds, rhythms, harmonies and phrasing, giving the saxophone the status for the solo spotlight in has to this day. The saxophone comes in a number of varieties. The most familiar of these is the tenor sax. It is unsophisticated and dramatic, in which the tone in usually heard in the low register, however using the techniques pioneered by John Coltrane, its voice can be extended into the soprano collection. The baritone saxophone requires extreme control and discipline, immense breath exertion and masterful diaphragm control. Its echoing low end tones have a force and quality not heard from other instruments. The smaller version of the tenor is the alto saxophone, which has a wide range of emotions that can be produced from its bell. Sometimes light, and sounds closest to a flute, varies in form from the other types of saxophones. The soprano saxophone is formed and shaped more like a clarinet and more difficult to play. Its light sound and complicated fingering has been mastered by very few musicians to whom some notable performers who are experts in this type of saxophone are Steve Lacy and Wayne Shorter. This instrument which has a reed is made up of many intricate pieces woven together to work in unison with each other. Many composers began to write for the saxophone, but it was not until about eighty years later that the saxophone began to be used to play dance and upbeat music. However, to make these variations the saxophone needed to be altered as well. Formerly, the sax was designed to have a silky, melodious, and balanced tone. This had to be changed so it could stand-out with the blasting trumpets, strident drums, shuffling feet, and loud bantering that accompanied the surroundings of early twentieth century dance bands. The mouthpiece of the sax was made slimmer and more parallel. This gave the saxophone a thunderous, obnoxious, and surprisingly unique sound needed for jazz and dance music. Since this transformation, the saxophone has been thought of as primarily and ultimately a jazz instrument. Today, many people enjoy the wonderful, upbeat music produced by the saxophone. It since became a necessity in every band due to its versatility and tonal beauty. The striking sound of a saxophone quintet or a blaring jazz soloist can be heard all across the globe. The sax has become a part of almost everyday mode of music. It is being played everywhere from night clubs, street-side bars, to football fields. The saxophone is truly one of the great musical instruments in our existence. As told by Louis Armstrong, a legendary American jazz trumpeter and singer, “the life span of a musical masterpiece may encompass a number of generations, but music, being a reflection of society, is subject, like any other art, to social adolescence. It may endure, metaphorically speaking, in libraries, on records and in the occasional archaeological revival, but it will not satisfy a changing society’s changing musical requirement.” (Jazz 9th Edition 3) Jazz has, from its beginning in the early 20th century, generated a variety of subgenres, from the New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, in 1930s and the early 1940s’ big-band style swing, and bebop from the mid 1940s, a variety of Latin jazz blends such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz-rock synthesis from the 1970s and late 1980s developments such as acid jazz, which blended jazz influences into hip-hop and funk. However the type of music mixtures jazz was able to establish, saxophone as the primary instrument played a great role in the beautiful delivery blending of these melodies. To this day jazz is not just music, but an expression of culture, freedom, uniqueness, and life; and the saxophone is the instrument used to express the ensemble of all these facets. References: (1) Tanner, Paul O.W. Jazz Ninth Edition. New York, 2001. (2) Fikentscher, Kai. Reynolds, Jane. The Story of Music Vol. 5 Gospel, Blues, and Jazz. Danbury, Connecticut, 2001. (3) Burrows, Terry. The Story of Music Vol. 9 Musical Instruments and Technology. Danbury, Connecticut, 2001. (4) Seqell, Michael. The Devil’s Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool. First Edition. New York, 2005. (5) Teal, Larry. Art of Saxophone Playing. Miami, 2006. Read More