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The essence of Jazz music
is the ethereal atmosphere
of the dimensional har-
mony created by kaleido-
scope of chromatic tones.
It is the pulsating back
beat of syncopating Af-
rican rhythms through the
rumble of the drums, or
soft sound of the brush to
the snare.
The music is an expres-
sion of melody from the depth of the soul
conveyed as a gospel in many unique
ways. These elements combined with the
free impressionistic ambiance of instru-
mental tones in orchestration as a founda-
tional juxtaposition of 7th, 9th, 13th chord-
al harmony makes this style truly unique.
The essence of Jazz music is music that is
upbeat, full of pizzazz, yet laid back with
style. One would never guess that this free
style of music has a foundation that began
with Baroque elements found in Classical
music.
Classical music comes from the basic
structure of homophony when two or more
musical lines are played vertically in the
same direction as sacred music. In fact,
Jazz music is created with homophony in
terms of the movement of chords to sup-
port the melodic improvisation. However,
when it comes to playing intervals and
chordal harmonies, Jazz is free from the
restriction of classical form. For example,
if a song is written in the key of C or a
minor there are no sharps or flats written
on the staffs. Many times in Jazz music
Accidentals are put in the music to cause
a tonal effect found in chromatic tones.
Tonal effects can occur when one or more
notes are altered by raising or lowering a
pitch by one half step. Sharps are symbols
in the shape of a number sign or tic tac toe
board (#). Flats are symbols in the shape
of a lower case B(b), yet shaped differently
like half a heart.
In some Jazz pieces, both the sharp and
flat can occur simultaneously in a chord.
The result of such musical experimenta-
tion can be Dissonant chords unresolved
for the purpose of producing a certain
sound. Depending on what tones are used
the sound is either full of color, or full of
tension. On the other hand, Consonance is
a stable balance of harmonic tones with-
out tension. One example of the essence of
Jazz Music is the song with
cluster of chords with dissonant tones that
move from major to minor to diminished
to create tonal color.
The Tones in Jazz music is always about
the speech rhythm and the chordal harmo-
ny full of color as influenced by music in
the impressionism period. The essence of
Jazz music serves as a personal interpre-
tation of the picture the performer wants
us to thinks about. The icing to the cake
are the vocalists and instrumentalists who
performs how they feel from the soul as
the music beckons them to reply to it’s
statement. As the soloist plays or sings, the
beauty of strong kaleidoscope tones in the
harmony encourages one to soar especially
in ballads.
All of this can occur when the harmony
plays in the right position above the cor-
rect bass tones found in all Jazz master-
pieces. The true essence of Jazz music is
present in its ability to shape the music
through tones, the syncopation of speech
rhythm, the chromatic harmony, improvi-
sational solos, and constant motion of the
bass. It is the free structure made from a
balanced structure, and a music expressed
from the soul.
THE ESSENCE OF JAZZ MUSIC
Understanding Jazz
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