Harmony and Jazz Concept
Audio students watch jazz as a model of Western Art Tunes (examine classical new music–classical, nevertheless, is seriously the style of a supplied a period). All jazz harmony comes from that tradition, even though the rhythms appear from Africa. The vast bulk of the jazz repertoire employs European harmonic progressions and sorts. What is distinctive about jazz is the relationship of these European qualities with African rhythm, and a exceptional Afro-American model of inflections, articulations and vibratos. The only pitch selection applied in jazz that is distinctive to Western Artwork Audio is the blues scale (on C it would be as follows: C, D#, F, F#, G, Bb, C), which is the end result of African People fusing of slurs and sliding pitches (a characteristic also of African new music) on to the tempered important/insignificant European tonal process.
Given that jazz has traditionally been characterized by the fusion of the salient traits of the two cultures, and the harmony comes from Europe, it is therefore misleading to explain nearly anything as jazz theory or jazz harmony. Even the 12 bar blues is comprised of a tonal European chord progression (I, IV, and V, having said that it may possibly be dressed up with other European harmonies. Connect with it what you like, it can be even now all European harmony.
Jazz texts merely codify what jazz composers stylistically pick out to use from the entirety of the European pallet–and substantially has sad to say been left out, or somewhat not nevertheless assimilated, this kind of as most of the music of the Twentieth century.
As a result, you are much better off heading to the supply, which is to classical harmony texts. French composer and theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau revealed the initially definitive text on harmony in 1722. Textbooks will only, by the way, put together you for the actual enterprise of score investigation, which is exactly where you will uncover the genuine pertinent information: in exercise, where by it is the most revealing.
As stated higher than, the blues scale is the only pitch selection exclusive to Western Art Tunes. Though it is true, for example, that the additional slight seventh to the tonic chord in a 12-bar blues constitutes a harmonic inclusion of a blue be aware, it however does not adjust the function of that chord in the development, or improve the actuality that it is a European progression. Even though jazz is one of a kind from European songs owing to its use of African rhythm, the rhythm does not alter how progressions behave.
In the Twentieth century, lots of European composers commenced to generate chord successions that did not automatically have a primary essential (atonality), but this has not been incorporated into the jazz design and style pretty substantially as nevertheless. Jazz musicians and their audiences are however mired in outdated European harmonic techniques and varieties. Certainly, most have not even thoroughly digested the audio of French Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
It is beneficial to comprehend a very little audio background in buy to improved comprehend the a variety of variations that emerged. In a nutshell, it goes like this: In the West, the audio was modal right until the late Sixteenth century, at which time the songs grew to become tonal (based on chord progressions aimed at culminating in a cadence to the tonic chord). The tonal system prevailed till the Twentieth century, when significantly of the audio tended in the direction of atonalism (no most important important). In atonalism, chords are arranged in successions that have no features in a tonal perception, but are utilized for their colour and fascination by itself. Jazz, even so, is generally still rooted in the harmonic practices of the classical and intimate periods (18th and 19th century harmony).
Mark Levine’s well-liked book, Jazz Theory, is a great illustration of jazz pedagogists’ quite constrained knowing of tunes background. It mainly operates down the Berklee College or university process of applying chord scales and modes to chord progressions. This helps make it required to theorize in order to get there at which of these (arbitrary at ideal) scales are to be used. In this way, Greek modal names are used to a tonal chord procedure that is in no way modal. Indeed, the European composers, whom jazz musicians emulate, did not hire modes in tonal tunes: they made use of non-harmonic tones to propel their traces forward.
This is, I hope, an interesting tidbit of heritage: A couple of a long time in the past, though crafting my doctoral dissertation, I interviewed Jerry Coker, who was 1 of the very initially to hold a total-time positon as Jazz Professor in a school or college. He admitted to me that he utilised this modal technique–with its Greek names–to impress the classical directors that dominated the music division–so that they could possibly take jazz training critically. (They have been in the schools for nicely above 100 years, when jazz training was only begrudgedly admitted much less than 50 a long time in the past.)
Coker spelled out that experienced he taught a far more immediate, common feeling classic solution to this extemporaneous artwork variety, it would have absent ideal about their heads. They never like us. The only reason jazz exists in better schooling is simply because of enrollment: Students desire jazz courses.