Brief History of Jazz
An American Music

# The History of Jazz

In this module you will learn:

- the origin of jazz
- early musical influences
- early social influences

Buddy Bolden's Jazz Band circa 1900

Public Domain Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Jazz music began around 1900 in New Orleans LA

- Early Jazz centered around bars, brothels and marching bands
- It's early practitioners were primarily African-American and Creoles of Color
- Other ethnic groups would become involved as the music grew in popularity

Main characteristics of jazz:

- improvisation
- syncopation
- call and response

Roots of Jazz

Blend of elements from different cultures

- West African emphasis on improvisation, percussion and call and response techniques
- American brass band influence on instrumentation
- European harmonic and structural practices

Two major stylistic influences were Ragtime and Blues music.

Ragtime

Dance hall and saloon music originally performed on the piano

- Usually in duple meter at moderate tempo
- Right hand plays highly syncopated melody
- Left hand plays steady march style "oom pah" bass part

Scott Joplin 1852-1917, was known as the "King of Ragtime"

Blues

From area known as the Mississippi delta

Primarily vocal music with instrumental accompaniment

- Originated with solo performers
- Simple harmonic structure
- twelve bar musical structure
- three part vocal structure featuring a statement, restatement and counter statement or punch line.

Example:

References:

Gioia, T. (1997). The history of jazz. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kamien, R. (2012). Music: An appreciation. New York: McGraw-Hill.