Shared Flashcard Set

Details

History of Jazz
For use with all exams
55
Music
Undergraduate 1
02/26/2010

Additional Music Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
12-bar blues form
Definition
a common 12-bar musical form in which the harmonic scheme includes primarily the I, IV, and V chords
Term
32-bar AABA form
Definition
a common musical form comprised of an 8-bar section which is repeated, an 8-bar section of contrasting material, and a repetition of the first 8-bar section
Term
beat
Definition
the pulse implied by the music
Term
break
Definition
a short rhythmic-melodic solo played by an instrument or singer between ensemble passages
Term
bridge
Definition
the B section of a 32-bar AABA form
Term
changes (chord changes, chord progression)
Definition
the sequence of accompaniment chords for a tune, often used as the basis of a jazz improvisation
Term
chord
Definition
a group of three or more notes of a scale - built on thirds
Term
chording
Definition
harmonic accompaniment, that is, chords, played on every beat (every quarter note) by keyboard, guitar, or banjo
Term
chorus
Definition
one time through the form of a tune
Term
comping
Definition
evolved from chording. Harmonic accompaniment, that is, chords, played sporadically, at musicians discretion
Term
Creole
Definition
a person descended from of culturally related to the original French settlers of the southern United States, especially Louisiana
Term
Creole of color
Definition
A person of mixed Black and European ancestry who speaks a creolized language, especially one based on French or Spanish. (e.g., Jelly Roll Morton)
Term
double time
Definition
the feeling that a piece of music or a player is going twice as fast as the tempo, although the chord progressions continue at the original rate
Term
drumset
Definition
snare drum, small tom tom, large (floor) tom-tom, bass (kick) drum, ridecymbal, crash cymbal, hi-hat
Term
head
Definition
a musical melody or theme, usually stated at the beginning and the end of a jazz peformance
Term
meter
Definition
indicates how beats are grouped, i.e., how many beats per measure
Term
quote
Definition
play a segment of a well-known tune within one's improvised solo
Term
rag (as in rag a tune or rag a rhythm)
Definition
syncopate (term was applied in late 1800s-early 1900s)
Term
release
Definition
same as bridge
Term
rhythm
Definition
the result of the various durations of sounds and silences
Term
rhythm section
Definition
section of a jazz group comprised of some combination of piano, bass, drums, guitar, etc., which provide rhythmic harmonic, and textural support beneath the soloist
Term
rhythmization
Definition
the practice of playing melodic instruments in highly percussive ways
Term
scale
Definition
ascending or descending prescribed pattern of notes
Term
scat singing
Definition
jazz improvisation using the human voice as an instrument, with nonsense syllables (dwee, ool, ya, bop, bam, etc.) instead of words
Term
stride piano
Definition
early piano style in which left hand serves a dual function by playing bass notes on beats one and three and chords on beats two and four
Term
syncopation
Definition
an anticipation of the beat, often accented; function of rhythm
Term
tempo
Definition
the relative speed at which beats occur
Term
trading fours
Definition
alternation of soloing between instruments for four bars each (often between drums and melodic instruments)
Term
riff
Definition
a short, repeated phrase, often used to back up composed or improvised musical material
Term
soli
Definition
in a big band; a portion of an arrangement in which one section, e.g., saxes, plays together in perfect rhythmic unison, the effect being that of a "solo" played by that section
Term
tutti
Definition
in a big band; the whole band plays together
Term
walking bass
Definition
a style of bass line in which each beat receives a separate tone, thus creating a moving sequence of quarter notes in the bass range
Term
rhythm changes
Definition
refers to a modified form of chord progression used in George Gershwin's song "I Got Rhythm"
Term
Ornette Coleman
Definition
Born in 1930, was an extremely important figure to many musicians today who play free-form music. He was an alto-sax player who has a very rich emotional content to his playing, free for him primarily means free from chord changes. Sometimes used a toy saxophone and even instruments he wasn't good at, such as the trumpet and the violin. He was also a composer and developed a system of harmelodics, in which he made all counterparts of his music equal.
Term
Don Cherry
Definition
a trumpeter who was, in his early days, Ornette Coleman's musical soulmate. He played a very small trumpet known as the pocket trumpet.
Term
Cecil Taylor
Definition
he is a pianist that sounds like no other. With a great amount of classical training, he is very virtuosic and has tremendous command over his instrument. He played free jazz in the sense that he was free from chord changes.
Term
Cecil Taylor Units
Definition
groups led by Cecil Taylor in which he would distribute little bits of material among the musicians and have them improvise with it. Also, the groups contained many non-jazz musicians.
Term
John Coltrane
Definition
One of the most important jazz giants in history and a profoundly great tenor-sax player. His tone is very recognizable, sounding pious and full (evocative of the Far East). Very comfortable playing over chord changes as well as playing modally.
Term
sheets of sound
Definition
style of playing used by John Coltrane in which he played a flood of notes very quickly, but very deliberately
Term
Giant Steps
Definition
A landmark album and name of the title tune released by John Coltrane in 1959. In this tune he really challenged himself to play over very fast and awkward chord changes that he wrote.
Term
John Coltrane
Definition
played tenor-sax in John Coltrane's Classic Quartet
Term
McCoy Tyner
Definition
Played piano in John Coltrane's Classic Quartet. He played in stacked fourths, sounding as if he wasn't in a key.
Term
Jimmy Garrison
Definition
played bass in John Coltrane's Classic Quartet
Term
Elvin Jones
Definition
played drums in John Coltrane's Classic Quartet. Famous for polyrhythmic playing, reminiscent of African music.
Term
My Favorite Things
Definition
Coltrane played this tune on soprano-sax which repopularized the instrument's use in jazz; much more popular than most jazz records because of the familiarity of the tune.
Term
Ascension
Definition
Album released by John Coltrane in 1965 that moved away from the quartet format and into the free-jazz realm. He called it a "big band thing" although it sounded nothing like big band. Featured the quartet plus others, including Freddie Hubbard. It is a continuous performance that alternates between ensemble passages and solo passages
Term
Herbie Hancock
Definition
Born in 1940, he is a great pianist who is influenced most by Bill Evans. He had a often played free and open apart from the rhythm section but vacillated between many different styles including a funk style, a waltz style, big band, and others. He became well-known through playing with Miles Davis but toured as a leader at the same time.
Term
Fender Rhodes electric piano
Definition
type of piano used frequently by Herbie Hancock, it was extremely popular in the 1970s and often used in fusion jazz
Term
Maiden Voyage
Definition
In 1965 Herbie Hancock released this record that is considered by many to be his greatest; it is also the name of a track on the record. Freddie Hubbard played trumpet here, it is a classic example of modal jazz and is Herbie's most well-known tune.
Term
Freddie Hubbard
Definition
excellent trumpeter that was used on tons of records during this time. He could play in the bebop style as well as modal jazz, also fluent in playing jazz-rock fusion
Term
Wayne Shorter
Definition
Born in Newark, NJ in 1943, he played the tenor sax. Before Miles Davis' 2nd Classic Quintet, he played with Art Blakey for five years. He was and still is one of the greatest composers in jazz, wrote most of the tunes for Miles 2nd classic quintet and Miles would never make changes to his tunes, which was atypical.
Term
Footprints
Definition
likely Wayne Shorter's most famous tune. It is a 12-bar blues form that is very unique with a repeating bass line that is in three (a waltz)
Term
Weather Report
Definition
a jazz-rock fusion group that Wayne Shorter formed that improvised a lot and in a certain way. Lots of very intense group interaction and players would frequently play against each other; the format was most frequently many players soloing at once, similar to older styles.
Term
Joe Zawinul
Definition
pianist who formed Weather Report with Wayne Shorter
Term
fusion
Definition
style of music that became popular in the 1970s in which certain styles of music were fused together. In the jazz sense, certain jazz styles were fused with rock styles.
Supporting users have an ad free experience!