Jazz and Improvisation Reference booklet. http://www.composemusic.co.uk/resources
Understand the history of Blues Improvise with a blues scale and other scales Perform and learn how to play chords Listen and analyse music •
•
•
•
Jazz and Improvisation
History Of Jazz And Its Roots Enslaved Africans sang songs filled with words telling of their extreme suffering and praying for a better life. In the Mississippi field slaves were forced to work in unbearably difficult and cruel conditions. Slaves used calls and responses known as the field holler to keep their spirits, to take their mind off work and to keep a steady rhythm. The field holler evolved to become the spiritual, which developed into the blues. The popularly accepted theory that Jazz stemmed from a simple combination of African rhythms and European harmony is in need of a little revision. Both African and European rhythms were employed. African music supplied the strong underlying beat (absent in most European music), the use of “ polyrhythms”, and the idea of playing the melody separate from or above the beat. European music provided formal dance rhythms. Combined, these rhythms give Jazz its' characteristic swing. Likewise, the harmonies and musical ideas of both continents are present, the blue notes derived from the pentatonic scale, "call and response" and unconventional instrumental timbres of African music together with "conventional" harmonies and, most important, the formal structure of European music. •
Look on the internet for true accounts of the life of slaves.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ART FORM Jazz was a mixture of many different kinds of music. This brief history attempts to draw your attention to important styles and artists. MINSTREL SHOWS Before the Civil War white performers blacked their faces mimicking the music, dance and culture of the slave population. Composers like Stephen Foster however, only ever visited the south once and were in fact born in the Northwest. The popularity of these shows led later generations of black musicians to themselves imitate these white musicians and this element exerted an influence on jazz. WORK SONGS, FIELD HOLLERS, PRISON WORK SONGS & DANCE When African slaves arrived in the Americas the African culture started to mix with the American culture, next are some contrasts in the music. An important element of African musical tradition is the role of music in the lives of the people;
Music is integrated into their working lives and in their rituals; songs to wash the cloths, songs to soften the hide, songs to build spirits for a hunt. By contrast in Western culture music is seen as an “art”. When music performs a function, in African traditions this function is to the forefront and the people take an active part in its performance. In western traditions music is less of a function and more of an art form. •
Is music performed on a daily basis in your school? (i.e. at assemblies) Songs in assemblies were there to serve a purpose, raise the spirit and build a sense of togetherness. Today, very often schools just play incidental music on the way in to calm everyone down – this misses the point of the original idea. Could you start a campaign to bring back singing into to school.
The link between African music and dance is very strong. In 1817 the New Orleans City Council established an official site for slave dances (Congo Square). These circle dances were known as RING SHOUTS. Where ever you go in Africa you will see music being performed complete with dance, by contrast usually music in the western culture Another feature of African music is the use of instruments to emulate the human voice; This trait plays a key role in jazz. An open tone and natural quality mark all African speech, singing and playing. In many African languages each syllable and word has a specific pitch association, and accordingly word meanings change with pitch variation. By contrast Western art music has a studied, cultural tone. The emphasis on improvisation and spontaneity in African music is also apparent in jazz. In African culture virtually any object can be a source of rhythm, and as a result their rhythm patterns are complex and subtle when compared to Western ideas of rhythm. Shuller explains this by showing that in Western thinking rhythm is thought of by dividing the beat, were as in African culture rhythm is thought of as adding beats. These polyrhythms and syncopation’s are very evident in jazz.
The Blues The blues developed from its slave trade roots to become a popular form of song, and therefore a commercially viable form of entertainment. Blues musicians began to use electric guitars and to shift the emphasis of the songs from sadness and despair at their oppressive treatment to songs of broken hearts and unrequited love. Most historians agree that the Blues was one of the few for ms to remain relatively constant from the 1890’s to 1920’s, and although its origins are unknown it seems likely to have been a new type of song that began with the Negroes new life in the American South. To us the Blues means a 12 bar form that uses the Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant chords in a fixed pattern.
Another characteristic of the Blues is the use of “Blue notes”. In early recordings musicians would “bend” a note sliding between two tonal centres. Later these Blue notes were thought of as flattened 3rds and 7ths and the flattened 5th. When “the Blues” is sung it uses a specific form for its lyrics. The first line is stated, then repeated and followed by a simple rhyming line. Robert Johnson “Drunken Hearted Man”
My father died and left me, my poor mother done the best that she could. My father died and left me, my poor mother done the best she could. Everyman likes that game you call love, but it don’t mean no man no good.
The 12 Bar Blues Following are the CHORD SEQUENCE FOR THE 12 BAR BLUES. This sequence is at the heart of all Jazz music. Try to play through the sequence using either single finger chords (using single finger accompaniment on the keyboards) or full chords. Remember to keep a steady beat and make sure you have 4 beats in each bar.
Improvising. Improvising means making it up as you go along. That sounds very simple but there are some guidelines that you can follow to help your improvisation sound good, rather than a set of jumbled random notes. Ask for a blues scale template to help you learn the notes against the keys.
1. Use the correct notes, either; a. Notes from the blues scale. b. Notes that fit with the chord sequence. 2. Use a chord sequence, either; a. The 12 bar blues sequence. b. Another given chord sequence. 3. Keep a steady pace that matches the tempo of the music.
The Correct notes to use. The basic blues scale is built upon five simple notes.
C Eb F G & Bb You can start to improvise with these notes first by starting on step one and as you gain more confidence and the improvisation sounds good then add another step.
Working out Chords When two or more notes are played together this is called a “chord”. The commonest type of chord is called a “triad” which is three notes played together. Basic formula for triads: Play a For a triad chord of C, play C, miss note, miss a note, play a note, miss D, Play E, miss F, play G a note and play a note.
When the notes are played together they are written like this;
Next are a couple of other chords in the Blues Sequence;
chord of F
chord of G
Written as;
written as;
The chord C7 is slighly more difficult as it adds a Bb. th
Written as;
7 chords are normal triads with an th added note from the 7 of the scale.
Next are some extra chords to try;
F7
D minor
A minor
D major
Em7
Improvising on Some Popular Chord Sequences Now that you have learnt how to improvise on the blues chord sequence, you can now have some fun working with some more sequences used in pop music. If you are finding playing the full chord difficult you could try using the single finger chord backing on most electronic keyboards. Here’s how it works. KEYBOARD SETUP.
• • • •
Select the STYLE first. Eg Pop Ballad. Select a VOICE. Press either ONE TOUCH SETTING (OTS), or AUTO ACC ON. Press SYNCHRO-START.
Now play one of the chord sequences below (either single fingered or full chords). Keep repeating it while your partner (or yourself !) improvises a melody over the top using notes from the scale for each chord sequence. A) Pop Ballad Scale : A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A
How to play Am chord (play A&Ab together on single finger chords)
Am
G
F
G
ACE
GBD
FAC
GBD
B) Pop Rock Scale : D, E, F#, G, A, B, C, D
How to play Em7 chord ( E+Eb+D together)
D
Em7
C
G
D F# A
EGBD
CEG
GBD
C) 8 Beat Scale : G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G
G
F
C
GBD
FAC
CEG
G GBD
Extension Task
Try to shape your melody into an AABA structure. The person playing the chords should also add FILLS where appropriate.
Some pieces to perform The Entertainer by Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (born between June 1867 and January 1868 [1] – died April 1, 1917) was a black musician and composer of ragtime music. He remains the best-known ragtime figure and is regarded as one of [2] the three most important composers and founders of classic ragtime , along with James Scott and Joseph Lamb. His mastery of the ragtime genre led to his reputation as t he 'King of Ragtime'. Ragtime is an American musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1899 and 1918. It has had several periods of revival since then and is still being composed today. Ragtime was the first truly American musical genre, predating jazz. It began as dance music in popular music settings years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Being a modification of the then popular march, it was usually written in 2/4 or 4/4 time (meter), frequently with a predominant left hand pattern of bass notes on odd-numbered beats and chords on even-numbered beats accompanying a syncopated melody in the right hand. A composition in this style is called a "rag". A rag written in 3/4 time is a "ragtime waltz".
Peter Gunn theme from the Blues Brothers by Henry Mancini Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was an Academy Award winning American composer, conductor and arranger. He is remembered particularly for being a composer of film and television scores. Mancini also won a record number of Grammy awards, including a "Lifetime Achievement" award in 1995. This piece was originally used for the hit tv series “Peter Gunn” and won awards at the time. It was reused in the film “the Blues Brothers”.
Honky-Tonk Blues “Honky-tonk” music was played in rough bars in the Deep South. This is a typical 12 bar blues with a catchy tune placed upon the top. There is scope to improvise in different sections to add variety but this piece is not that hard to play and should be conquered in a couple of practises. Improvise with the rhythm of the chord sequence to see if you can add variety. The person playing the chords can also change to playing to bass part instead to add more variety.
Bill Bailey - Traditional (song is anonymous) When a song is traditional it means it has no known composer and the song usually has folk origins. In this case Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey is a popular song, often commonly referred to as simply Bill Bailey. It was written by Hughie Cannon, published in 1902, and is still a standard with Dixieland and Traditional Jazz bands.
“Honky‐Tonk” Blues Chords (play once)
Honky - Tonk melody (play 3 times)
Bass Line (play once)
Name ____________________________ Class_______________________ Listening Activity: Blues appraisal
Listen to the blues songs listed below and answer the questions in the table. Your responses will be assessed using criteria below. Make sure you understand this.
Song title
What instruments can you hear?
What type of voices can you hear?
What are the lyrics are about?
Is there a 12 bar blues chord scheme?
National Curriculum Level Descriptions: Listening 3: a basic recognition of sounds and the el ements. 4: a correct identification and description of sounds using appropriate musical vocabulary. 5: an accurate identification and analysis of musical devices, evaluating the motives for composition. 6: a detailed identification and evaluation of the processes and contexts of musical genres. 7: a precise judgement of conventions and characteristics within musical genres, styles and traditions. 8: a precise discrimination of the characteristics and expressive potential of musical resources, genres, styles and traditions. EP: a detailed analysis showing a contextual awareness of musical genres, styles, traditions and composers.
Blues Lyr ics Blues lyrics contain some of the most penetrating and revealing statements in the Western musical tradition. Blues lyrics are often intensely personal, frequently contain sexual references and often deal with the pain of betrayal, desertion, and unrequited love or with unhappy situations such as being jobless, hungry, broke, away from home, lonely, or downhearted because of an unfaithful lover. The early blues were very irregular rhythmically and usually followed speech patterns, as can be heard in the recordings made in the twenties. The first line is generally repeated and third line is different from the first two. Thus we end up with a form AAB. The phrase the blues is a reference to having a fit of the blue devils, meaning 'down' spirits, depression and sadness. A feature of the blues is the use of call and response and the blues notes. Now write some lyrics to a verse or two of a blues song (remember it can be complaining about love, work, treatment or anything else that makes you sad. Song Title
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ch o r d Se q u e n c e o f t h e 1 2 B a r b l u e s & t h e Fo r m o f t h e 1 2 b a r b l u e s
There are always three 4 bar phrases But you can alter these chords to get the feeling you want. Revise the section on working with chords and popular chord sequences and then try to make your own chord sequence, try to fit it into a form of 3 X 4 bar sections. Write the chords below (each box is a bar of 4 beats).
Try to fit the chord sequence to your lyrics by playing your sequence over and over again whilst trying to sing or say the lyrics to a rhythm, until they seem to fit well. You can use Single finger chords such as; •
C……F……F……C7……
or you can write the full chord out. •
C E G……..F A C………F A C……….C E G Bb
Here are some chords in short and in full.
C = C E G
F = F A C
G = G B D
C7 = C E G Bb
F7 = F A C Eb
G7 = G B D F
Em= E G B
Am7 = A C E G
The Blues Assessement Sheet What I worked on today? Blues Bass (walking bass)
Blues Chords (12 bar blues)
Honky-tonk chords
Performance piece
Improvising
Blues Lyrics
Two things I need to do for next lesson are?
My effort today was (circle) A
B
C
D
E
Assessment Levels…… Assess your own performance and three other performances. 3: Rhythmically and melodically simple. 4: more complex and audience-focused. 5: initial ideas were developed to produce a stylish and effective improvisation. 6: a well-planned and musical improvisation, building on knowledge gained. 7: a well-proportioned, musically secure and refined improvisation with stylistic focus. 8: very polished and musically expressive, with sensitive handling of material. EP: a musically convincing exploitation of musical ideas and a sense of individual style and flair.
Name
Style /voice
Clear 12 bar blues
Good improvisation
Did the piece develop?
Level
