Jazz

Jazz

A style of music characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and usually a regular or forceful rhythm. It emerged at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions.

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Jazz

Line

Music; Jazz

(1) A melody of successive, single notes. (2) A composed melody over predetermined chord changes, such as 'a line on Cherokee'. (3) One of the different voices, such as the bass or the melody.

Intro

Music; Jazz

A composed section at the beginning of a tune, heard only once.

Modulation

Music; Jazz

The establishment of a new key. This is mainly a matter of harmonic progression, but expectation, emphasis and phrasing also enter into determining whether a new key has really been established. In ...

Bossa nova

Music; Jazz

A Brazilian jazz/pop music form derived from the samba (originated c. 1960), influenced by cool jazz, and usually played quietly, with minimal percussion.

Half time feel

Music; Jazz

A time feel half as fast, while the chords go by in the same amount of time. Occurs in the intro to Chick Corea's Tones for Joan's Bones.

Song form

Music; Jazz

A musical form with two contrasting themes A and B, thus-- A (8 bars); A repeated; B (8 bars); A repeated. The three A's have slightly different endings (turnarounds). Another common form may be ...