Jazz history essay

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:Music

Document 1

However, the compositions and style of jazz music have evolved throughout the years since its origin in the 19th century depending on the personal improvisations and interpretations of the performer (Ulanov, 1952). It has been praised by most intellectuals in the world as one of the original forms of art in America characterized by blue and swing notes, response and call vocals as well as improvisation. There are several stylistic origins of jazz music where the styles are derived with blues being the most dominant over the other stylistic origins. Blues is independently a musical form and genre of music originating from the deep southern parts of united states in the 1870s. It was developed by African Americans from African traditional music, folk songs, spiritual songs and African -American work songs.

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In 1917, ragtime was overtaken by the jazz music which claimed public dominance. Ragtime became more popular at the start of the 20th century and was performed, danced and composed by many people who were from different cultures. it uses typical instruments like the piano, guitar, and the banjo. Spirituals is also another genre where the stylistic origins of jazz music were derived. It is also called Negro spirituals is referred to be a genre of music which originated from America and was developed by African Americans. Folk music was characterized by transmission of the oral traditions, the relation of the music to the national culture, custom performances over a long period of time and their use in commemorations of historical and personal events like Christmas.

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The American march music is another stylistic origin of the jazz music. It was performed in the united states and originated from the European composers who were, in turn, copying it from the military music of the Ottoman empire in the 16th century ('Billy'Tylor. The American march was developed during the revolutionary and colonial periods after the British model. Its development however extended to later times and was used in military ceremonies to entertain the civilians. For instance, the baroque violin became the today's violin. West African music is also one of the sources of styles used in jazz music. West African music is commonly composed of drums whereby the most dominant are the talking drum and the Djembe drum. This genre also uses other instruments like the balafon and other stringed instruments like the ngoni, adjalin kora, and the xalim.

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They are found in West African countries like Nigeria and Ghana (Agawu, 1987). It is also advisable for one to listen to jazz music when stressed because it helps in stress relief. This is through alpha brain waves which have a frequency of 12Hz hence listening to music for 45 minutes in relaxed position causes synchronization of brain frequency leading to alpha waves which help in brain relaxation. In summary, the history of jazz music has been traced back to the 19th and 20th century where it originated from the African American communities most of the Orleans and the united states. It was the most popular American music which was believed to be from pure art and was used as a form of expression that was musical in nature.

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