How Did Sidney Bechet Use Jazz Technique?

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My research question was, what jazz techniques did Sidney Bechet use and how can I use these to compose my own clarinet piece? There were different research processes used to find the answer to my question and they were: the internet, books, an interview, videos and music. These processes were useful to me as the information was accessed easily and effectively. Each process was used to find a different aspect of my research and allowed me to discover different angles and opinions on the topic. Using books, interviews and videos were new research processes for me and I discovered that they are very useful when conducting the research for this topic.
To understand Bechet’s music and his love for jazz learning about his life or career will make …show more content…

Melodically, jazz gets its sound from blues scales. While it can be composed, arranged and written down jazz is essentially an improvised music (Ardley, et al., 1977). One of the key findings from the research was the jazz techniques Sidney Bechet applied to his music. From listening to his music on the Best of Sidney Bechet CD, it is evident the most common techniques found were: vibrato, bending notes, repetition, imitation, small runs and trills. This was discovered by aurally analysing the music and was useful to my research as to write in Bechet’s style the techniques need to be known as they will be used when composing. Bechet used improvisation in his music which is a common jazz technique. Improvisation in jazz music is commonly based on blues scales. Bechet’s techniques can be used in any genre but are most common in jazz music. After studying some of Bechet’s written music (18 songs), I discovered that he wrote most commonly in the key of G major which has an F#, with Bb major which as a Bb and Eb, coming in secondly most used (Patrick Moulou Book Makers , 2015). He liked to use quavers, triplets, key changes, time signature changes and accidentals. These are commonly used in all types of jazz music. Bechet is recognised through the wailing cry of the vibrato he plays on his soprano saxophone therefore this is his most used

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