In contemporary society, people live their lives at a faster rate than ever before. Therefore, people need a balance and an outlet to help them keep healthy in their personal and social daily life. Jazz provides a medium for people to balance themselves. It balances the individuals and groups, with its lyrics, tempo and performers.
The lyrics of jazz songs keep people’s inner balance. Among the various characteristics of jazz lyrics, simplicity is one of the most important. Unlike other kinds of music with complicated lyrics, jazz songs have short lyrics. Usually they repeat similar patterns of sentences. For the blues (a category of jazz) lyrics, "each line of the lyrics has five (penta) accented syllables that alternate with unaccented syllables
…show more content…
(iambic). There are usually three lines of text in each verse, the first two of which are the same (AAB)" (Tanner and Megill 44). The number of accented syllables determines the intensity of the songs because people tend to focus on the accented. Hence, the small quantity of accented syllables in blues lyrics mediates the intensity in the songs and comforts people. The lines repeat so that the listeners can grow into the pattern and enjoy the rhythm. The poem-like lyrics put people in peace. As Richard wrote, the lyrics are harmonically “articulated by a characteristic oscillation between tonic and subdominant, and tonic and dominant, chords” (503). The repetition makes lyrics even more harmonic. Repetition also has an effect of making the lyrics memorable, deepening the meaning of the song, just as Mayo, Schul and Rosenthal stated, affirmative repetition improves our memory of the content. (1) In one of Norah Jones' most famous jazz songs, "Don't Know Why,” the lyrics always break within eight words: I waited til I saw the sun I don't know why I didn't come I left you by the house of fun I don't know why I didn't come I don’t know why I didn’t come (lines 1-5) In these lyrics, all sentences start with “I,” using the narrative to describe direct actions and feelings. Three out of five lines repeat, so the same sentences deepen the meaning they intend to convey. The lyrics resemble a poem, depicting a girl who calmly addresses her story. The honest tone in the lyrics increases people’s consent to the song, bringing them relaxation. The general features of honesty, candor and peace in the lyrics of jazz songs let people ponder the deeper meanings in the song. The sheer simplicity of lyrics not only emphasizes the meaning of the songs, but also brings people what they seek for when they listen to music: happiness and relief.
When people listen to music, they look for an outlet for their inner emotions. In other words, they are seeking relaxation. Sloboda (once a professor of psychology at Keele University) argues that "Expectancy mechanisms also exist among music listeners in a different sense: people expect music to be a change agent in the sense that it will alter their psychological state and relax them when they are anxious or stressed" (qtd. in Yehuda 87). When the audiences listen to music, they hope to put their stressed emotion down and change into an upbeat one. They hope to find a medium to let out their pressure in life and to relax, so music would be the best choice. Jazz works as an effective tool in catharsis since it releases the anxiety and stress that builds up in people and clears out the negative …show more content…
emotions. Basic logic also lies under the relaxation phenomenon of jazz. Think about why people like listening to music first: They try to build their own world in this individual work. According to Tanner and Megill, the joy people get when listening to music "is fostered through active participation that includes understanding, careful listening, and emotional response" (6). When people listen, they make their own interpretation of the song and their own communication with the song, and eventually the song will become theirs. Only in their own world can people reveal their true selves. In that world where people cut themselves off from the complication of the real world, people can eventually achieve balance from the simple nature of lyrics, which contrasts with reality. The relaxing effect also reflects in its usage of music therapy: “Under the influence of MT, compared with the untreated subjects, anxiety and salivary cortisol were significantly reduced immediately pre- and post-exercise” (Ramona and Ioana Jurcău 321). Using music as therapy implies music’s outstanding soothing effect. Music genres like jazz and R&B represent the perfect outlet. Their “Mellow/relaxing” feature is why people choose to listen to them (Rentfrow, Goldberg and Levitin 9), so for the intent of relaxation, jazz best satisfies our need. Contrasting with other kinds of music like heavy metal and rock, jazz has outstanding relaxing effect. Music like rock provides people with a rotten and devastated environment. So jazz relaxes people best. The lyrics balance people because of not only their simplicity but also their content. They usually do not contain extremely negative or positive emotions, but only mild ones describing common things: the love story between a boy and a girl, friendship, the beautiful environment surrounding, and so on. The lyrics of Louis Armstrong's best-known song-- "What A Wonderful World"-- goes like this: I see trees of green, Red roses too. I see them bloom, For me and you. And I think to myself, What a wonderful world. (lines 1-6) The song talks about two common things in the world: green trees and red roses. They are just normal elements in everyday life. The lyrics don’t include singers’ attitude but includes appreciation towards nature, which wins the listeners’ full consent to the song. In this way, people can relax because they agree with what they hear. We would not get too related to the songs because of their simple content. This characteristic of jazz lyrics helps us stay calm and rational, which demonstrates why I always listen to jazz to get a break from long time of study. When I stuck at some difficult problems in assignments, I dive in the world of jazz to get a short break. It releases the tension from doing the hard work and brings a rather uplifting emotion to me. After a short break, the question I ponder on gets solved. As illustrated in multiple studies, listening to music enhances our academic performance (Schellenberg 513; Rauscher 12). In addition, the content of the lyrics would not make people too carried away from reality so that they can get right back to work, but relax at the same time. In addition to jazz's lyrics, its tempo also affects people in a positive way. Because of the small differences in the power of beats and the various types of instruments relegated with different patterns of tempo, the songs sound light and "floaty" instead of heavy. The power of beats in jazz is intentionally arranged in some way that the lighter beats follow the heavy beats, so that the heaviness decreases or even disappears. This fact also mirrors the uplifting effect: heavy beats are more often used when a song is meant to deliver a sense of depression and devastation, and lighter ones are more inclined to express the feeling of happiness and perkiness. Meanwhile, Lundqvist's study and report shows that the depression and upbeat emotion in music tend to bring listeners the similar mood (74). So with jazz’s light rhythm, the songs express upbeat spirit and bring people the similar emotion-- happiness. In addition, the instruments used to play jazz also vary largely and can have different effects when put together.
At least five different instruments are used to compose a jazz song, and each of them differs from the others. The combination of these instruments creates a comfortable atmosphere. “It remains that classical music and all forms of jazz are rich with variety in both ensemble size and instrumental combinations” (Stephans 90). Jazz drums first and foremost manifest this variety. To play all the beats in a jazz song, a whole set of drums participates in the composition: crash cymbals, a bass drum, a snare drum, a Hi-Hat cymbal, a floor tom and tom toms. Slaughter's photo demonstrates the general number and positions of a whole set of jazz drums. Drums as well as other instruments create harmony in the melody. Stephans also asserts that both small groups and large ensembles in jazz have wonderful acoustics (91-111). Thus, either kind of ensemble sizes can deliver high quality performances to satisfy the audiences’ need for
relief. The instruments together with tempo make people appreciate the little things in life. It makes them think of the blue sky, the sun shining above and leaving little dots under the tree, the smell of fresh cut grass, the tall green trees. So many things that people ignored come back to their attention because of jazz, and in this way, when people appreciate more in life, they become more pleased and less inclined to be tense. Lundqvist’s study shows that the intensity of the emotion of the music influences the listeners’ level of happiness, (74) so the mild positive emotion counts as the perfect amount for listeners to enjoy themselves. I experienced the case one summer. I could not bear the hot weather at that point, when I heard a jazz song coming out of a coffee house. After listening for a while, the heat that had been gathering in me and bothering me all day gradually flew away, and I started to enjoy the sunshine. The joy comes from the arising attention to the surroundings, which essentially is an effect of jazz. The pleasure counteracts with the depression within the self and balances people’s inside.
Though jazz has changed, the background behind it still inspires those today. Even though each artist has their particular style or expression, they all can agree that music is art. They can all agree that music is about emotions and feelings. Through the years, just as all things do, Jazz and Bebop have grown and flourished across America and the World. All in all, Jazz for African Americans opened the doors in America, jazz alone opened doors and ears all across the Earth.
Jazz became popular during the 1920s and was developed from Blues and Ragtime. The 1920s was nicknamed The Roaring Twenties or the Jazz age because it was a time where many traditonal moral standards were not followed and people indulged in new danicng and dressing styles. Jazz is still important to us today but according to Nielsen‘s 2014 Year-End Report, jazz is continuing to fall out of favor with American listeners and has tied with classical music as the least-consumed music in the U.S., after children’s
Music is something that allows people to express feelings and emotions that can’t be easily said out loud. Sonny in James Baldwin’s “SB” turns to music as a temporary getaway from his family conflicts and drug addiction. He said “it's the only thing I want to do” for the rest of his life, and it’s the only positive thing in his life (Baldwin 32). Though his brother sees jazz as a connection to Sonny’s drugs and detrimental to his life, Sonny
...came from jazz's popularity was positive. Although some people were not happy with it, it improved so many people's lives in such drastic ways that it can not be viewed as "evil" music. With every new age group there will come change, and the people before it will not be as accepting. If you look through a timeline of, say, music, you will notice that as time has gone on, the music has gotten more sexual, more outgoing, more "evil", noisier, even stupider. Each generation needs something to set them apart, and to one-up the previous one. It is a natural way of life, proven by history. Jazz also helped many people in the years to come, the depression years, by uplifting their spirits. The pros of jazz music surely outweigh the cons, which makes it clear that the negative aspects of the music are only based off opinions, and the positive ones are based off facts.
"Jazz is very important to my vision of life in our time." (Lamb, 1). Jazz gives him a feeling of individuality and community. This means that when individuals push him, and he pushes them back, they both become better
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911…” . This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issue, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz.
Imagine you are walking the streets of New Orleans. You are standing right where jazz was established in the United States of America. Jazz wasn’t just about music, it also affected the culture involving social, economic, artistic and jazz leaders.
In the 1920s, it was the birth of Jazz and the Blues. More importantly, black musicians/artists were becoming recognized during this decade, more before than the 1910s, due to this new genre of music. Since these artists were becoming recognized, three songs really catches the eye of this decade and represents the overall historic event of the 1920s; “social changes and profound cultural conflicts.”
Jazz is the kind of music that makes me want to do one of two things. Depending on the mood of the jazz, sometimes I feel like relaxing and just listening to the music and letting it run through me. Other times I feel like getting up and dancing as if I have not a care in the world. The jazz concert I attended on at SLO Brewing Company on October 6, 2001 inspired me to do both of these due to the variety used by the musicians in dynamic, rhythm, tempo, and many other aspects of music.
Fast. Risky. Intriguing. The upbeat tempo, clashing of high-hats, and randomness in the seduction of jazz draws in an audience during a performance. The musical art form of jazz uses key elements that mainstream music normally use to draw an audience in. However, the added emphasis of improvisation sets jazz apart from mainstream music. Improvisation calls for a musician to create new music on the spot. Musicians use elements like tempo changes, tone, riffs, and etc., to express improvisation. As jazz originates from the African American
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
The evolvement of jazz throughout the years has been an interesting one. Blues and Ragtime are just two simple innovations that has allowed for many variations in the jazz genre. Both of these genres have their similarities and differences in how they influenced jazz music through: improvisation, syncopation, and experimentation.
Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then typically consisting of 10–25 pieces, came to dominate popular music. At that time they usually played a form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins, which was dropped after the introduction of swing in 1935. A few bands also had violas and cellos, usually one or two along with them. The dance form of jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written and vocals would be sung (often in a tenor voice) and in tune with the
Now a days, many believe that jazz is not that important of music genre, but with our history, jazz plays a big role. “Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but it is a gift that America has given to the world.”, quoted by Ahmad Alaadeen. Jazz in the 1920’s opened the eyes of whites and invited them into African American culture; it evolved Americans to where we are today since it brought a change to the music scene, an acceptance of African Americans, and a change of lifestyles.
Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of the Harlem Renaissance. “Jazz is the only pure American creation, which shortly after its birth, became America’s most important cultural export”(Ostendorf, 165). It evolved from the blues. In the formally standardized, instrumentally accompanied form of “city blues”(as opposed to the formally unstandardized and earlier “country blues”), the blues was to become one of the two major foundations of 1920s jazz (the other being rags). City blues tended to be strophic songs with a text typically based on two-line strophes (but with the first line of each strophe’s text repeated, AAB) and a standard succession of harmonies underlying each strophe’s melody.... ...