Popular Music: Jazz

The origin of jazz came from the African American Population. Th African American rhythms with the European instruments and melodies molded together. The Western construction of the songs had a 7 note scale was now played with the African American 5 note scale. The jazz vibe of the five note scale turned into the blues sound we hear today. Many elements contributed to jazz. One of these elements had to do with improvisation. With the "relaxed" feel of improvisation and the smooth sounding African rhythm, jazz was one of the most enjoyable genres of the time. When the tune picked up, people called it "swing". The birthplace of American jazz was nowhere other than New Orleans. American Jazz was made when African, European, Caribbean, and other exotic rhythms and melodies met and molded together in New Orleans. IN the 1900's, Jazz rapidly spread throughout America and continued to transform and add different instruments such as percussion and piano to the ensemble. African American jazz players like Louis Armstrong flooded the cities, making entertainment a major industry. Soon, white bands were playing jazz. A key reason that jazz rapidly grew in popularity was because of industrialization and transportation. Because of this increase in technology and transportation, there was more diffusion and meshing of ideas. Transportation and technology made it easier for ideas of others to connect and make new progress in the music industry. I thought it was really interesting that transportation was such a big part of growing popularity in music. I would have never put music and transportation in the same category but now I realize that, without transportation, there could be no communication. Without communication, there could be no collaboration or progress. Another important thing in the development of jazz was the phonograph and the radio. These objects were affordable to almost everyone and it was a major contributor to the progression of popularity of jazz. A new variation of jazz formed in New York, which is now the nation's center for jazz. This new branch of jazz was called "bebop". This new genre was mostly race based. African Americans were the founders of this and many composers used bebop during the civil rights revolution. Now, as the popular music progresses to fit the lives of the generations, jazz has become an art music. It is the origin of all popular music and remains one of the most taught music genres in music schools and universities.

"Jazz". American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com