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Type of Submission
Performance
Keywords
Jazz, improvisation
Abstract
When one listens to music, there are several facets to the music that give the listener the experience that he is enjoying. Two of the main overarching factors that make up how the music sounds to the listener are its melodic and harmonic structural integrity that make up the piece of music. Each of these factors can change how the music being played reaches the ears of the listener. Of all the genres of music, jazz music places the most responsibility of these factors on the performer. Jazz improvisation is known for the performer coming up with musical ideas in the moment, but every choice the improviser makes is based on what he knows. With that thought in mind, one can see that an improviser that does not have a big spectrum of musical knowledge and technical facility on his instrument and style of music is not completely free to improvise organically. This principle has to be understood before one can understand the topic of this paper. Another idea that has to be understood is that technical facility works hand in hand with organic melodies. Technical facility is the only means to true organic playing. In order to gain the ability to improvise with a complete organic and natural fluidity in any style, one first must have a technical mastery that facilitates much farther than is needed.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Dr. Yang
Campus Venue
Dixon Ministry Center, Recital Hall
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-16-2014 1:40 PM
End Date
4-16-2014 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Jazz Improvisation: Organic Technical Mastery
Cedarville, OH
When one listens to music, there are several facets to the music that give the listener the experience that he is enjoying. Two of the main overarching factors that make up how the music sounds to the listener are its melodic and harmonic structural integrity that make up the piece of music. Each of these factors can change how the music being played reaches the ears of the listener. Of all the genres of music, jazz music places the most responsibility of these factors on the performer. Jazz improvisation is known for the performer coming up with musical ideas in the moment, but every choice the improviser makes is based on what he knows. With that thought in mind, one can see that an improviser that does not have a big spectrum of musical knowledge and technical facility on his instrument and style of music is not completely free to improvise organically. This principle has to be understood before one can understand the topic of this paper. Another idea that has to be understood is that technical facility works hand in hand with organic melodies. Technical facility is the only means to true organic playing. In order to gain the ability to improvise with a complete organic and natural fluidity in any style, one first must have a technical mastery that facilitates much farther than is needed.
