There are many forms of music in the world which are quite popular with its numerous fans. Of these you will find that Jazz music has a wide following of fans ranging from the ordinary folk to that of celebrities. The beginnings of Jazz music can be found in the African American communities in the Southern US in the early 20th century. From its inception you will find that this style of music has incorporated into its genre a number of elements from 19th and 20th century popular American music.
The African roots can be heard from the elements of polyrhythms, swung notes, blue notes, improvisation and syncopation. You will find from historical references that Jazz used to be a West Coast slang term and around about 1915 it was used to refer to music which was sung and heard in Chicago. During these early days this form of music was spelled as “jass” instead of the more familiar spelling of Jazz.
While the main form of this music is known as Jazz music you can today find a number of variations and sub genres which are quite popular in the world as well. For instance you have the derivatives of this style in the form of krautrock, Rock’n'roll, drum and bass, ska, reggae and Rhythm and blues. Some of the subgenres that you will find in the Jazz style of music include Asian American jazz, mini-jazz, swing, vocal jazz, Avant-garde jazz, Big band, Bebop, Afro-jazz and many others.
From this form of Jazz you can find there are a number of Fusion jazz genres. These fusion forms of Jazz will include No Wave, Progressive Rock, Bluegrass, Humppa, Jazz Fusion, Acid Jazz, Calypso Jazz and many others. Regardless of these numerous styles you will also be able to hear the strains of the original Jazz music playing in the background. In the Jazz form of music there are a number of instruments which can be heard providing intriguing sounds and rhythms to the words of the songs.
The instruments you will hear in the numerous songs of Jazz are Bass guitar, banjo, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, guitar, tuba, vibraphone, double bass, drums, piano, trombone and the flute. With the aid of these instruments you will be able to hear many well known singers bringing Jazz music to life in a number of different ways. You will have heard songs which have been performed by great singers like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Dave Brubeck, Jessica Williams and Wynton Marsalis to name but a few well known Jazz performers.
In addition to these musical personages you can also find celebrities like Norah Jones, Jamie Cullum, Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, and Cassandra Wilson who have shown how traditional jazz can be combined with pop music and rock music to from a musical style which is highly popular with fans from across the world.
By: Dilani M.
So you have decided that you want to be a drummer but is at a loss as to which genre of playing style you want to master. Have you considered learning how to be a jazz drummer?
As you probably know, jazz is one of the most artistic and intriguing genre of music and especially so for the jazz drummer. Playing jazz music gives the drummer the opportunity to exhibit his amazing technical drumming skills and capabilities. However, most drummers choose not to take the time to learn how to play jazz drums properly which is partly due to its wide range of technicalities unlike most other forms of music.
Although jazz drumming seem to look very complicated, in reality, it is not that difficult to learn. The main difference is that most drummers are used to the 4/4 tempo of drumming where jazz is played with plenty of triplets and has a different feel from most other types of music. So the drummer may have to relearn some drumming techniques. Furthermore, most jazz pieces are relatively fast in tempo and thus most drummers also need to make improvements on their stick speed.
The first thing a new drummer needs to learn when playing jazz pieces is the basic jazz swing tempo or sometimes called the “swing groove”. A jazz drummer’s main role is to keep time for the rest of the band just like in any genre of music. The drummer should never overpower the rest of the band unlike when playing rock songs. To do this, simply use your hi hat and ride cymbal.
Ok. Let’s start with your hi-hat stepping on the 2 and 4 count to a piece of swing music. It is critical to keep this count over top of everything else that you play. Next, add ride the cymbal with a triplet tempo and feel. Practice these moves to perfection before going further with your drum lessons.
Now that you have mastered how to keep the swing tempo with the hi-hat and ride cymbal, let’s move on to the bass drum or sometimes called the kick-drum. Jazz drumming techniques are sometimes very subtle and because of this, the bass drum should not be too dominant. So do make sure that you do not play the bass drum too loudly. This again is unlike most other form of drumming. A good technique for this is keep your heel down when playing the bass drum. In this way, you are more in position control the strength of the kick more easily. A technique jazz drummers often use is the feathering the bass drum. This is done by lightly tapping the bass drum on the quarter or eighth notes.
You will probably know that is highly common for the bass drum to follow the bass guitar player. So you may need to know what kind of rhythm progression the bass player is playing and try to follow him. The bass drum should be played with more of a feel rather than powerful thumping like those in rock music.
The snare drum can be used to help as an accent for the band or can be used to play straight quarter notes.
Another common rhythm in jazz music is the shuffle and every jazz drummer must also master this form of drumming. Furthermore, since jazz music usually have musicians doing solo runs, the jazz drummer must also learn how to play drum solos. By developing these common jazz drumming styles, you will be playing jazz drums like a pro pretty soon!
By: Chris Chew
So you have decided that you want to be a drummer but is at a loss as to which genre of playing style you want to master. Have you considered learning how to be a jazz drummer?
As you probably know, jazz is one of the most artistic and intriguing genre of music and especially so for the jazz drummer. Playing jazz music gives the drummer the opportunity to exhibit his amazing technical drumming skills and capabilities. However, most drummers choose not to take the time to learn how to play jazz drums properly which is partly due to its wide range of technicalities unlike most other forms of music.
Although jazz drumming seem to look very complicated, in reality, it is not that difficult to learn. The main difference is that most drummers are used to the 4/4 tempo of drumming where jazz is played with plenty of triplets and has a different feel from most other types of music. So the drummer may have to relearn some drumming techniques. Furthermore, most jazz pieces are relatively fast in tempo and thus most drummers also need to make improvements on their stick speed.
The first thing a new drummer needs to learn when playing jazz pieces is the basic jazz swing tempo or sometimes called the “swing groove”. A jazz drummer’s main role is to keep time for the rest of the band just like in any genre of music. The drummer should never overpower the rest of the band unlike when playing rock songs. To do this, simply use your hi hat and ride cymbal.
Ok. Let’s start with your hi-hat stepping on the 2 and 4 count to a piece of swing music. It is critical to keep this count over top of everything else that you play. Next, add ride the cymbal with a triplet tempo and feel. Practice these moves to perfection before going further with your drum lessons.
Now that you have mastered how to keep the swing tempo with the hi-hat and ride cymbal, let’s move on to the bass drum or sometimes called the kick-drum. Jazz drumming techniques are sometimes very subtle and because of this, the bass drum should not be too dominant. So do make sure that you do not play the bass drum too loudly. This again is unlike most other form of drumming. A good technique for this is keep your heel down when playing the bass drum. In this way, you are more in position control the strength of the kick more easily. A technique jazz drummers often use is the feathering the bass drum. This is done by lightly tapping the bass drum on the quarter or eighth notes.
You will probably know that is highly common for the bass drum to follow the bass guitar player. So you may need to know what kind of rhythm progression the bass player is playing and try to follow him. The bass drum should be played with more of a feel rather than powerful thumping like those in rock music.
The snare drum can be used to help as an accent for the band or can be used to play straight quarter notes.
Another common rhythm in jazz music is the shuffle and every jazz drummer must also master this form of drumming. Furthermore, since jazz music usually have musicians doing solo runs, the jazz drummer must also learn how to play drum solos. By developing these common jazz drumming styles, you will be playing jazz drums like a pro pretty soon!
By: Chris Chew