Considered as part of history, the dawn of Jazz music started as early as the 1920’s. This is the same decade when the radio was born. Both have invaded our homes and captivated us with a different relaxing rhythm. Here are some factors that led to the revolutionizing music of those times.
The Dawn
As a result of the exploration of musical instruments from Europe, Afro-American musicians derived its own style of music rendition. This was way back the nineteenth century. New Orleans was believed to be the starting point of Jazz Music until it extends its impact to New York, Kansas and Chicago during these times. In the same decade, the music industry sprung paving the way to the spread of the Jazz music influence in most independent recording companies. These companies were also known as Indie records. Both Indie records and Jazz music complemented each other as they helped one another in the stairs of fame. Jazz dance progressed as a result of this partnership. Despite the ghost of racism, Jazz music and dance spread all over the United Nations. The beginning of Jazz music was treated as threat to the society. To refresh your memories, these were the times when the law prohibits women to cast their votes on national elections hence critiques from both sides came out to put down the blooming music genre.
The Performers
It has become unstoppable for Jazz music. Unnoticeably, the number of Jazz artists and fanatics has grown exponentially. Paul Whiteman, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong were few names that became famous during those times. Most artists preferred going on tandem or in band instead of solo flight. It appears that Jazz during these times must consist of combination of more than two voices and rhythm. At this early stage, Jazz instruments like trombone, clarinet and cornet were the most popular.
The Evolution
Long before Jazz was totally accepted by the society, it has evolved in numerous forms. Different states derived the main concept then created their own style. Some of these styles were big band style, Latin Jazz, Acid Jazz, and later on, even hip style of Jazz.
These were the factors that contributed to the age of Jazz. It was even considered as a music that plays from the heart going straight to the soul. Until now, Jazz continues to invade the music industry. Regardless of its form, you can still distinguish the original concept as soon as it is played. Not only that it invaded the industry of music but also, you will notice its influence on our fashion and sense of style. With its impact, it has been considered as the long time played genre of our age. Music instruments have been designed to ensure that it will follow the same style as before. People from different nations have shown its support and admiration to this holistic genre. Who will not be captivated by its rhythm? You can consider it as synonymous to relaxation and lasting harmony.
By: Jim Aldridge
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