Jazz Blog » Musical Traditions

Online Collection of Flamenco Music & Smooth Jazz

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Flamenco is a Spanish classical art which consist of three parts of music, dance, and guitar playing. The flamenco music is basically constructed with strong rhythmic undertones that are accompanied with the passionate dance with vigorous movement. It’s considered as a part of Spanish culture, but the place of origin for flamenco is Andalusia. The golden period of flamenco music is considered between the periods of (1869-1910). During the period of 1910 to 1955 flamenco singing became easier with the combination of opera flamenco. The real renaissance in flamenco was started in 1955 with the rise of Antonio Mairena as a great artist. The flamenco music has the influence of Salsa, Bossa Nova, and Jazz etc.

The flamenco music is getting popularity all over the world because of its resemblance with the Jazz music. The soothing effect of this music is recently recognized. On our online store we provide a vide range of flamenco music.

Jazz music:

The roots of jazz music lies in American musical art form that developed around the initial times of 20th century in New Orleans. It’s basically a combination of variety of musical traditions including spirituals, hymns, hillbilly music blues and ragtime etc. The instruments used in marching bands and dance band music in the beginning of 20th century became the fundamental instruments of the jazz. Perhaps Jazz and Blues are two pillars of American music. With the introduction of the new music art, the Jazz music became popular as relaxation music for the whole world.

In the later half of 1970 and beginning of 1980s the Jazz music took a new turn with its fusion with the pop music generated a new form called smooth jazz. It is perhaps the most positive step in the history of Jazz music which made it popular all over the world. This can be considered as an era that was responsible for the origin of new age music that is more commercial form of music. Many new artists step up in this age and contributed a lot to the assets of the soothing music.

There are many famous artists of this great music who are popular all over the world. The new age singers are contributing to this great music style a lot. The most popular smooth Jazz artists are Nora Jones, Lious Armstrong, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Amadas Estrellas, Enigma, Mark Callibery etc. mostly Nora Jones is very popular Jazz artist all over the world her tracks are known for the quality music along with the good composition.

By: Shawn Kohan

Play Jazz Guitar

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Jazz guitar music is based on various guitarists’ attempts to experiment with the form used to express musical ideas. Jazz began with the African slaves combining the song and dance forms they found in America with the musical traditions they carried with them from their homeland. Since then jazz musicians of every nationality have developed certain methods of taking a musical idiom and turning it into jazz by interpreting the music using jazz chord substitution and improvising techniques.

The trademark of the jazz guitar player is that he is inventing new music all the time. When people learn to play musical instruments it is usually with the aim of playing the songs or instrumentals of a famous musician. In jazz the aim is to build new music using other musical genres or the works of composers from outside jazz. A jazz guitarist with a number of years’ experience will have developed his own ways of improvising over a song or instrumental piece. Quite often his improvisation will be based on the techniques of using the notes in the chord he is playing to provide the material for his solo, or to simply use the notes he finds in the melody.

Whichever approach the jazz guitar player uses he will always depart from the melodic structure of the musical work he is improvising over and use melodic figures or “licks” which he has made up or learned from other guitarists. A lick is a combination of notes which can be used in improvising over music in any key. A lick is like a very short tune or fraction of a melody. Listen carefully to a jazz guitar solo. Try imitating some of the licks that you hear. You do not need to play them exactly, just imitate them and see how they fit with other licks to carry the solo to its ending.

Other jazz guitar techniques are the substitution of chords using other chords with more interest or color, the use of walking bass to add interest or changing the rhythm of a song. You can find examples of all these jazz guitar techniques by listening to the music of jazz guitar players like Charlie Christian, one of the pioneers of jazz guitar, Charlie Byrd, an exponent of latin jazz guitar who developed a genre of his own using classical guitar techniques to play jazz, or Wes Montgomery, a guitar player who ventured into many fields of music.

Anybody wanting to learn to play jazz guitar will be wondering what guitars give you that distinctive jazz sound. Of course you can play jazz on any guitar but when musicians think of a “jazz guitar” they usually have in mind a guitar with “f” holes in the body, an arched top and a piezoelectric pickup. This gives that warm, expressive jazz feel that people associate with jazz guitar and is expressed so well in the work of Wes Montgomery. Epiphone is the brand name most jazz fans associate with this kind of guitar but they are also made by D’Angelico, Gibson and others.

To learn to play jazz guitar, even in a comparatively superficial sense entails listening to alot of jazz guitar music. As you listen you need to analyze what jazz guitarists do and what you, as a musician, WANT to do. Maybe you do not want to learn jazz as a genre but just to play in the style of a certain jazz guitar player. This will cut your work load considerably as you can find tabs for the work of many jazz guitar players on the internet.

By: Ricky Sharples

Jazz Improvisation, A Fascinating Musical Sub-Genre

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:57:51 +0000

Jazz music is a very popular genre of music and is actually a very important kind of American classical music. Some believe that jazz originated in the early twentieth century in South America. But there is no question that the early development of jazz took place in the United States and was greatly influenced by blues music. Blues was especially popular among African Americans in the first half of the 20th century in the rural south and in cities such as New Orleans, St. Louis and Chicago.

The music that was called jazz was popular in many countries, including the United States. At the same time it quickly spread to many countries in Europe, and then to many parts of Asia, South America and Australia.

What makes jazz unique? Among other things the unique features of Jazz include ‘blue notes,” improvisation and syncopation. Jazz relies primarily on the spontaneous expression of the musicians – usually playing in small groups – and does not necessarily use a written score. The 1930s saw a rapid rise in the popularity of jazz. Although black musicians dominated the jazz scene, the 1930s saw an increase in the number of white jazz singers and players. But during this time jazz still remained true to its roots and to the African-American blues musicians who created it.

Jazz is a music of the world. It combines classical, popular and traditional American music with important strains of European and African musical traditions. Jazz is very technically sophisticated while still remaining spontaneous and improvisational. To really develop a good understanding and appreciation of jazz it is important to experience all aspects of the music, listen to the masters and join other musicians in playing. Jazz is truly a group experience.

Jazz is a musical style that contains a lot of self-expression. Open your mind to many different jazz musicians by listening to them play and then joining a group of musicians in your own jazz combo. Because of its improvisational character, Jazz is usually not the kind of music that can be perfected by individual practice.

For a musician learning improvisation, it is wiser to begin with simple songs. Basic techniques can be learned through listening to other musicians, experimenting, or taking some lessons. Those techniques, once mastered, can be applied in a more advanced way to more complicated songs. Remember, too, that a jazz musician is more about self-expression than technique.

Start experimenting by playing the music the way is written, but occasionally modifying certain phrasings and adding a few embellishments of your own. This is a great way to become comfortable with jazz improvisation. This process of “intentionally messing up”, and learning what sounds good is not just for piano or guitar, but can be applied to any of the hundreds of instruments used in jazz.

Immerse yourself in jazz music by listening to both contemporary and traditional jazz masters. There are also schools of musical instruction that specialize in teaching jazz, jazz improvisation, jazz soloing, and many other facets of the discipline. If you are serious about playing jazz music, one of these jazz schools might be the most direct way to get your career as a jazz musician going in the right direction.

One of the richest, most expressive and satisfying genres of music for the musician looking for creative expression is, without a doubt, jazz. It creates a magic which cannot be expressed in words. When people are really interested in actually listening to the music, jazz can be the most appropriate and entertaining type of music you can choose for almost any occasion. Being equally challenging and rewarding for the musician – what could be better than that!

By: Howard Brule