The Truth About ‘Understanding’ Jazz
Improvisation, the basis of jazz, is best defined as a conversation among friends. The musicians 'talk' to each other through their music. Ahmad Jamal Trio painting by Nancy Peacock.
There is no need to “understand” jazz to enjoy it. This misunderstanding stops many people from listening to and enjoying this American art form. Jazz doesn’t have to be intellectual any more than a painting has to be intellectual to be appreciated.
As in language, there are many dialects in jazz – the same language but different inflections. Spanish and Catalan are good examples of this. These two languages are “Spanish” but there are differences. Vocabulary, pronunciation, articulation and context all vary in subtle ways.
Since improvisation is at the heart of jazz, let’s start there. Improvisation is the spontaneous creation of melody over a pre-set series of chords. As jazz guitarist Jim Hall points out: “Improvisation is creating three minutes of music in three minutes of time. Composition could be thought of as the creation of three minutes of music in six months time.”
I always thought that the best way to follow improvisation is to think of it as a conversation among friends. The piano “says” something, the guitar responds back. The trumpet and sax “speak” at the same time. Improvisation begins, ends, breaks down, and flows – not unlike conversation.
If you listen in this spirit and with appreciation of the technical skills and the excitement and poetry built into the music, you won’t have to worry about “understanding” jazz. You can just enjoy it.
1 comment
Posted 12/09/09 at 11:29 am
Your comments on “understanding” jazz remind me of the wonderful approach to poetry from Bob Falls and the great folks at Poetry Alive! Asheville, NC. http://www.poetryalive.com. So often kids are introduced to poetry by being told that a poet is a great writer, and then asked: “What do you think the poet was trying to say?” If the poet is such a great writer, why should a kid be presented with a (completely misleading) task of deciphering the poem? Poetry taught that way will put a kid off from poetry for life. And Jazz is presented falsely that way all too often, too. You’re so right! Good art communicates ideas immediately, without hurdles.
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