For my 6th Grade Jazz program I have had to grapple with this question. The greatest need for these musicians is to develop general musicality skills but I have found it useful to lay out my understanding of jazz to make sure we are heading in the right direction.
What is Jazz?
- Musicians are imitators. They see or hear something they like and they want to do it themselves.
- Musicians have emotions and ideas that they want to express through music.
Jazz grew out of African American musical tradition with a strong emphasis on spontaneous musical creation. It continuously absorbs new influences and has been redefined by many different communities. Many completely different sounding types of music are all considered to be jazz. Here are some ways to identify jazz music.
Jazz Traditions
- There is a strong tradition within jazz of playing dance-tempo, rhythmically compelling music.
- There is a strong tradition within jazz of playing sophisticated harmonizations based upon “cycle of fifths” progressions.
- There is a strong tradition in jazz of spontaneously improvising musical performances within a set musical structure.
- There is a strong tradition within jazz of playing transgressive dissonant notes for intentional effect.
- There is a body of recognized tunes which are considered part of the established Jazz repertoire.
If you are honoring any of these traditions you are probably playing some form of Jazz. If you are honoring several or all of these traditions then you are definitely playing jazz.
