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The reason why I don't like jazz is that my ears can't find any pattern to it. There's no melody, except at the beginning and end of the piece, so the notes ju

by prewett 17y ago

The reason why I don't like jazz is that my ears can't find any pattern to it. There's no melody, except at the beginning and end of the piece, so the notes just sound random. So to me the music is largely indistinguishable from noise. Once I discovered that jazz is apparently about the chords it made more sense. (The notes appear to be unimportant as long as everyone is in the same chord)

adrianh 17y ago
There are many ways to judge jazz music, but in my opinion, a really good jazz solo works as a standalone melody. As (I think) George Harrison said, the best guitar solos are the ones you can hum along with. Listen to a solo by Django Reinhardt, for example. His version of "I'll See You In My Dreams" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJxehJ0Tbi0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJxehJ0Tbi0) is absolutely beautiful melodically -- even though pretty much the whole song is improvised, aside from the first seven notes.
tjr 17y ago
Those seemingly random notes are improvisation. Depending on the arrangement and/or preferences of the individual player, yes, those notes may be based on the chord progressions... or based on a particular scale or mode ("modal jazz")... or pulled together from a catalog of memorized melodic fragments... or some combination of all of the above. In general, players who are also proficient composers tend to be the best improvisors. Players who are only players can be good improvisors, but their improvisations tend to be more on the mediocre / less inspiring side. Unfortunately, it sure seems to me that we've had less and less good jazz composition over the years, which might explain why more and more jazz improvisation sounds rather lousy. On the other hand, some improvisation made by expert jazz players really does sound very strange on purpose, e.g., the "Science Fiction" recordings of Ornette Coleman. You might like it, you might not, but either way, it's pretty far out there.
- prewett 17y ago
  I agree, the random notes are improvisation. But improvisation can also be done with non-random-sounding notes: Mozart's variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" are very impressive. The difference being that with Mozart you can still hear a melody. You'd have to be really good to do this on the fly in a solo, though, which is probably why a lot of the great jazz bands practiced beforehand (it wasn't strictly improv)
billybob 17y ago
Yeah, whenever jazz sounds random to me, I dislike it. I love stuff like Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk," because the tune is odd enough to be interesting, but my brain can catch it and I can sing along in my mind, whistle it later, etc. If I listen to a whole song and have only vague impressions, no tune, then I feel like I've wasted my time. But perhaps I'm just unsophisticated.
dkarl 17y ago
What sounds random to you does not sound random to the jazz fan's ear. My father is completely unmusical in most ways, to the point of being a repeated embarrassment in my childhood, but he can recognize a jazz standard no matter what style it's played in, and even without any lead instrument playing a distinct melody. I mention his lack of talent and training because I think it is just a matter of listening to lots and lots of jazz. When my dad was in college, that's what the cool kids listened to, so he listened to as many hours of jazz as my generation listened to rock and pop. That's the key -- simply lots of exposure.

by prewett 17y ago

adrianh 17y ago

There are many ways to judge jazz music, but in my opinion, a really good jazz solo works as a standalone melody. As (I think) George Harrison said, the best guitar solos are the ones you can hum along with. Listen to a solo by Django Reinhardt, for example. His version of "I'll See You In My Dreams" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJxehJ0Tbi0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJxehJ0Tbi0) is absolutely beautiful melodically -- even though pretty much the whole song is improvised, aside from the first seven notes.

tjr 17y ago

Those seemingly random notes are improvisation. Depending on the arrangement and/or preferences of the individual player, yes, those notes may be based on the chord progressions... or based on a particular scale or mode ("modal jazz")... or pulled together from a catalog of memorized melodic fragments... or some combination of all of the above. In general, players who are also proficient composers tend to be the best improvisors. Players who are only players can be good improvisors, but their improvisations tend to be more on the mediocre / less inspiring side. Unfortunately, it sure seems to me that we've had less and less good jazz composition over the years, which might explain why more and more jazz improvisation sounds rather lousy. On the other hand, some improvisation made by expert jazz players really does sound very strange on purpose, e.g., the "Science Fiction" recordings of Ornette Coleman. You might like it, you might not, but either way, it's pretty far out there.

prewett 17y ago
I agree, the random notes are improvisation. But improvisation can also be done with non-random-sounding notes: Mozart's variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" are very impressive. The difference being that with Mozart you can still hear a melody. You'd have to be really good to do this on the fly in a solo, though, which is probably why a lot of the great jazz bands practiced beforehand (it wasn't strictly improv)

billybob 17y ago

Yeah, whenever jazz sounds random to me, I dislike it. I love stuff like Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk," because the tune is odd enough to be interesting, but my brain can catch it and I can sing along in my mind, whistle it later, etc. If I listen to a whole song and have only vague impressions, no tune, then I feel like I've wasted my time. But perhaps I'm just unsophisticated.

dkarl 17y ago

What sounds random to you does not sound random to the jazz fan's ear. My father is completely unmusical in most ways, to the point of being a repeated embarrassment in my childhood, but he can recognize a jazz standard no matter what style it's played in, and even without any lead instrument playing a distinct melody. I mention his lack of talent and training because I think it is just a matter of listening to lots and lots of jazz. When my dad was in college, that's what the cool kids listened to, so he listened to as many hours of jazz as my generation listened to rock and pop. That's the key -- simply lots of exposure.