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"""an order of magnitude more harmonically complex than classical. """ Depends on the classical. There's classical stuff that's harmonically miles beyond jazz
by dextorious 15y ago
"""an order of magnitude more harmonically complex than classical. """
Depends on the classical. There's classical stuff that's harmonically miles beyond jazz music.
Contemporary classical, that is.
- scrozier 15y agoAbsolutely, dextorious. Something of a semantic issue. Maybe we should say, "serious" music or "concert music" or some such. I really don't like any of the terms. In any case, your point is well taken. It would be interesting to trace the parallel development of harmony in "serious" music and jazz. (Which, of course, someone has done.)
- chrisguitarguy 15y agoI always liked the term "art music" to refer to the entire classical music genre. "Classical" implies a certain period to me.
- scrozier 15y agoYes, not bad. Perhaps as opposed to "entertainment music"?
- harrylove 15y agoThe problem with terms like these is the music at the boundaries. There's pop and jazz music that sound more like art than some concert music. There's art music that will never see the inside of a concert hall. What about interactive computer music? Is it art? Is it a game? Is it theater? Is it improv? What about music that arises out of dance movement? Is it dance music? What's "serious"? What's a "composer"? What's "art"? What's "sound"? And just like any jargon, it depends on the audience with which you're communicating. The more you try to standardize a definition, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
- gruseom 15y agoYes. It's utterly pointless to set these distinctions. Iggy and the Stooges and the Ramones were disciplined conceptual artists, yet they were part of a movement that spelled stupid "stoopid". The beautiful thing about real art, the kind that gets remembered as great art later, is that it is always ahead of the theoretical game. A famous example is Shakespeare, who was vulgar until the German Romantics discovered him as classic.
- the_cat_kittles 15y agommm, I wouldn't be so sure. Both can be about as "out" as possible, or about as "complex" as possible. I would say that, in general, contemporary jazz musicians have thought about harmony about as much as contemporary classical composers. I mean, they focus on different aspects of harmony, but I wouldn't claim that one school is miles beyond another. Its almost a silly comparison, anyway.
- marchdown 15y agoI'd love to listen to something like this, but don't know even where to start looking. Could you provide some pointers?