History of Jazz (exam 1: chapters 1-4) – Flashcards
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Tempo
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Speed
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Meter
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The organization of recurring pulses into patterns
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Dynamics
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Volume or loudness
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Music
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Organized sound and/or silence
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Rhythm
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Organization of time in music
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Beat
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A unit of pulse
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Accelerando
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Gradually getting faster
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Ritarando
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Gradually getting slower
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Rubato
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(robbed time) a lack of steady tempo
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Measure or bar
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A measurement of time containing beats, tempo, meter and rhythms
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Accent
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Musical stress (a more forceful or even louder sound)
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Downbeat
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The first strong beat (beat #1)
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Upbeat
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A weak beat preceding the downbeat
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Syncopation
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An accent on either the weak beat or between beats (interuption)
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Polyrhythm
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Several dissimilar rhythms performed simultaneously
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Legato
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Long and connected notes
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Staccato
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Short, abruptly separated notes
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Swing
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A rhythmic concept
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Frequency
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The # of vibration per second (Hertz or Hz) effected by an elastic body when the equilibrium of this boyd is in some way disturbed
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Pitch
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A sound that has a highness or lowness depending on its Frequency; often called a note
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Octave
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The doubling of halving of a fundamental frequency creating a pitch that sounds the same yet is higher or lower than the fundamental
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Interval
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The distance between two pitches
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Scale
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An arrangement of pitches that ascends and descends in a fixed and unvarying pattern
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Equal temperment
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The division of the octave into twelve equal pitches called semitones (or half-steps)
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Chromatic Scale
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The scale containing twelve half steps within the octave, corresponding to all the keys (black and white) within an octave on the piano
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Tonic
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The central pitch around which the melody & harmony gravitate
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Tonality
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The organization of music around one central tone (the tonic) and the scale built on that tone
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Consonance
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Pitches (intervals) sounding agreeable and stable
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Dissonance
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Pitches (interval) sounding discordant or harsh
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Key
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a group of notes (scale) with one designated as the tonic
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Modulation
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A shift from one key to another
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Melody
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A coherent succession of single pitches, a linear concept
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Conjuct
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Smooth, scale-like motion by step
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Disjunct
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Motion by large intervals or leaps
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Diatonic
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Using the major or minor scale for construction
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Chromatic
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Using the notes of the chromatic scale
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Blue note
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A note that doesn't fit in the major scale. A dissonant note that doesn't fit the harmony and sound "bluesy"
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Phrase
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A self-contained portion of a melody theme or tune
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Cadence
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A musical punctuation at the end of the phrase
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Antecedent
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An open-ended phrase (answer)
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Consequent
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A closed-ended phrase (answer)
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Motive
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A short melodic fragment
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Harmony
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Simultaneous sounding of pitches
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Chord
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Three or more notes played simultaneously
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Arpeggio
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A broken chord or a chord with its notes played in succession
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Chord voicing
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A re-positioning or restructuring of the notes of a chord notes could be added and/or omitted
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Chord progression
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The successive movement of one chord to the next
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Harmonic Rhythm
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The time of rhythmic value in which harmony progresses the regularity and linear motion of chord progressions
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Monophonic techture
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When a singer or group of singers sing the same melody (a single melody)
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Homophonic techture
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Add harmony to one melody
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Polyphonic techture
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Have more than one melody
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Timbre
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The quality of sound, as distinct from its pitch; also known as tone color
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Range
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Lowest note to highest note (every instrument has a range)
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Register
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The range of an instrument or voice: upper register means its highest notes lower register means its lower notes
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Soprano
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The highest female register and range (singing)
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Alto
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Low register of a female voice
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Tenor
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High male voice
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Baritone
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Low male voice
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Bass
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Large dark tone with lowest possible range
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Form
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The preconceived structures that govern improvisation in jazz
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Verse
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Chorus
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Chorus
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Portion of the song that contains the overall "form". One complete cycle of the form is called a chorus
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AABA
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Composing an eight-bar phrase. Repeat it. Contrasting it with a new eight-bar phrase (known as the bridge, or release), ending with a half cadence to drive the piece forward
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Bright timbre
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Roughening, buzzes and ringings
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Creole
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Anyone with mixed blood (French owner's baby from slave)
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Creole color
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Anyone mixed that is African American/ French or spanish
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Creole People
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Creole of color were educated and high class in society because they were born from the Rich Spanish or French slave owner As time passed creoles of color became like slaves by the time World War I came around Creoles of Color that gained education provided Western musical background because they could read and play musical notes 2000 prostitutes and over 200 Brothels in Storyville Prostitution in New Orleans gave a lot of mixed culture
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Jism, Jasm, Jasa
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Terms for sex in the 1800s
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Ragging
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Syncopating music
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Scott Jople
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Notorious ragtime composer
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Blues (5 definitions)
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1. A rhythmed poetic form (AAB) 2. A sad feeling 3. A genre of music (related to Jazz, but not Jazz) 4. A musical form with a set phrasing and cord progression 5. Any combination of the above
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African American Retention
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Characteristics of African music/culture retained in African American- American music/culture
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Turnaround
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A passage at the end of a section which leads to the next section
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Improvisation
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The creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians.
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Ostinato
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A constantly recurring melodic fragment
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Blues Form
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Head: Original Melody, Form, Chord Progression Solo Chorus: Improvised Melodies, Form, Chord Progression Head: Original Melody, Form, Chord Progression
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Comping
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A rhythmically unpredictable way of playing chords to accompany a soloist; typically one of the variable layers in the rhythm section
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Vibrato
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Wavering of a pitch
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Rhythm Changes
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A harmonic progression occurring in George Gershwin's song "I got rhythm"
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ABAC
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Begins with an A section (8 bars) followed by a B (8 bars) section and then returns to A before going to C
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Vibrato Variations
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The use of unusual sounds for expressive purposes
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"Ma" Rainey
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Gertrude Pritchett The Mother of the Blues One of the most popular singers of Vaudeville, or classic blues
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The Castles
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Transformed music into cool, middle-class elegance dances known as 'ragtime'
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James Reese Europe
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Black band leader who performed 'ragtime' for the Castles'
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John Philip Sousa
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Conductor and composer whose name was synonymous with brass band excellence Sousaphone was inspired by him
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Call and Response
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A persuasive principle in folk, pop and art music. It's almost like a conversation
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Blue Notes
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Notes in which the pitch is bent expressively, using variable intonation
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Bridge
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The middle part of 32-bar AABA form, which connected, or "bridges" between the A sections; it typically ends with a half cadence
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Riff
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A short, catchy and repeated melodic phrase
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Phrasing
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The manner of shaping phrases: some musicians play phrases that are short and terse, while others are garrulous and intense
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Groove
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General term for the overall rhythmic framework of a performance
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Melodic Paraphrase
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A preexisting melody using as the basis for improvisation
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Rhythm Section
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Instruments that provide accompaniment for jazz soloing; harmony instruments (piano, guitar) bass instruments (string bass, tuba), and percussion (drum set)
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High hat
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Two-shoulder level cymbals on an upright pile with a foot pedal at its base; the pedal brings the top cymbal crashing into the lower one with a distinct thunk
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Walking bass
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A bass line featuring four equal beats per bar, usually used as a rhythmic foundation in Jazz
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Pedal Point
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A passage in which the bass note refuses to move, remaining stationary on a single note
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Ride Rhythm (pattern)
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A steady pulsation played on the ride cymbal that forms one of the foundations for modern jazz
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Trading fours
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In a jam session, "trading" short (usually four-bar) solo back and forth between the drums and the soloists, or between soloists
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Double time
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A technique in which a jazz ensemble, especially the rhythm section, plays twice as fast without changing the length of the overall cycle
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Stop time
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A technique in which a band plays a series of short chords a fixed distance apart, creating spaces for an instrument to fill with monophonic improvisation
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Head
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A composed section of music that frames a small-combo performance, appearing at the beginning and again at the end
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Standard
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A popular song that has become part of the permanent repertory for jazz musicians
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Country blues
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An early style of blues, first recorded in the 1920s, featuring itinerant male singers accompanying themselves on guitar
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Vaudeville (classic) blues
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An early theatrical form of the blues featuring female singers, accompanied by a small band
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Ragtime
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A style of popular music in the early twentieth century that conveyed African American polyrhythm in notated form; includes popular song and dance, although its primarily known today through compositions written for the piano
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Field holler
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An unaccompanied, rhythmically loose vocal line that expressed his loneliness and individuality
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Work songs
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A type of folk song used during work to regulate physical activity or to engage the worker's attention
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Spirituals
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African American religious songs
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Countermelody
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In homophonic texture, an accompanying melodic part with distinct, though subordinate, melodic interest; also known as obbligato
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Counterpoint
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Polyphonic texture, especially when composed
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Congo Square
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Used in the eighteenth century as a market for merchants of every stripe, eventually became the site of a whites-only circus, complete with carousel
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Storyville
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"The District"; a zone of legalized prostitution. Women were housed in elaborate mansions, but they labored in brutal and disease-ridden shacks
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Cakewalk
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A comic dance supposedly dating from the time of slavery
