Megan Boyer
American Popular Music
CU MUS 115
24 Apr. 2016
Jazz vs. Rock: Focusing on the Differences in Instrumentation, Rhythm, and Difficulty
Jazz emerged in New Orleans around 1900. Largely admired by the black communities at first, Jazz attracted a more diverse audience as it spread. Years later, Rock surfaced and began to take over the world. Although rock was related to Jazz early on, it quickly veered off into its own direction specifically during the post-war era. Currently, commonalities exist between the two genres, however the differences in instrumentation, rhythm, and difficulty are the focal points that separate one from the other.
Jazz bands started with violin, guitar, string bass, and sometimes a wind instrument.
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Branching into its own genre, rock adopted hard hitting notes using electric guitars, drums, and bass with lyrics that for some became the defining aspect of rock music. The rhythm is known to be slower and more regular offering the audience a chance to dance. Elton John was a rock icon with lyrics that were understood and made you want to move. "Crocodile Rock" is a prime example of easily understood lyrics and a rhythm that made you dance: "...while the other kids were rocking round the clock, we were hopping and bopping to the crocodile rock." The strong pulse allowed even the most rhythmically challenged to follow along. Lastly, Rock is easier to play due to arranged music and a lack of collective improvisation. Rock doesn't require much concentration but rather encourages the audience to let go and have a good time.
To conclude, rock was closely related to jazz music in its start. As time went on, the movement to electric guitar, drums, and bass led rock on its own path. Even today, rock continues to dominate the world. Jazz has taken a seat in the background but still is alive in areas such as New Orleans. No matter the differences, music is needed to get us from one day to the next. Jazz and rock both have the power to motivate and inspire anybody it touches. As Louis Armstrong says, "If it wasn't for jazz, there never would have been rock 'n'
Rock ‘n’ Roll began and evolved around the late 1940’s and 1950’s time frame. There were many groups that participated in the creation and origin of Rock ‘n’ Roll, however the two primary groups were rhythm and blues and country music. “The origins of rock ‘n’ roll are often described in a way that could be represented by an algebraic formula: r&b + c&w = r&r” (Garofalo & Waksman, 2016, p. 56). While the formula is rather simplistic, it ignores the many groups of individuals, social and cultural influences that impacted the formation of Rock ‘n’ Roll. As Rolling Stone’s Robert Palmer (1990) noted:
This week we learned about many genres of music, some similar some different. The two genres I want to compare and contrast are Rock and Blues. When you hear rock music, you picture electric guitars, amplified sounds, and complex styles of play. But if you take a deeper look you would probably be surprised to learn that rock would not even have existed without simple 12-bar forms, antiphonal textures, or “walking bass lines” used in much blues music. Though Rock and Blues are distinctly different they have a lot of similarities that most likely go unnoticed. Rock and Blues were developed at almost the same exact time around the late 19th century. Blues originated from African American folk music and like Blues, rock music style can also be
Multiple essentials in rock and roll provide evidence of mutual blues qualities. Rock and roll was influenced by elements of blues instrumentation, rhythm, and purpose. Both rock and blues are composed of drums, guitars, and vocals. As blues was becoming increasingly popular throughout the 1950s, influence of notes and amplifying instruments occurred. Muddy Waters, for example, began experimenting with increasing the sounds of guitars and meandering the notes of the guitars to give it a “cry” sound. As blues music industrialized, it pushed the appearance of rock and roll much more. Early rock and roll followed a similar rhythm to blues music as well. As it developed, rock and roll would end up mixing more concentrated rhythmic elements with an emphasized backbeat, but the foundation was the same. The purpose behind the music, produced by blues and rock and roll, is calculated from the same perspective. The goal of both these genres
The music called Jazz was born sometime around 1895 in New Orleans. It combined elements of Ragtime, marching band music and Blues. What made Jazz such a different perspective of traditional music was its act of improvising. There was a widespread use of improvisation often by more than one player at a time. Songwriters would write the music down on a piece of paper, and then the Jazz musicians would try their best to play the music. Usually in a Jazz piece, musicians would use the song as a starting point to improvise around. Jazz musicians would play a familiar song to the audience, and by the time they were done with the piece they would stir up a totally different feeling away from the
Rock and roll was built on the foundation of jazz, blues, country, and folk music. The Les Paul electric guitar was also a big contributor in music not just rock. One of the
Rock ‘N’ Roll started from Southern Blacks slaves that migrated to the North. They brought in a sound of Rhythm and Blues. In it they talked about their hardships in the plantation and to end discrimination. It represented the life of the African-American working in the south. Rhythm and blues was a slow steady beat; it had a 2-4 beat drum and
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n ' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States. The music we know as rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the mid 1950s, even though a form of it had been on the horizon for at least a decade or so. A quarter of the American population moved during World War II, and that is what brought southern, rural, sacred and secular traditions into contact with urban-based music and its audiences. Rock and roll drew on many different styles. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which it developed from earlier blues, boogie-woogie, jazz and swing music. It was also influenced by gospel, country, western, and traditional folk music. With the combinations of all of these genres of music, that help to create this new style of music excited a worldwide generation of young listeners. Even though it had the attention of young listeners it started to upset the already established social, cultural and musical authorities. With this new music style coming into full affect along with new dances and people having voicing out their own opinion caused a lot of turmoil. Many people began to question this new genre of music and labeled it as the devil music while other loved it and couldn’t help but dance
“Rock music is important to people, because it allows them to escape this crazy world. It allows them not to run away from the problems that are there, but to face up to them, but at the same time sort of DANCE ALL OVER THEM. That 's what rock and roll is about” (Pete Townshend). The concept of rock and roll music had eased into the music industry in a time after a crippling war and a great depression. The mid to late 20th century was home to innovation, rebellious teens, and a devastating war..The introduction of rock music has influenced our country and molded it in many ways as the genre progressed and has found a place in our culture.
Rock and roll has developed a long way throughout the years from a dance craze in the 1950’s to a political and cultural landscape that is recognized worldwide. Rock and roll has come to define the roots of teenage rebellion, people who don’t follow the norms, and have disrespect for authority. The style of rock and roll itself is a melting pot of music, a combination of sounds that include jazz, country, blues, ragtime, gospel, swing, classical, and ethnic music. It can be a simple variation of three chords to a complex chromatic scale combination. It can convey emotions such as love, hate, fear, lust, sadness, joy, disillusion, or a strong sense of reality. Many things can be said about rock but the fact is that it is the most widely
As one of the most popular music genres, rock music has grown and expanded to incorporate many styles throughout the years. A rock band usually consists of a vocalist, an acoustic drum kit played with a strong beat, usually a back beat, and features electric and acoustic guitars. From its beginnings in the late 1950s and early 1960s until the present day, rock has changed styles seemingly every decade as new bands become popular because of their unique style of music. Throughout the years rock has influenced our culture and helped shape the world we live in today.
Rock is known for how much it can impact people’s emotions. When a rock song comes excitement starts pumping through the veins. As Concerts have been heard to include behavior from all out brawls and mosh pits to people swaying together holding lighters in the air. Rock is in escape from the well behaved everyday drum of society. Rock and Roll gives an outlet to the feelings you have to keep bottled in. Through this genre we can therapeutically get in touch with the frustrations we hold within and release
Throughout the history of this country, the music of African-Americans has remained a strong influence upon our society and culture. Beginning with the music carried over from Africa with the slaves, up until now, with the new styles created by urban youth today, African-Americans have retained certain elements within their music which makes it unique from any other musical form. Some of the musical forms which were created from, and/or were strongly influenced by afro-centric musical characteristics are: Hymnals, Gospel, Spirituals, Ragtime, the blues, and R&B. While many of these musical forms are still popular today amongst Blacks and Non-Blacks, jazz and hip-hop are arguably the two most widespread and
“Rock and roll is a type of popular dance music originating in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies. Rock and roll was an amalgam of black rhythm and blues and white country music, usually based on a twelve-bar structure and an instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums.” (Kamien, 2015, p.378) The popular music was first called rock and then rock and roll then back to simply rock. Rock and roll music contains many diverse styles. Genres that influenced rock and roll music included jazz, gospel, blues, country and western, classical music, and folk music. Rock and roll music has a raw sound that gets the crowd hyped in a special way. The most important instrument used in rock and roll music is the electric guitar. The electric guitar is the reason for the amplified sound in rock and roll music. “Rock-and-roll guitarist Chuck Berry established a style of
One cannot speak about music especially in America with referencing Jazz or the Blues. The two genres of music are synonymous with the American music scene originating from Southern America. Their similar point of origin has caused much confusion in distinguishing the two mainly due to the way today’s artists’ music crossover. Both Jazz and Blues, are two independent genres that formed concurrently in the 20th century and were produced at the same time.
Though the blues were developed in the rural southern United States, toward the end of the 19th century, and found a wider audience in the 1940s as blacks migrated to urban areas. Jazz music has dozens of variations and also utilizes elements from other genres. Albeit the fact that it is