Briefly describe three contrasting techniques of improvisation; using examples from the three jazz set works you have studies. One highly common technique of improvisation is chromatic alteration throughout solos where notes outside of the chord are used in order to extend the harmony and add tensions to the chords. For example blues notes are used in all three set works. The use of the flattened 3rd and 7th are particularly noticeable in the clarinet counter melody in the 4th chorus of Hotter Than That. There are also blues inflections in the vocal and guitar duet where the flat 3rd is emphasised by bending the notes at the beginning of phrases.
The blues as a style has three recognisable features which are: the so-called blue note or sad feel, an AAB three-line lyric structure, and a particular pattern of call and response between the lyrics and the instruments. The model blues form incorporates a basic twelve-bar lyric structure reflected by a standard harmonic progression that subdivides into three groups of four bars each usually in a 4/4 time signature. Three blues chords associated to a twelve-bar blues are typically a set of three different chords played over a twelve-bar scheme. For instance for a blues in C, the chords used would be C is the tonic chord (I), F the subdominant (IV) and G the dominant (V). The typical chord progression of the blues over a twelvebar format is I I I I, IV IV I I, V IV I I.
Collective improvisations are when different front-line group instruments all play their improvisations at the same time! They also used polyphonic texture, which is when ‘the cornet or trumpet plays the main melody with variations, and against which the clarinet plays a higher countermelody and the trombone a lower countermelody with much sliding between the notes’(http://www.last.fm/music/Original+Dixieland+Jazz+Band). The last characteristic is that they were often played in use of the 12- Bar blues progressions. One of the well-known piece is ‘When The Saints Go
Bach wrote many Bourrees in his time as well as other composers such as Handel. The piece is in 4/4 and has 2 upbeat quavers for each phrase and a two quaver followed by a crotchet rhythm throughout the movement. Occasionally a phrase ends with a dotted minim. This is in bars 9, 14, 18 and 26 at the end. There are two parts to the piece which are the treble and bass of the piece.
The touchstyle fretboard stood out from the rest of the musical instruments. Teed Rockwell played the Hindustani ragas on the fretboard with a recording of the sitar played in the background as a drone. The performers started out the first piece with slow tempo and tone with the didjeridu, fretboard and the morsing by Owen followed by playing the drums with the stick. Stephen Kent Played a blue didjeridu which he later explained was a side didj made out of pvc. The fretboard played by Rockwell sounded and looked very similar to a guitar with a Hindustani touch to it.
This piece comes from a set of 24 preludes that Chopin composed, one in each of the 12 major and 12 minor keys, This Prelude was written in 1839 USE OF THE PIANO Throughout most of the prelude, Chopin uses the middle to the lower ranges of the piano, with only occasional phrases played with the higher range of keys. The instrument’s wide dynamic range has been taken advantaged of throughout the piece. Many crescendos and diminuendos are used, creating extreme dynamic contrasts. DYNAMICS AND STRUCTURE A wide range of dynamics ranging from pp to ff is used throughout the piece, though there are no sudden contrasts in dynamics. Chopin uses many crescendos and diminuendos.
“Coltrane Changes/Cycles” is the second technique used by John Coltrane. It is basically a harmonic movement in major thirds, using the note root of a chord over the usual jazz chord progressions. One of his songs called “Giant Steps” is a perfect example for the technique. John Coltrane also learned a technique called “multiphonics” from an American jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk. The technique involves a player producing several tones simultaneously by using a calm embouchure, diverse pressure, and distinct fingerings.
[citation needed] A few black rhythm and blues musicians, notably Louis Jordan, the Mills Brothers, and The Ink Spots, achieved crossover success;[citation needed] in some cases (such as Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie") this success was achieved with songs written by white songwriters. [citation needed] The Western swing genre in the 1930s, generally played by white musicians, also drew heavily on the blues and in turn directly influenced rockabilly and rock and roll, as can be heard, for example, on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" (1957). [citation needed] Going back even further, rock and roll can trace one lineage to the old Five Points, Manhattan district of mid-19th century New York City, the scene of the first fusion of heavily
Jazz Band II 18 October 2013 Mike Vax: BigBandJazz.net Mike Vax is an outstanding trumpeter who specializes in Jazz studies. On his album “BigBandJazz.net” he plays in a Ferguson-esque manor, not in terms of range, but style—playing over the band as the featured soloist. The first track on this album is “Royal Rendezous”, a Mike Vax original, which is a nice and mellow swing chart featuring tenor Scott Peterson and trumpeter Mike Olmos on the solos. I really enjoy this song because it contrasts in balance and dynamics. For example, the song at times changes from a quiet saxophone soli, to a loud shout chorus, to a uniquely created improvised solo.
In this song queen used a combination of piano ballad, Italian opera, and hard rock, as well as multi vocal tracking in which they used to record up to 80 voices in a single bar. Bohemian Rhapsody has many different types of textures and would be difficult to put into one category of texture. The intro to the song begins with the members singing an a cappella four-part harmony that portrays a monophonic texture. Around 15 seconds into the song the Piano enters putting the song in a homophonic texture due to Freddy Mercury’s vocals being the main melody, and the piano and back up vocals being the harmony. For most of the rest of the song homophonic texture is fairly persistent.