Music Blues & Jazz Research

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Lydia K G1 MYP MUSIC G1 JAZZ & BLUES RESEARCH TASK 1. JAZZ - Dixieland After the American Civil war ended in 1865s, lots of brass band family instruments such as trumpets, trombones were left behind by the soldiers. Then, these were found by the wandering AfricanAmericans and they taught themselves to play these instruments. They form bands and performed in funerals and processions. These bands used to be called as ‘New Orleans Jazz’. During 1920s, white jazz bands’ pieces were called ‘Dixieland jazz’. However from 1940s, people combined those two types of bands and call them ‘Dixieland jazz’. Dixieland jazz style was created in the early 1920s. Dixieland jazz style is strongly influenced by the ‘traditions of blues, ragtime and brass band because Dixieland jazz was created when the traditions of blues, ragtime, and brass band were integrated into one musical piece’ (http://www.historyjazz.com). Common instruments used in this style of music are trumpet, cornet, clarinet, trombone, banjo, piano, drums, string bass, tuba and sometimes saxophone. The instruments that are in charge of rhythms and bass are the banjo, piano, drums, string bas, and tuba, and the instruments that played the melody are the trumpet, cornet, clarinet, trombone, and saxophone. Collective improvisations were used in the piece. 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

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