Jazz Terms - Chapter 11

Terms in this set (16)

Bebop
A style of modern jazz pioneered in the mid-1940s; it has become the basis for most contemporary jazz.
Break
a short two- or four-bar episode in which the band abruptly stops playing to let a single musician solo with a monophonic passage.
Call and response
a pervasive principle of interaction or conversation in jazz: a statement by one musician or group of musicians is immediately answered by another musician or group.
Countermelody
in homophonic texture, an accompanying melodic part with distinct, though subordinate, melodic interest; also known (especially in classical music) as obbligato.
Dissonance
the quality of an unstable harmony that resolves to another chord.
False fingerings
on a reed instrument (especially the saxophone), playing the same note with different fingers, often producing unusual timbres or slight pitch differences.
Flatted fifth (tritone)
see tritone.
Half
whole steps
Octave
two notes with the same letter name; one pitch has a frequency precisely twice the other (in a ratio of 2:1).
Polyrhythm
the simultaneous use of contrasting rhythms; also known as rhythmic contrast.
Riff
a short, catchy, and repeated melodic phrase.
Sequence
a short melodic pattern repeated on different pitches. See also transpose.
Staccato
a short, detached way of playing notes or chords.
Tonic
the first degree of the scale, or the chord built on the first scale degree.
Tremolo
the speedy alternation of two notes some distance apart; on a piano, this action imitates a brass vibrato.
Walking bass
a bass line featuring four equal beats per bar, usually used as a rhythmic foundation in jazz.
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