Innovative Jazz Techniques
The process of learning to play jazz music is often compared with the gradual mastery of a foreign language. Jazz really is a separate musical language in which musicians communicate both with each other and with an attentive listener. Jazz music implies maximum freedom of interplay within established musical constraints such as key, rhythm, and scale. The five musical techniques discussed in this essay are innovative and open up new avenues for musical expression in this style.
Sequencing
A sequence is a specific melodic pattern, the repetition of notes with equal intervals and melodic construction. These melodic structures in jazz music move along the note scale, taking different keys as a basis. A distinction is made between melodic and harmonic sequences – while the melodic sequence is seen in popular and less avant-garde music, the harmonic sequence is common in jazz (Ulven, 2020). Sequencing helps the jazz player create fixed melodic structures that move from chord to chord. This compositional technique is especially expressive in modal jazz, where there is no fixed tonality, which creates additional space for musical maneuvers.
Chromatic Scale
The use of the chromatic scale in jazz music aims to overcome the barriers of the standard melodic texture in Western music. Traditionally, performers use a diatonic note scale, where melody and chords are constructed using seven notes put in harmonious relation. The chromatic scale overcomes this limitation by covering all twelve tones, capturing intermediate notes not affected by the traditional diatonic scale. This gives the musician the opportunity to explore unusual and non-trivial sounding melodic combinations more deeply, to build more complex, ornate, and note-filled compositions.
Improvisation
Improvisation has been one of the fundamental elements of jazz since its inception. Jazz has always been music symbolizing self-expression, so improvisation was perceived as the spontaneity of a professional musician, the creative freedom of a virtuoso. Scale improvisation, however, offers limitations in which all those tones that are outside the note scale chosen by the improvising musician are excluded and not used (Kuzmich Jr., 2021). These limitations can serve as a motivation to create more original melodies, as well as to give additional harmony and melodicism to the raw sound of the instrument, which may seem chaotic.
Modes
The use of modes in jazz is definitely an innovation that needs to be considered. Modes are various musical scales that are produced from specific complex unresolved chords. Each of the modes is perceived by the jazz musician as a rule regarding which notes can be sounded and which should be skipped (Bredice, 2020). Modes imply the melodic playing of the main given chord in the scale resulting from the characteristics of this chord. Modes can be used by jazz musicians to build original solos as well as unique sounding chords.
Pentatonics
The final innovative tactic to be listed is the pentatonics, that is, the use of pentatonic melodic scales. The pentatonic scale implies the use of only five notes instead of the seven that are commonly found in harmonic scales. The peculiarity of the pentatonic scale lies in the ability of music to always sound harmonious to the human ear, even if not too complicated or inventive. The pentatonic scale is utilized to give greater harmonic comfort to the sound, as it focuses on major or minor keys recognizable by the ear. This is probably why the pentatonic scale is used by musicians in many other genres such as rock and fusion.
References
Bredice, V. (2020). Jazz guitar scales and modes. Mel Bay.
Kuzmich Jr., J. (2021). Jazz improvisation with creative essential elements. The Vault at Music & Arts. Web.
Ulven, J. (2020). The history of jazz music. Web.