Jazz Theory

Jazzforschung / Jazz Research 40, 2008

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of current streams in jazz theory and to discuss selected branches thereof. But before digging into the abstract spheres of theories in jazz, let us consider the fundamental meaning of the theoretic approach and its relation to music. The term theory is based upon the ancient Greek word theoros, which refers to »spectator of something«. 1 In a scientific sense, theories are products of thought processes and studies that lead to collections of rules and models, aimed at logical descriptions of certain phenomena. These phenomena can relate to natural objects, or abstract events, such as social behaviour. Music, as a truly fascinating and -besides its acoustic propertiesabstract phenomenon, has been the subject of diverse theoretic thoughts for a long time.

Music Theory Online, 2015

Jazz theory texts have certainly come a long way since the 1970s and 1980s, when generalities and street talk often took precedence over serious academic rigor. The textbooks under review here are both robust volumes with much to offer the educated musician. Joe Mulholland and Tom Hojnacki primarily address jazz harmony-though they cannot avoid touching upon other fronts-in a way that is at once both conservative and forward-looking. They are the chairs of the Harmony Department at the Berklee College of Music, and their textbook, The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony, presents a system that has been taught there since the 1960s. (1) The scope of Dariusz Terefenko's Jazz Theory: From Basic to Advanced Study is considerably broader. It addresses topics that do not always appear in jazz theory texts, such as jazz rhythm, music fundamentals (a very thorough treatment), and even post-tonal jazz with a primer on pc-set theory. [2] Both books include digital audio resources. Terefenko provides a play-along DVD and a companion website. (2) The website is open to everyone, requiring no password and stipulating no window of time for user access. It features ear-training exercises, recordings of examples, appendices, and an extensive workbook of written exercises. Mulholland and Hojnacki provide a CD with recordings of original compositions that serve as examples in the text. The Berklee Book would benefit from including some opportunities for readers' self-assessment. However, for the present edition such objectives are somewhat beyond (or peripheral to) the intent of the book, which is simply to introduce Berklee's harmonic system to new readers. [3] Despite their differences, these books do have enough in common to invite comparison. Consider the following passages, excerpted from relatively early chapters in each, where the authors differentiate jazz from other tonal musics. Mulholland and Hojnacki do this at the very outset: One thing that distinguishes mainstream jazz harmony from other tonal styles is the tremendous amount of harmonic color that arises due to the pervasive use of tertian extensions of the basic chord types. Jazz

2017

978-3-95983-124-6 (Paperback) 978-3-95983-125-3 (Hardcover)

Journal of Jazz Studies, 2014

How jazz syntax is theorized, and how it is filtered through various pedagogical frames for dissemination to increasingly sophisticated students, is evolving at an impressive rate. There is now a sizable body of literature on jazz theory and analysis, and at least three "generations" of card-carrying music theorists drawing upon and extending the rigorous work that has taken place since the 1970s, as well as carving out new epistemological ground. 1 Many of these theorists are also active performing musicians, intensifying the irreducible link between jazz theory and practice, and an increasing number of nonacademic performer/composers are engaging theoretical models in a serious way, reading canonic literature, and attending scholarly conferences. The repertoire of jazz being examined has been expanded to include early jazz, various avant-garde streams, and very recent jazz. 2 Besides important work validating the role of melody, harmony, voice-leading, and deep structure in tonal jazz, there have been impressive contributions in the analysis of improvisation and interaction, the latter pointing toward important connections between analysis and the vital body of seminal ethnomusicological work on interaction. 3 Radicalizing this last consideration, there is important recent work on what George Lewis refers to as the Afrological aspects of jazz performance, suggesting that there is room to invent an Afrological theoretical ontology that either interprets existing theoretical tools or imagines new ones that shimmer with the resonance of Lewis's groundbreaking work. 4 While 1 A robust, frequently-updated bibliography of research on jazz can be found at

This thesis examines the complex sociocultural dynamics that surround the concept of jazz theory from two broad perspectives: formalized or academic jazz theory, which emerged as a result of the formal institutionalization of jazz in the academy, and organic or intrinsic jazz theory, which first arose from African American music-making practices. This dichotomy does not suggest that the majority of jazz community members exist at the extremes of either of these two poles. Contrarily, most musicians tend to occupy the grey area somewhere in between. The aim of this study was to shed light on the complex and elusive intersection between formalized and organic approaches to jazz theory. Through an analysis of informal, formal, and virtual (internet-based) jazz music-learning environments, the results offer a thick description of the way in which notions of "jazz theory" affected the social lives of musicians, fostered racialized jazz identities, defined community boundaries, and influenced music-making practices. The paper includes a variety of case studies, such as Miles Davis' experience studying music at Julliard, an analysis of the first methodological theory books published for jazz students and educators, online forums where jazz students discuss music theory, and ethnographic data related to modern day jazz theory that I collected from nonacademic and academic jazz learning environments. Two theory-related books examined included George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept and David Baker's Jazz Pedagogy: A Comprehensive Method of Jazz Education for Teacher and Student. In both, the cultural contexts in which the works were created and how many students and educators misinterpreted or omitted elements that reflect the tabooed subject of race were considered. The study also relied on original ethnographic content collected during a field study at a Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop, a racially charged debate between two Aebersold camp attendees, a meeting with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, an interview with a 51-year-old African American jazz drummer and organic jazz theorist named Willie Smart, and a reflection on my experiences with an autodidactic African American saxophonist from Cincinnati, Ohio named Chuck Young. Overall, the paper elucidates the racialized and transcultural nature of the jazz community's music-learning environments, and examines the role in which jazz theory plays within them. Academic jazz educators may use insights from this essay to create curricula that include an increased cultural and racial competency as well as a greater awareness of approaches to jazz that are traditionally excluded. Jazz musicians, music historians, and jazz fans may benefit from the analysis of jazz theory as a social process.

Frankfürter Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft, 2003

Ethnomusicology, Vol 64, No. 3, 2020

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