Rundown of different jazz styles?

[puddin tame]

So what im working on is that i realised i can 'just do' a hell of a lot of stuff, but if i had to teach it to someone else (which i want to do eventually) i wouldnt know how to break it down technically enough to not feel like a hack. So what im starting with is jazz styles, the styles that will show up in the corner of a real book piece.

Is there sonewhere that does a rundown of a medium swing vs a bossa nova vs a ballad vs latin, etc? I mean if you had to explain to someone else using musical talk

sorry for bad grammar, on my phone

[Anonymatt]

Is this because you're planning on teaching someone?

You might end up not feeling like a hack, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't still be one.

Remember "Fight Club"? "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."

[Bainbridge]

Well, at least you're supportive.

I don't claim to be an expert in this stuff, but I'll throw one your way.

Horace Silver - Nutville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuMXzbaZ7JA

File this under "Latin". By no means the greatest Latin tune, but an easy study. The bass is playing root-fifth-octave as half-note triplets, and is following the tenor and trombone during the turnaround. Really, though, the best way to develop a methodology is to figure this stuff out with your own ear and extract what you think is important. Can't figure it out? Go back to ear training, homeboy!

[lkbass22]

Miles Davis - It Could Happen To You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDVoXfgA1g

A really good example of the bass playing with a two-feel.

Also a typical latin rhythm used on tunes like Nutville would be variations on: Dotted quarter-dotted quarter (eighth note tied to quarter as to not to break rules haha)- quarter.

[the_stone]

Check out "The Jazz Bass Book" by John Goldsby. It's a pretty comprehensive look at many of the key bassists throughout jazz history, along with analysis of their individual styles. There's also sections that look at the bassline-specific differences in many jazz styles.

John's a member here, and posts over in the double-bass side every now and then.

[puddin tame]

Awesome, i will try to check out that book.

As far as the chicken comment, one can not learn to be a chicken. I am trying to learn to be a teacher.

[Anonymatt]

Haha. I'm sorry for being harsh.

My reparation will be to second the suggestion to get Goldsby's book. Totally worth it. I look at it all the time. I also suggest "Thinking In Jazz".

[Groove Doctor]

I like the idea but you'll find a lot of songs that don't neatly fit the box ie mixing elements of different styles.

Prob best to teach students to learn to identify the key elements of the song, for bass, and for other key instruments.

Eg Tempo, time sig, counting - BPM, in 2, 4, ....
Rhythm - Straight, Swung 8ths/16ths, Shuffle...
Bass pattern - walking, root notes, 1-5-8...
Drums/Percussion - beat carried on ride cymbal, hats, cowbell, claves, kick/snare.

For Latin styles there are specific beats that are essential in defining a style - but different countries have their own versions of dancing and often musical rhythms.

[Groove Doctor]

Or wikipedia has subcategories of jazz....

[pnchad]

tunes are categorized by basic rhythms as a short-cut - nothing more

the whole idea is to interpret the tune in your own voice

that's why it's called JAZZ

not Lounge Cover Music

i.e., get Bill Evans Live compilation - from take to take the approach changes - sometimes even time sig 4/4 to 3/4

jazz is an improvisor's medium - spontaneous composition if you like

please stay away until you've listened a lot more pls pls pls

[colcifer]

There is no rundown. This is a deep and nuanced subject. If you really want to learn this, get a jazz teacher.

[puddin tame]

I'm getting a lot of downtalk here. I'd just like to say I've been playing for 12 years and jazz for half of it, but I have picked up my stylistic abilities by ear and listening. I could play a bass line to a Latin track, but could not explain in academic terms how it differs to say, a bossa nova.

[colcifer]

A bossa nova is a type of Latin rhythm characterized by the (in most cases) near exclusive use of the "one" and "five" and the alternation of dotted quarters and eighth notes.

[Ed Fuqua]

Originally Posted by puddin tame

I'd just like to say I've been playing for 12 years and jazz for half of it, ....

And many of us have strings on our basses older than 6 years, fine, do whatever you want, but I've been doing this for a minnit and, as has been alluded to, there's no shortcuts. It's not " downtalk", it's just an honest assessment of a huge deficit in your background. The idea that what is happening in a specific composition is "a corner in the Real Book" is misguided at best and ludicrous at worst....

[Ed Fuqua]

Originally Posted by colcifer

A bossa nova is a type of Latin rhythm characterized by the (in most cases) near exclusive use of the "one" and "five" and the alternation of dotted quarters and eighth notes.

This is sadly oversimplified. It's the kind of half assed, club date, Murican white bread version of a bossa nova that is the source of much humor for Brazilians...

[elshunko]

Originally Posted by colcifer

There is no rundown. This is a deep and nuanced subject. If you really want to learn this, get a jazz teacher.

Agreed. It's an admirable thing to want to learn more, and better understand, more so to pass on the knowledge. That said, if there's one thing I've learned about "Jazz" is that there are no rules, except when there are, but they still don't apply (Tounge in cheeck). Lists don't do well, but there are plenty who try.

[puddin tame]

Care to throw some education down from the high horse, then? Or are you just going to make derisive comments? Are you denying that genres have particular beats and chord tones emphasised over others?

Because it seems like that is what you are doing.

[elshunko]

Originally Posted by puddin tame

Care to throw some education down from the high horse, then? Or are you just going to make derisive comments? Are you denying that genres have particular beats and chord tones emphasised over others?

Because it seems like that is what you are doing.

I'm not sure who you are directing this to.

If it was me...I was actually trying to be helpful. There are a great number of albums, books, articles, doc movies on the subject. I question someone's commitment when that isn't the first resource used. Asking for other people's expertise and copying it does not make it your own.

Good luck and enjoy the endless journey.

[Ed Fuqua]

Where to begin? Typing to a bunch of strangers on the inter webs is NOT the best way to learn what you need to learn, as was said earlier, get with a live person who had a deeper understanding of this music than you do and put the work in. It's not about "particular beats and chord tones", it's about hearing with enough clarity that you can communicate how you're hearing the framework of the composition.

[Groove Doctor]

Originally Posted by Groove Doctor

Or wikipedia has subcategories of jazz....

READ THIS!!!