Jazz is said to be diverse; a combination of many creative and stylistic music styles. In this type of music, the singer or musician can  experiment, alter and make modifications on the technique used and on how the song is to be delivered thus, making it more artistic and unique; this explains the most important characteristic of jazz, which is improvisation. Improvisation can be done in many elements of the composition like melody and harmony. By applying such in a song, it becomes identifiable with the listener that the piece belongs to the scope of jazz. Many musicians believe that without improvisation, a song could not be classified as jazz but this genre of music is very varied that no particular description can be made to, exactly define it. During the old times, when music was still simple, people were driven to improvise to make the song more beautiful but nowadays, people tend to compose sophisticated music giving less room for musicians to improvise. Since improvisation was a big part of the history of jazz, it was not totally detached, but instead it was incorporated on its method of composition.

People also can distinguish jazz from other genres through another characteristic, which is syncopation. It is the placement of unexpected accents in the rhythm of a composition and emphasis is placed between the beats. These accents are usually positioned on weaker beats. It somewhat creates an unexpected rhythm that is irregularly incorporated throughout the entire song. This gives the song a more distinctive sense of the timing with regards to the notes and a personalized way of execution with regards to its delivery. There are other attributes that can be incorporated in the rhythm of a composition when it comes to jazzing; this includes counterpoint and the concept of swing. Counterpoint is an attribute of jazz wherein instruments that vary are played together all woven into a harmonious whole creating a different kind of rhythm for a song. The more complex counterpoint is applied to the composition, the richer the rhythmic background becomes. Most of the jazz musicians incorporate swing in the composition to entice the listener to move and dance with the beat of the music.

Diverse music styles utilize different kinds of instruments to accompany the musicians. Instruments also help musicians identify the genre of music they want to depict. The instruments play a major role in jazz since these are the tools that the musician manipulates to achieve the desired sound for a composition. In instrumentation, an important element that needs to be understood is the timbre. This distinguishes the sound of a certain instrument from another. The timbre is the sound from the instruments that we immediately hear upon manipulation of the musicians. The timbre of a piano perhaps is different in comparison to the timbre of a trumpet. This is evident when instruments are played simultaneously just like in counterpart; the listener can easily identify the sound of an instrument even though a variety of sounds are produced. The most common instruments used in jazz are saxophone, trumpet, piano, banjo, bass guitar, clarinet and drums. These instruments are grouped in such a way that they have to complement each other to produce a balanced sound. These instruments also possess different ranges of pitch making it more diverse. The vocalist, who is free to improvise with the lyrics and sounds, can be stylish in any way like imitating the sounds of the instruments or choosing a faster or slower tempo in the delivery of words. Instrumentalists can also make some alterations with the instruments they are using for it to complement the vocals and to elicit a much unique sound for the listeners. Though vocals are part of jazz, it is mainly an instrumental music. Therefore, without the instruments, jazz will not exist.

Here are a few things to help you understand and appreciate jazz music.

• The Roots of Jazz

Jazz has aroused from a combination of African and American cultures. It originated from the black communities in the South American society. The very first type of jazz music was the work song which was a rhythmic song that helped make work go faster. Later  other sub genres of jazz music were introduced. Different collisions have been made with latin jazz in the Brazilian and Afro-Cuban types of jazz. With the introduction of electrical instruments, a more modern type of jazz music has been introduced and more modern different styles have also appeared.

• Jazz and its evolution

From the very first type of jazz music which was the work song, other types of jazz music have evolved. The next sub genre introduced was the New Orleans jazz music which developed from the marching band music. This gained popularity due to the available surplus military band instruments which were sold cheaply after World War II. This then gave way to Dixieland jazz or otherwise known as the ragtime jazz. This type of jazz was influenced by the ragtime piano in the Northern Part. This later  led to hot jazz wherein the emphasis was how one can loudly play and was matched with creativity and clarity in terms of tone. The Big Band was then introduced which from the name itself, implies a very big orchestra and having three or more players to play one kind of musical instrument and having a band leader, who played a very important role. The swing type of jazz was then introduced and the Bebop jazz came in later.  The bebop jazz was often lengthy and was distinguished with its solos, which were chaotic but still had harmony with the note. Cool jazz then came into the scene which was characterized by playing tones that were easy for the ears and this led to the evolution of the modern jazz which is known to be soothing and relaxing. Latin and soul jazz was also then brought in and later  the fusion type of jazz arrived, which fused jazz and rock music.

• Jazz is not blues and blues is not jazz but both are not apart and are similar

It has been established that the blues influenced jazz music and in the modern times’ jazz later  influenced the blues. Both types of music have emerged from the southern part of America with the black community. At the same time, both music had also arisen from racial conflicts, slavery and hardships. In the present times, blues has been often identified with jazz due to its freebase, instrumental sound.

• Sit back, relax and listen to jazz music.

Now that you have a background on jazz music and to be able to give you a deeper understanding of the jazz culture, listen to albums of jazz and the famous personalities of each sub genre. For example, in the cool jazz music you can listen to Miles Davis, who was noted and famous for this music or to Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk for bebop jazz or listen to albums of Herbie Hancock for jazz fusion. If you have the time and cash, listen to live in jazz music, which will give you more admiration and a feel of jazz music. This can also facilitate in relaxing your mood and will help enhance your senses.

Jazz music like any other music went through different transformations and has introduced different styles. One can have his own choice of jazz music and might or might not appreciate it, but knowing its roots can give you a deeper appreciation and recognize the distinction of jazz music apart from other musical genres.

The widely known birth place of jazz is the New Orleans. Most people living in this place love to hear and compose jazz music. Majority of them are individuals who belong to the black race. This is why many jazz artists are black Americans. This type of music can be played in various instruments. These include the piano, saxophones, trumpet, trombone, drums, bass, cello and many more. The most popular jazz instrument is the piano. This is because it can play a wide range of notes and is commonly used as a solo instrument. It can also play notes simultaneously. Like other types of music, jazz also has its subtypes. Let’s name the most commonly known. These are the following types. The cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, Latin jazz, and lastly the soul jazz. It sounds interesting for those jazz lovers, isn’t it? Let’s dig deeper and understand the subtypes of jazz.

First is the cool jazz. This type of jazz was the replacement of the old energy and tension jazz. It was replaced at around 1940’s to 1950’s. This type had a slow and relaxing tune which made itself popular in 1950’s… You may find this as a relaxing type of music to the extent that it releases the tension in your body brought by stress. To follow is the modal jazz.  This type of jazz is very particular in its use of musical scale. It’s improvisation is based on the musical scale to be played by the jazz musician. This type usually plays solo jazz and personal riffs that can add up some spice on the composed jazz music. Most common instruments used in modal jazz are the piano, saxophone, and the guitars specially in doing jazz riffs. The other type of jazz is the free jazz.  This is the type of jazz in which the composer or the musician plays several notes freely even on live performance. This is a jazz music in which the beats and its formality are not applied. The jazz musician can play on whatever notes she, or he likes as long as it fits to the accompaniment.

The next type of jazz music is the Latin jazz.  Isn’t this familiar to you? This is an American-Latin type of jazz, which is mostly played on solo instruments like the piano and bass guitar. This type has a classical harmony approach. Examples of Latin jazz are Bossa Nova and jazz samba. This type of jazz is mostly played by Cuban and Brazilian people. It is evident that the Latin jazz music is also played in coffee shops and lounge. The last but not the least is the soul jazz. Sounds interesting, right? This type of jazz is greatly influenced and mixed with other rhythms like the blues and gospel.  This is commonly played by trio musicians. The group is composed of a drummer, pianist, and a bass player. Jazz is still evolving as time is getting older. We can actually see it by ourselves that now a day jazz has been incorporated with different types of music like rock, pop, and many more.