WMV Music Web Log

Jazz is still a great mystery to me. I have talked to some jazz and rock musicians lately, and find what they have had to say, even in the briefest conversations, quite amazing. As a classical pianist I was taught (albeit incorrectly) that the pulse was created by accenting the one and the three, say in a 4/4 Mozart Rondo. There was no question that the accents were to be precisely on the beats, and no question that the pulse, the beat, the meter were all indistinguishable. Yes, there were ritardandos and accelerandos, and Chopin (again, a mystery) was somehow different with his rubato, but rhythm was and had a mathematical simplicity. So what does it mean that a 4/4 r & b beats on the 2 and 4? I was listening last night to a song played at intermission of a Onestage Productions play, Michael McCorkle's "Like Father, Like Son" at the Atlas Theater and trying to figure this out (a great production, by the way that unfortunately ends today; the abusive husband, played superbly by Washington's own James Lewis, was a really terrifying role).

Well, the snare was beating on the 2 and 4 alright. The bass quitar played the one, but not all the time. And nobody touched the 3, which was implied only by syncopations in the bass and drums. What does this do? Well, the 2 and 4 are clearly pegged OK, but the one and 4 are mostly loose and implied, so it's like you can slip, but only for a beat because the 2 and 4 catch you up. In a simple way, it's like the difference between skipping and walking. Of course, it's not skipping - it's dancing.

Another insight, from talking with John Kamman about it, is that a jazz musician thinks like a composer. Duh, I should have understood that - they are making things up, after all. But what he explained is that in his head are chord changes and the many different ways of moving between them. My initial reaction is, 1 - I hated harmony class, and 2- I wouldn't want to do that. After a while, I have been rethinking this - why did I hate harmony class (material for another entry), and maybe I could think about one or two chords for a start.

But going back to the rhythm, both John Kamman and Seth Justman, a rock musician I had the privilege of talking with, emphasized that there is a profound distinction between the metronomic meter and the "groove", even, and maybe even especially for the drummer. This was like somebody switching on the light for me. I have been applying this idea with great excitement to everything I do at the piano, and it releases and transforms my creative approach.