Introduction
For my final project, I decided that I would like to focus on putting together a Jazz group to perform a repertoire at multiple venues. I have worked on a range of skills needed in this project previously and I am constantly working on my practical skills on the piano, therefore I’ve decided to use this project to research and develop my understanding and application of harmony and arrangement. I will use a range of sources and resources to look into how harmony and theory relate to Jazz and can benefit my final project as well as providing some examples of these ideas.
Sources
Mark Levine Jazz Theory Book
This Jazz theory book is renowned for being incredibly detailed as well as technically accurate. It outlines and explores a huge range of Jazz theory including analysing different solos and chord progressions used by different Jazz artists. I think that this book would be great to use as a source for my essay as it explores the relation of theory to the Jazz musician as well as providing practical references.
Universal Mind of Bill Evans
This is a very interesting documentary with one of the highest regarded Jazz pianists of all time, he talks in huge detail about his interaction with music theory as well as how it has affected the development of music from Classical to Jazz.
Jazz Piano Site
This site is really useful as it provides so much information on Jazz theory and so many different articles on how to implement this in your playing as well as articles about different Jazz musicians techniques.
Miles Davis Autobiography
Miles Davis is one of the highest regarded Jazz musicians of all time and his autobiography outlines an incredibly interesting life and relationship with music. Miles was present throughout so many revolutions in Jazz including Bepop and Fusion both of which took improvisation to another level.
Allegory Of The Cave
Plato’s Cave theory is a very interesting idea into how perception and theory relate to us as people and the way in which we learn. As it relates to society , it can of course relate to music and I’m looking forward to analysing the links of this idea to music.
https://mayooshin.com/plato-allegory-of-the-cave/
Jazz At The Lincoln Centre
In this video, Walter Blanding talks about how different improvisation games and exercises can affect our creativity when improvising.
Lera Boroditsky
Within the first thirty seconds of this video, Lera Boroditsky introduces and begins to explore a really interesting concept in how we transmit our thoughts to one another through language. She goes on to show how languages differ in structure and have developed differently, examples of this include the use of gender, direction and counting. Overall at the time that this recording was taken, there were 7,000 languages in the world meaning that there are 7,000 individual ‘cognitive universes’ which would hugely effect the diversity of how some one perceives music. Therefore does this mean that our way of conditioning music through theory is the only correct way at explaining how music works?
Victor Wooten
‘Music is a way that I can talk about anything that’s kind of touchy, politics, racism, equality, inequality, religion.’ – Victor Wooten
‘A dancer never to ask questions before they dance, a singer doesn’t usually has to ask what key we’re in, musicians have to ask too many questions’ – Victor Wooten