Jazz and popular music
History of music · The piano through history · Level 4 · 16 min
Born in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, where African-American traditions (blues, spirituals, work songs) met European ones (harmony, instruments, marches), jazz profoundly transformed the piano. The popular musics that grew from it — rock, soul, pop — made the keyboard one of their central instruments.
A timeline of jazz piano
| Style | Era | Features | Pianists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ragtime | 1895-1920 | Written out, march form, syncopated right hand over a steady left hand | Scott Joplin (“Maple Leaf Rag”, “The Entertainer”) |
| Stride | 1920-1940 | A “striding” left hand: bass on 1 and 3, chord on 2 and 4; improvisation | James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Art Tatum |
| Boogie-woogie | 1930-1945 | A driving eighth-note ostinato bass on the blues, danceable energy | Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons |
| Swing | 1935-1945 | Big bands, elegance, a lighter left hand | Teddy Wilson, Count Basie |
| Bebop | 1945-1955 | Fast tempos, complex harmony, virtuoso lines, left-hand shells | Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk |
| Cool, modal | 1955-1965 | Rootless voicings, modes, introspection | Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner |
| Latin jazz | from 1940 | Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms (bossa nova), montunos | Eddie Palmieri, Antônio Carlos Jobim |
| Free, fusion, contemporary | 1960 → | Formal freedom, electric keyboards, many influences | Cecil Taylor, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett |
On the popular side: rock'n'roll piano (Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis), soul and gospel (Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin), piano pop (Elton John, Billy Joel) and, in France, chanson and film music (Michel Legrand).
Stride piano
The left hand alternates a low bass note on beats 1 and 3 with a mid-range chord on beats 2 and 4. Here is the principle, with a syncopated melody in the spirit of ragtime:
M:4/4
L:1/8
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
K:C
[V:RH] "C"e c e g- g2 e2 | "F"f a c' a- a2 f2 | "G7"d f a g- g2 f2 | "C"e2 c2 c4 |]
[V:LH] C,,2 [E,G,C]2 G,,2 [E,G,C]2 | F,,2 [F,A,C]2 C,,2 [F,A,C]2 | G,,2 [F,B,D]2 D,,2 [F,B,D]2 | C,,2 [E,G,C]2 [C,,C,]4 |]
Playing in style
- Swing: uneven eighths (long-short), accents on beats 2 and 4.
- Syncopation: notes tied across the beat (as above) must be confident, not hesitant.
- Blue notes: the lowered third and seventh, often “slid” into from the neighbouring note (a small chromatic grace note).
- Pedal: little or none in stride and boogie; the rhythmic bounce comes from the fingers.
- Ear first: jazz is learned by listening to and transcribing recordings as much as by reading.