Rhythm is the most important component of jazz.
Melody and chords are less important.
Duke Ellington standard: “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t go that swing.”
African American musical styles: blues, gospel, rap, funk and jazz — place a strong accent on the 2nd and 4th beat of the measure. These are considered weak beats in western art music traditions.
When the rhythm swings, an uneven division of the 8th note is used.
In medium to slow tempos, 8th notes tend to be played like triplets with the first two notes tied.
As tempo increases, relationship between teh notes tends to even out. And within these parameters, each artist finds his or her own unique interpretations. Usually the first beat is played long while the offbeats are frequently accented.
It is like doo-BAH
When accenting the offbeats, and de-emphasizing certain notes, an underlying polyrhythm and infectious sense of swing is created. When too many downbeats are accented, music sounds corny and square.
Tags: rhythm