If you research jazz music and watch jazz musicians talk about their craft, you’ll encounter the term jazz language. But what does that mean?
Jazz, an art form over 100 years old, has developed a unique set of musical attributes that distinguish it from other genres. These musical attributes make jazz sound like jazz and not like rock music or EDM.
To learn how to play jazz, you need to understand these musical attributes to emulate them in your own playing and convey the ‘jazz sound’ to your listeners.
Luckily, we’ve broken down these attributes into three easy-to-understand elements to help you focus on and practice the right things. By the end of this article, you’ll be much closer to understanding the jazz language!
- First, we’ll look at the music-language analogy and why it is a helpful way to think about music.
- Then, we’ll discuss some basic music theory you should know before learning the jazz language.
- After that, we’ll dig into the Three Elements of Jazz Language and discuss how you should learn them!
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Table of Contents
Defining Jazz Language (Why The Language Analogy Works Well)
What is a language? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a language is “a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings.”
Language, whether spoken, written, or signed, is comprised of specific symbols with an agreed-upon meaning to communicate ideas. We use language and its system of symbols to communicate with others and express our thoughts, feelings, needs, and desires.
This is the primary function of languages.
However, languages are more than just the words that make up sentences. Languages are also cultural systems that imbue the speaker with a cultural identity. In other words, languages contain cultural perspectives that unite speakers in obvious and not-so-obvious ways.
This is a secondary function of languages.
Slang words are a great example of how one language can differ regionally and reveal extra cultural information about a speaker. For example, I use the word hoagie because I’m from Philadelphia. Someone from California could infer where I’m from just by my words.
I mean sandwich, but because of my word choice, you can also infer that I’m from Philadelphia.
image source: Wikimedia Commons
How Jazz (And Music In General) Is A Langauge
Music is another way humans use agreed-upon symbols to communicate ideas. Like spoken languages, the language of music has a primary and secondary function. The primary function of music is to communicate musical ideas using a system of agreed-upon rules.
Music Theory = Grammar
Every language has a system of rules (grammar in English) to help a speaker organize symbols and streamline the communication of ideas. Western music uses Western music theory to organize and direct the flow of pitches, just as English uses grammar to direct the flow of words.
Other musical traditions have different systems or rules of organizing and directing the flow of pitches. In our analogy, this is equivalent to different languages using different grammars.
Additionally, within one language, there can be many variations. Sometimes, these variations are so extreme that one dialect seems completely different from another, even though technically, each is derived from the same language.
For example, regional Italian dialects can vary so much that speakers from Northern Italy and Southern Italy often have great difficulty understanding one another. Stark differences in their cultures reflect differences in their dialects.
Here, we see the secondary function of language coming into play.
Musical Genre = Dialects
A citizen of Louisianna and I may speak the same language, but differences between our dialects (such as idiomatic phrases and vocabulary differences) reflect differences in our regional cultures.
Musical genres within a musical tradition are like different dialects of a language. If Western music theory is comparable to a language like English, then various musical genres are comparable to different regional dialects of English.
Musical genres, such as jazz, rock, blues, and even dungeon synth, use the grammar of Western music theory for structure.
However, there are vast differences between each genre that make each one distinct, just as Cajun English from Baton Rouge sounds very different from Mid-Atlantic English from Philadelphia.
Defining the ‘Jazz Language’
image source: Wikimedia Commons
Now that we have developed our analogy with the English language let’s define the jazz and the jazz language!
According to music historian Frank Tirro:
Jazz is an American art form, a music that came into being at the end of the nineteenth century. Like all classical music, it conforms to established standards of form and complexity, contains a large repertoire of recognized masterworks, and requires standards of musical literacy of both its artists and listeners.
[It is] music that came into being through the African American experience in the Southern part of the United States during the late nineteenth century and first blossomed in the vicinity of New Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century.
Jazz: A History, 1993, pg. 3, 99.
From this definition, we learn that:
- Jazz is African-American classical music
- Jazz-specific rules and conventions distinguish jazz from other forms of music in the Western musical tradition.
- Throughout jazz history, many compositions and recordings were made from which we can study and learn jazz music.
- Basic standards of musical literacy are required to understand how jazz works.
Therefore, jazz language is the system of rules, conventions, and standards that govern how jazz music is played, practiced, and reproduced.
image source: Wikimedia Commons
So, if we want to play jazz like the great jazz innovators, we must develop a basic musical literacy. That doesn’t mean we need to know everything! In fact, many jazz legends weren’t trained in music school and didn’t understand music theory analytically (at least at first).
Instead, these jazz greats understood music intuitively. They acquired jazz literacy through immersion and exposure, in the same way you acquired your native language—through immersion and exposure. (This is something we will replicate later on in this article.)
However, we must know some things to communicate musical ideas effectively. You and I most likely weren’t raised in the bars and nightclubs of America’s large cities in the early 20th century, so a certain level of music theory will help us close the gap between us and those early jazz legends.
The following section will review basic music theory concepts you may already know. If you don’t need a review, please skip to the subsequent sections. You can use the Table of Contents above to jump to the next relevant section!
Basic Music Theory You Should Know
Understanding the basic elements of music theory will make your jazz journey much easier. As I mentioned above, you don’t need to know everything, but you should know how to approach the things you don’t know systematically so you can figure them out.
Before we begin, you should be familiar with a few definitions, as they will be used frequently!
- Musical Interval: the distance between two pitches (literally a difference in frequency because sound is a wave). Check out this article for more on musical intervals.
- Half Step: the smallest unit of sound in Western music theory. For example, it’s the distance between a C and a Db.
- Whole Step: the second smallest unit of sound in Western music theory. It’s the distance between C and D.
- Octave: An octave is the distance between two notes equivalent to twelve half steps or six whole steps. It’s the distance between C and the next C up or down in the sequences.
- C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
- Scale: A scale is a sequence of pitches that take you from a starting note to a note an octave away via a series of half and whole steps. There are many different types of scales!
Now, we are ready to tackle the basic music theory concepts you should know as you start your jazz journey.
How To Build Triads and Seventh Chords
Understanding chords is essential to understanding the rules governing jazz melodies and jazz improvisation. Knowing the basic building blocks of jazz standards and how they progress helps a jazz musician select the right notes to complement or contrast with the underlying harmonic progression.
That’s why you must understand chords even if you aren’t a chord player!
In Western music, most chords are built using tertiary harmony. A chord built using tertiary harmony consists of at least three notes (two stacked thirds). A third is a type of musical interval. Specifically, a third can be major or minor.
A major third is made of four half steps, and a minor third is one-half step smaller, or three half steps.
C to E is our first stacked 3rd, and it’s a major third interval. The distance between C and E is four half steps.
E to G is our second stacked 3rd, and it’s a minor third interval. The distance between E and G is three half steps.
When we stack all three notes on top of one another, we get a C major triad! A triad is a three-note chord consisting of a root, a 3rd, and a 5th. In this case, we have a C for our root, an E for our 3rd, and a G for our 5th.
If we use the major scale to add another third to our C major triad, we end up with a seventh chord. A seventh chord is a four-note chord consisting of a root, a 3rd, a 5th, and a 7th. However, the distance between each adjacent note remains a major or minor third.
This is just a basic introduction to triads and seventh chords. For more information on these topics, check out the following articles. Some of them focus on the guitar, but the theory explanations apply to any instrument!
- Master Major Triads On The Guitar To Unlock Jazz Success
- Master The Minor Triad All Over The Guitar Fretboard
- How To Play 7th Chords: 5 Types of 7th Chords on Piano & Guitar
Basic Scales (And Modes)
You should understand the major scale and its modes. This article explains major scale modes in greater detail, but I’ll give a quick crash course here.
Specifically for jazz, you need to know the major scale first. It’s a seven-note scale that follows a scale formula of half and whole steps to bring you an octave higher or lower than your starting note.
Major scale formula (W = whole step; H = half step):
- W-W-H-W-W-W-H
- C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
So, what are modes, then?
Modes are scales that are built from a parent scale. If the major scale is a parent scale, you can build six other scales from it. How? Each note in the major scale sequence can be the starting point in its own scale.
Instead of playing the above sequence from C (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C), we could instead play it from D (D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D).
- W-H-W-W-W-H-W
- D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D
The sequence of notes (and steps) remains the same, but the starting note differs, changing the mode’s characteristics. For example, this Dorian scale is a minor scale, but the major scale is (as the name implies) a major scale.
Here are the seven modes of the major scale:
- I. Major Scale (Ionian Mode)
- ii. Dorian Mode
- iii. Phrygian Mode
- IV. Lydian Mode
- V. Mixolydian Mode
- vi. Natural Minor Scale (Aeolian Mode )
- vii°. Locrian Mode
Check out this article for more on modes and other essential jazz scales.
Each mode of the major scale has characteristics that make it unique despite being unified by the same underlying sequence of notes. This is important to grasp because you’ll need to connect the appropriate scale or mode to the proper chord in a progression when playing jazz solos.
Let’s explore this further!
How Chords Relate To Scales
We’ve already reviewed how to build chords and scales, but we also need to discuss how chords and scales relate to one another. In major and minor keys, each chord has an associated mode.
Let’s look at the chords and associated modes found in major keys.
- I (C major) = Ionian
- ii (D minor) = Dorian
- iii (E minor) = Phrygian
- VI (F Major) = Lydian
- V = Mixolydian
- vi = Natural Minor (Aeolian)
- vii° = Locrian
When we follow the rules for stacking thirds to build chords but restrict ourselves to the major scale notes, we end up with diatonic chords, which are chords derived from the major scale.
Check out this article for more on diatonic chords and how they function.
Each note in the major scale is the root of a triad (or seventh chord if you so choose). Like the modes, these chords have distinct qualities.
When building triads:
- The I, IV, and V chords are major.
- The ii, iii, and vi chords are minor.
- The vii° chord is diminished.
When building 7th chords:
- The I and IV chords are major seventh chords.
- The V chord is a dominant seventh chord.
- The ii, iii, and vi chords are minor seventh chords.
- The viiø chord is half-diminished.
Knowing how scales relate to chords is essential for mastering jazz improvisation, but we’ll discuss that more later.
How Music Theory Concepts Apply To Your Instrument!
Perhaps most importantly, you need to understand your instrument. Jazz requires more of you as a musician than most other styles of music. It is a technically demanding genre like classical music, or 80s shred guitar.
This isn’t a value judgment. I’m not claiming that jazz, classical music, or 80s shred guitar are better than other genres of music because they require a higher level of technical ability. I simply want to prepare you for the reality that jazz will ask more of you than most other genres.
Because of this, you’ll have a much easier time learning the jazz language if you already know how to play your instrument. Ideally, you should:
- Know how to produce pitches on a large enough range of your instrument
- Know the names of all these pitches as they relate to music theory
- Know basic patterns (scales, arpeggios, and chords) on your instrument
For example, I’m a guitarist, so my understanding of guitar chord shapes, scale patterns, and arpeggios is crucial for helping me articulate jazz language effectively. In other words, mastering the guitar fretboard was essential to my jazz journey.
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE...
If music theory has always seemed confusing to you and you wish someone would make it feel simple, our free guide will help you unlock jazz theory secrets.
The 3 Elements of Jazz Language
Now that we’ve reviewed the basics, let’s explore what makes jazz unique! What distinguishes the jazz language from other genres of music? In this section, we’ll explore how jazz melody (solos included), harmony, and rhythm differ from other genres of music.
1. Melody
Whether you are listening to a bebop solo or the melody of your favorite jazz standard, jazz melodies have characteristics that are unique to jazz. Whether using chromaticism or bebop techniques like enclosure figures, jazz musicians often play more intricate melodies than non-jazz musicians.
2. Harmony
Jazz harmony is often richer and more complex than other genres of music. Many pop, rock, and country songs use triads as their chords of choice. However, jazz uses seventh chords with extensions and alterations you wouldn’t hear in a radio-friendly pop song.
3. Rhythm
Rhythm and time-feel are perhaps the most important aspects of any musical genre. Jazz has a unique rhythmic language that isn’t prominent in other Western genres of music. For example, the concept of swing feel appears in the blues but is otherwise absent from other Western genres.
Jazz compositions can also be in odd meters, like 3/4 time, 5/4 time, and beyond, whereas most Western genres are only four on the floor (4/4).
Now that we’ve identified the three elements of jazz language, let’s break each down, starting with melody.
1. Melody: Breaking Down Jazz’s Melodic Language
You can speak with greater detail and nuance with an extensive vocabulary. Likewise, your ability to create and synthesize musical statements is greatly enhanced if you have an extensive musical vocabulary.
Jazz improvisation has evolved over the past 120 years, from Louis Armstrong’s blistering trumpet solos to Chick Corea’s wild and technically impeccable piano solos. Over the past century, jazz melodic language has crystalized into something we can break down and study today.
However, jazz’s melodic language isn’t fixed and is still evolving today! It’s important to understand that.
Bebop Vocabulary and Characteristics
Let’s explore bebop vocabulary to understand jazz melodic language better. Several characteristics distinguish jazz melodies and solos from other genres. A rock solo may incorporate some of these elements, but that’s only because jazz did it first!
- 8th Note Musical Phrases
- Chromatic Passing Tones
- Chromatic Approach Tones
- Enclosure Figures
8th Note Musical Phrases
The basic rhythmic unit of jazz solos and many jazz melodies is the 8th note. Because jazz music emphasizes an 8th-note swing feel, soloing in 8th notes allows you to lock in with a swinging rhythm section.
While other rhythms are common in jazz improvisation, the 8th note phrase is the default way jazz improvisers express the harmony of the moment over a tune’s changes.
Chromatic Passing Tones
Chromatic passing tones are non-diatonic notes added to a conventional scale. Doing so accomplishes a few things for the improviser:
It can keep stronger chord tones on downbeats (shown in purple). Notice how adding an F# to the line keeps chord tones on down beats throughout the ii-V-I line.
It can turn a seven-note scale into an eight-note scale, keeping the soloist on the same notes for multiple measures. Notice how adding an Ab to this major scale (bebop major scale) makes each measure identical, just displaced by an octave.
Chromatic passing tones like the one used above are built into bebop scales. Check out this article for more information on bebop scales.
Chromaticism also adds tension to jazz lines because the tones are non-diatonic (not from the scale on which the harmony is based). Tension and release are big parts of music, and using non-diatonic tones selectively helps to infuse a solo with this important aspect of music.
This line uses many chromatic non-diatonic notes on up-beats to infuse this musical phrase with tension and release.
Chromatic Approach Tones
Chromatic approach tones come before a target note (usually a chord tone). These notes are either a half step above or below the target tone.
Though these notes are non-diatonic and would clash with the surrounding harmony if played by themselves, chromatic approach tones resolve to a chord tone, causing tension and release.
Here are lower-neighbor chromatic approach tones. They sit a half-step below the target chord tone. (I use A for chromatic approach tone and T for target note.)
Here is an example of an upper-neighbor chromatic approach tone. The Eb moves down a half-step to start the phrase.
Enclosure Figures
Enclosure figures enclose a target note and contain two surrounding notes that precede that target note. The notes preceding the target note must be either the adjacent scale degrees (D and F if the target note is E) or directly adjacent notes (Db and F if the target note is E).
In the following example, I play the lower neighbor first and then the upper neighbor in each enclosure figure, but the higher pitch note can also precede the lower pitch note. You’ll see the enclosing notes in red (marked by E) and the target note in blue (marked by T).
Check out this article on jazz licks to learn more about bebop language.
2. Harmony: Understanding Jazz Chord Progressions
The harmonic structure of jazz standards is a crucial aspect of the jazz language, as it informs the note choices improvisers and composers have at their disposal. Jazz harmony is more complex than other genres of music, so it’s essential to understand how it works.
How Jazz Progressions Move: The ii-V-I Chord Progression
The most important chord progression in jazz is the ii-V-I progression. The ‘ii-V-I’ in ii-V-I progression refers to the relationship between the chords. Every chord in this progression is measured against the I chord.
The ii is the ii chord because it is built off the second scale degree of the key. The V is built from the fifth scale degree of the key. And finally, the I is the reference point against which the other chords are named.
Here are the chords in the key of C major, with the ii, the V, and the I outlined in green.
- The ii refers to the ii chord (D-)
- The V refers to the V chord (G)
- The I refers to the I chord (C)
Check out this article for more on the ii-V-I progression.
When you play a ii-V-I, your root note moves through the circle of fourths (which is the circle of fifths, but counter-clockwise). This is the key to understanding jazz harmonic language.
This harmonic movement is present in many classic jazz standards. For example, here are the first four measures of the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves.” The song is in G- but we’ll analyze the chords as if the tune was in Bb, the relative major key.
Check this article out for more on relative major and minor.
This tune starts on a ii-V-I-IV progression (when analyzed from Bb). When we apply these changes to the circle of fourths, you see the same quartal movement:
Check out this article for more on “Autumn Leaves” chords.
This harmonic principle isn’t unique to “Autumn Leaves.” Most jazz songs move in this fashion, and when they don’t, it’s often because the composer chooses to use chord substitutions, which add harmonic interest to the progression without compromising the harmonic structure.
While we won’t explore chord substitutions in this article, you can learn about the many different types of chord substitutions here.
Targeting Chord Tones To Outline Chord Changes
Let’s briefly examine a technique that ‘blends’ harmony and melody. If you aren’t a chordal instrument, you’ll likely already be familiar with arpeggiating through a tune.
There are two ways a musician can express a tune’s harmony:
- By playing chords (vertically or all notes at once)
- By playing arpeggios (horizontally or chord tones in a sequence)
As an improviser, it’s crucial that you can outline a tune’s chord progression using arpeggios. Chord outlines are another important aspect of jazz language, but they aren’t unique to jazz, so I didn’t include them in the melody section above.
Instead, I think it’s more appropriate to talk about chord outlines as an expression of jazz harmonic language because chord outlines are a direct expression of a tune’s harmonic progression.
Here are the first four measures of the jazz standard “All The Things You Are,” with an arpeggio exercise that targets the chord tones found in each chord.
Check out this video for a deeper analysis of “All The Things You Are.”
3. Rhythm: Breaking Down Swing
Finally, it’s time to talk about swing! Swing feel is perhaps the most important aspect of jazz language because most other genres play it straight! You can play all the right notes, but if you can’t get the notes to lay right, it won’t sound right.
It takes some time and concerted effort to internalize swing feel and bring it out in your own playing. To do it right, you must listen, listen, and listen some more! Your output is only as good as your input, so you need to truly live in the music to infuse your musical vocabulary with good time feel.
Swing Is A Spectrum
The truth is that ‘swing’ is not a set rhythm. Swing feel within the same solo can ebb, flow, and disappear altogether.
What makes swing feel good is the relationship between the rhythm section and the soloist. However, there are a few ways to rhythmically extrapolate what good swing feel looks like (or sounds like).
Musicians have tried to represent swing feel on the staff in a couple of different ways. Mapping out where the upbeat is played can help musicians visualize the full spectrum of swing feel, from completely straight to heavily swung.
On one end of the spectrum, heavily swung 8th notes sound like dotted 8th note/16th note couplets:
Here is another way to represent the same information where we see the unplayed 16th notes. The arrows indicate which 16th notes you play:
A lighter swing feel might feel like 8th note triplets where the first and last 8th notes in the triplet are played:
Like the previous example, here is another way to present the information where we see the unplayed 8th note. The arrows indicate which beats you play on.
While we don’t have a rhythmically precise way to notate an extremely light swing feel, some musicians use accents to indicate a heavier downbeat:
Best Practices For Learning The Three Elements Of Jazz Language
The best way to absorb the three elements of jazz language involves total immersion! Like any language, you’ll learn best in an environment that forces you to engage with the material. Here are a few pointers to help you do just that.
Transcribe Jazz Standards and Solos By Ear
Transcribing jazz music is the best way to learn how to play jazz. You can know how jazz works in theory, but jazz in practice is an aural art form. That’s why you must train your ears to hear how to express the jazz language.
You can memorize vocabulary words in a foreign language, but if you’ve never pronounced them or used them in conversation with a native speaker, you’ll never become fluent. Everything you need to learn jazz is contained within the music.
When you transcribe a solo or learn a jazz standard by ear, you directly study jazz melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language from the source. Hearing, singing, and absorbing jazz language this way is the key to improvising like a jazz pro.
Proper ear training is a prerequisite for doing this effectively. For a primer on ear training, check out this article on ear training exercises.
Compose Jazz Melodies, Chord Progressions, and Solos
If you want to play jazz using your own language, you should start writing jazz melodies, chord progression, and solos.
I like to think of composition as improvisation in slow motion. When you remove the time constraint of a live session, you can train your brain to think about the right note choices and better understand how to handle the changes when the tempo is burning.
If you write etudes and jazz heads, you can practice jazz performance without performing!
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