Jazz is imbued with all the riveting elements that music needs; melody, harmony, and rhythm. However, what distinguishes jazz from all the others is improvisation. Even though jazz music has a unique identity for itself and a substantiated position in the world of music, people often confuse it with Blues.
Although both the genres have their roots embedded in America and are influenced by African culture, they have some significant differences.
Jazz music focuses on the improvisations and dynamics while the Blues music pivots on the guitar player and lyrical content. Jazz is a music that works its magic through merely being instrumental, while Blues has more than just a tune to offer; it contains lyrics. While the call-and-response format and simple chord progressions define blues, Jazz is more famous for its democratic improvisation, syncopated rhythms, and complicated chords.
Blues music came way before jazz in the late 19th century and originated in Mississippi. It was rural music that musicians initially played at a low cost and on readily available instruments, such as a harmonica or a guitar. Over time, the structure of the music evolved into a 12-bar blues pattern and AAB lyrics pattern. It’s called ‘blues’ because the scale used is blues scale, flattened with the fifth, using I, IV, and V chords. The chords used here are mostly dominant or major. Due to its slow, melancholic tone and intense rhythms, the music connects with the audience quickly and gained popularity in the early 20th century.
Blues possessed a touch of African American folk music, spirituals, and work song that made it distinct. The instruments they used in the songs included piano, guitar, saxophone, bass, harmonica, trumpet, vocals, trombone, and fiddle. This music genre is more expressive and emotional than jazz and, thus, hits a different nerve in the listeners. B.B.King, Muddy Waters, Tommy Johnson, Leadbelly are very famous blues, artists and singers.
Jazz music came about in the early 20th century in New Orleans and has always had Blues-based influences in one way or the other. It’s a mix of African and European music traditions. While Blues includes a handful of chords, jazz music has a plethora of chords and chord progressions. On the contrary to the expressive playing of Blues, jazz focuses on technical tunes.
It’s all about a group getting together, playing instrumental music, and improvising with their instruments. The typical instruments jazz bands need are guitar, piano, bass trumpet, saxophone, a drum kit, tuba, clarinet, and double bass. Even though jazz, on the surface, seems very similar to Blues, it doesn’t always build upon the same scalar and chordal elements as Blues. You get way more variations in chords and scales in jazz than in any other music type. Jazz has a very swinging and swaying tone that lifts spirits with a certain smoothness, making it even more innovative!
Jazz is expandable, unexpected, and in a quest for unspoken voice, making it more idealistic. Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Billy Holiday, Louis Armstrong are world-renowned jazz artists, which I’m sure you’re familiar with already!
Click here to check out my renditions of popular jazz songs on my album, Yesterday Once More.