scholarly journals Swing Ratios and Ensemble Timing in Jazz Performance: Evidence for a Common Rhythmic Pattern

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Friberg ◽  
Andreas Sundströöm
Keyword(s):  
Short Note ◽  
Rhythmic Pattern ◽  
Jazz Ensemble ◽  
Computer Tools ◽  
Jazz Pedagogy ◽  
Practical Limit ◽  
Jazz Performance ◽  
Short Pattern ◽  
Gradual Variation ◽  
Perceptual Factors

The timing in jazz ensemble performances was investigated in order to approach the question of what makes the music "swing." One well-known aspect of swing is that consecutive eighth notes are performed as long-short patterns. The exact duration ratio (the swing ratio) of the long-short pattern has been largely unknown. In this study, the swing ratio produced by drummers on the ride cymbal was measured. Three well-known jazz recordings and a play-along record were used. A substantial and gradual variation of the drummers' swing ratio with respect to tempo was observed. At slow tempi, the swing ratio was as high as 3.5:1, whereas at fast tempi it reached 1:1. The often-mentioned "triple-feel," that is, a ratio of 2:1, was present only at a certain tempo. The absolute duration of the short note in the long-short pattern was constant at about 100 ms for medium to fast tempi, suggesting a practical limit on tone duration that may be due to perceptual factors. Another aspect of swing is the soloist's timing in relation to the accompaniment. For example, a soloist can be characterized as playing "behind the beat." In the second part, the swing ratio of the soloist and its relation to the cymbal accompaniment was measured from the same recordings. In slow tempi, the soloists were mostly playing their downbeats after the cymbal but were synchronized with the cymbal at the off-beats. This implied that the swing ratio of the soloist was considerably smaller than the cymbal accompaniment in slow tempi. It may give an impression of "playing behind" but at the same time keep the synchrony with the accompaniment at the off-beat positions. Finally, the possibilities of using computer tools in jazz pedagogy are discussed.

Jazz Composition

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Purchase
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Performance ◽  
Jazz Composition ◽  
Vocal Jazz ◽  
Jazz Ensemble ◽  
Solo Piano ◽  
Music Department ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Music Community ◽  
Jazz Performance

Music composition is an art of courage and thoroughness. After nearly four years of playing jazz with Queen’s music professor Greg Runions (winner of the 2006-07 Queens Music Department Teaching Award) and studying music theory and analysis, I have recently delved into the fascinating art of writing original music in the broadly defined jazz idiom. The opportunity to give something back to the creative music community has been both humbling and inspiring. Through Prof. Runions impressive experience as a prolific local composer, I have learned about the challenges of connecting melodic ideas with music harmony that both pleases and challenges the listener. In two semesters of study, we have explored jazz arranging for a variety of instrument groups, the complex art of chord extensions and modulation, and writing melodies over chord progressions that are memorable and enjoyable. I have produced a dozen songs in lead sheet format, similar to the way music is found in jazz performance fake books. Some of these pieces have been fleshed out to cover a wide range of instrumental performance, including solo piano, jazz combo, vocal jazz ensemble, and full jazz ensemble. I plan to continue this process throughout my life as new inspiration and musical situations arise, seeking to grasp the expressivity and enjoyment that music instills in us all.

Teaching School Jazz

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Performance Practice ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Jazz Education ◽  
Jazz Pedagogy ◽  
Collegiate Level ◽  
Specific Teaching ◽  
Service Music ◽  
Jazz Performance ◽  
Instrumental Methods

Teaching School Jazz: Perspectives, Principles, and Strategies is an edited collection of suggested practices in school jazz education authored by a seasoned and diverse lineup of jazz educators with supporting research-based case studies woven into the narrative. It provides not only a wealth of school jazz teaching strategies but also, and perhaps as important, the jazz perspectives and principles from which they are derived. The first part of the book describes the current landscape of school jazz education and offers an overview of basic jazz concepts through the lenses of two expert, yet very different, school jazz educators. Parts II–VI constitute the heart and soul of the book, covering a vast and comprehensive set of topics central to school jazz education. Included throughout each chapter are references and links to audio, visual, and print resources for teaching school jazz that are downloadable from a related website. This text is an invaluable resource for preservice and in-service music educators who have no prior jazz experience, as well as for those who wish to expand their knowledge of jazz performance practice and pedagogy. The book may serve as a primary text for collegiate-level jazz pedagogy courses or as a supplemental text for general instrumental methods and pedagogy classes. Chapters begin with jazz case studies and contain a wealth of jazz-specific teaching material, lists of recommended artists for listening, and visual demonstrations of each chapter’s material.

The “Finite” Art of Improvisation: Pedagogy and Power in Jazz Education

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth E. Prouty
Keyword(s):  
Educational Institution ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Jazz Education ◽  
Performance Practices ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Jazz Pedagogy ◽  
Free Improvisation ◽  
Jacques Attali ◽  
Jazz Performance ◽  
Social Orders

Jacques Attali writes that music can serve to “invent categories and dynamics and regenerate social theory” through improvisational practice. Yet the performance practices of which he writes are those based in free improvisation, structurally boundless and relatively non-hierarchical with respect to the relationships between performers. Many improvised genres, however, are not reflective of such a free approach. Do such improvised idioms similarly open up new possibilities for social relationships, or, by the very nature of their stylistic and practical boundaries of what is considered correct or acceptable, actually reinforce existing social orders? In this essay, I explore these arguments within the context of the critical discourse over jazz pedagogy in the institutional context. It is not a critique of jazz pedagogy pre se, but rather, an exploration of how such discourses reflect, generate, and re-generate social interactions that are often deeply affect by power relations between various entities, such as the western art music tradition versus jazz, the educational institution versus the jazz performance community, teacher versus student, administrator versus teacher. All such relationships have affected the manner in which institutionalized jazz pedagogy has developed, and how it is practiced and lived by all involved.

The Effect of Symbol Background Color on the Speed of Locating Targets by Adults Without Disabilities: Implications for Augmentative and Alternative Communication Display Design

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 1482-1488
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Thistle
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
The Other ◽  
Background Color ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Display Design ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Research With Children ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Perceptual Factors

Purpose Previous research with children with and without disabilities has demonstrated that visual–perceptual factors can influence the speech of locating a target on an array. Adults without disabilities often facilitate the learning and use of a child's augmentative and alternative communication system. The current research examined how the presence of symbol background color influenced the speed with which adults without disabilities located target line drawings in 2 studies. Method Both studies used a between-subjects design. In the 1st study, 30 adults (ages 18–29 years) located targets in a 16-symbol array. In the 2nd study, 30 adults (ages 18–34 years) located targets in a 60-symbol array. There were 3 conditions in each study: symbol background color, symbol background white with a black border, and symbol background white with a color border. Results In the 1st study, reaction times across groups were not significantly different. In the 2nd study, participants in the symbol background color condition were significantly faster than participants in the other conditions, and participants in the symbol background white with black border were significantly slower than participants in the other conditions. Conclusion Communication partners may benefit from the presence of background color, especially when supporting children using displays with many symbols.

Cognitive and perceptual factors that affect manipulation of virtual objects

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Stull ◽  
Mary Hegarty ◽  
Richard E. Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Objects ◽  
Perceptual Factors

Review of the Current State and Future Development in Standardizing Natural Lighting in Interiors

2018 ◽  
pp. 5-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav Darula
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Computer Tools ◽  
Natural Lighting ◽  
Current State ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Window Design

Three elements mainly wind, water and sun seemed to determine in ancient ages the basic phenomena of life on Earth. Architectural history documented the importance of sun influence on urban and building construction already in layouts of Mesopotamian and Greek houses. Not only sun radiation but especially daylight played a significant role in the creation of indoor environment. Later, in the 20th century, a search of interaction between human life in buildings and natural conditions were studied considering well­being and energy conscious design recently using computer tools in complex research and more detail interdisciplinary solutions. At the same time the restricted daytime availability of natural light was supplemented by more efficient and continually cheaper artificial lighting of interiors. There are two main approaches to standardize the design and evaluation of indoor visual environment. The first is based on the determination of the minimum requirements respecting human health and visibility needs in all activities while the second emphasizes the behaviour and comfort of occupants in buildings considering year­around natural changes of physical quantities like light, temperature, noise and energy consumption. The new current standardization basis for daylight evaluation and window design criteria stimulate the study of methodology principles that historically were based on the overcast type of sky luminance pattern avoiding yearly availability of sky illuminance levels. New trends to base the daylight standardization on yearly or long­term availability of daylight are using the averages or median sky illuminance levels to characterise local climatological conditions. This paper offers the review and discussion about the principles of the natural light standardization with a short introduction to the history and current state, with a trial to focus on the possible development of lighting engineering and its standards in future.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Short Note ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Early Settlement ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Initial Research

The chapters in this collection explore the everyday lives, experiences, practices and attitudes of Muslims in Scotland. In order to set the context for these chapters, in this introduction I explore the early settlement of Muslims in Scotland and discuss some of the initial research projects that charted the settlement of Asians and Pakistanis in Scotland’s main cities. I then discuss the current situation for Muslims in Scotland through data from the 2011 Scottish Census. Following a short note about the significance of the Scottish context, in the final section, the main themes and issues that have been explored in research about Muslims in Scotland.

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