A Jazz Glossary

Jazz Vocabulary / Bandstand Communication

Musicians have developed a vocabulary of words, physical gestures and audio signals to help direct the musical proceedings on the jazz stage. Some terms are shared with other genres but have a special definition in this particular context.

articulation — how notes are started and joined together. The choices range from staccato to slurs and relate closely to the way in which we speak words and phrases. Jazz players employ slurs and legato articulations as part of the swing sound.

bar — one measure of music. Also the setting where jazz bands often perform.

bending pitches — string and wind instrumentalists as well as vocalists can physically alter the pitch of a note, up or down, adding an emotional and vocal quality.

bread — money paid for a gig.

break — a moment in a performance, usually two or four measures, when all the musicians stop except for the soloist. Also the time between sets on a gig.

blue note — a scale tone purposely played a half step lower than usual, typically the third, fifth or seventh tone of the eight note scale. Blues singers first did this, later they were copied by instrumentalists. These lowered pitches are what makes music sound “bluesy”.

bridge — not all songs have a bridge but most standards do (see Standards). Jazz musicians for years have performed popular songs from the 30s and 40s that are written in an A-A-B-A form. The music to each A is the same or similar; the B section (the bridge) offers something new. Each section is eight measures, resulting in the 32 bar song form. The bridge was also called “the release”.

call and response — one phrase answered by another, normally by two different instruments or voices. This practice can be traced back to southern United States with work songs and field hollars.

changes — the chords to a particular song. The changes provide the blueprint for the improvisations. Musicians may say “chords” or “changes” but they rarely say both. The term “rhythm changes” is shorthand for the chords to the 32 bar song “I Got Rhythm.”

chart — a written piece of music (the whole arrangement or an individual part). A chart could be a quickly written page containing only chord changes.

chops — jazz jargon for the physical connection to your instrument, most applicable to a brass players mouth and mouthpiece. A tired trumpeter might say, “my chops are really dragging today.”

chord substitutions — harmonically sophisticated musicians will replace the original changes in a song with chords of their own, essentially “jazzing it up”.

Chord symbols — musical shorthand, a combination of letters and numbers that indicate a particular chord. Can encompass the basic “Bb” or the head scratching “Bb13#9/F”

chorus — usually refers to the part of the song that has the title. Jazz players also use the term to describe improvising once through the whole song (i.e. each player takes one chorus).

chromatic scale — playing every pitch in an upward or downward direction, with no spaces in between. Think of black and white keys on the piano.

chromaticism — adding notes that do not normally belong in a scale or key.

color tones — a term that describes notes (pitches) that an improviser chooses that do not match the ones in the chord/scale that is being played by the accompanist. “Chroma” the root word of chromatic, is a Greek term for color.

comp — the guitar, piano and bass comp the changes behind the soloist(s), improvising the rhythms to fit the feel of a particular style. Derived from “accompaniment.”

consonance — pleasant to the ear.

contrafact — jazz musicians borrowed the chords and structure of a previously written song, substituted a few chords, changed the tempo and groove, then composed a new melody. “I Got Rhythm” by George and Ira Gershwin in particular has provided the blueprint for hundreds of jazz tunes. Song writers from the 30s/40s were harmonically sophisticated, so by creating contrafacts, the jazz players took advantage of the rich chordal content of the original tune and also avoided paying royalties.

cutting contest — two like instruments “battling” each other by trading improvised choruses. More competitive than a jam session, a cutting contest often provided an opportunity to establish a reputation, or sometimes lose one.

dissonance — an unpleasant sound. Both consonance and dissonance are in the ear of the beholder.

double time — an often surprising mid-song switch to a tempo that is twice the original. The drummer usually sets this up and the tempo will revert back to the original before the songs ends.

enclosures — A technique that can be used while improvising, the player has an intended note in mind, but surrounds it first with a slightly higher and lower note , or vice versa.

face, the — facial expressions play an important role on the bandstand, including cues delivered by eye contact or simply expressions of encouragement and approval.

fall — an instrumental effect that extends the end of a note by sliding down in pitch. Sliding upwards is called a “doit.”

fills — short phrases that an instrumentalist can insert between a pause in the singing or the spaces in the horn parts. Pianist Count Basie was a master of this practice.

gig — any musical job. Musicians have watched DJs take over much of the club and party business and are particularly irked when they hear a DJ describe what they do as a “gig”.

harmony — two or more notes (pitches) sounding at the same time. Certain harmonies can sound consonant or dissonant (see above) depending on the ear of the individual listener.

head, the — slang for the melody of a song.

head arrangement — a band arrangement created in rehearsals or on-the-spot by the players. It is committed to memory and may later be written down if it is a keeper. This method of creating music was common in the 1930s with bands like the Count Basie Orchestra.

heterophonic polyphony — a classical music theory term meaning multiple melodic lines and rhythms played simultaneously by instruments/voices, usually focused around one dominant melody. Early New Orleans jazz is an example of this style.

horns — in jazz and rock music, horns can be any wind instrument.

inside/outside — when an improviser uses notes that mostly correspond to the change (chord) they are playing inside. Going outside is experimenting with notes or techniques that to some ears sound wrong, especially to traditionalists or new listeners.

interlude — an arranger might include a brief section in a chart that provides a different texture and sound, setting up a soloist etc. It usually happens only once in a piece.

jam session — An informal gathering of jazz players playing standards and blues, a valuable experience for aspiring musicians.

laying out — refers to a player in the rhythm section who purposely does not play at all for part of a song performance (also called “strolling”). It is a device employed to change the group sound and is especially effective when the player re-enters. The individual players can decide to do this on their own, the bassist rarely lays out.

lead sheet — a distillation of a song to its basic elements. The melody is notated on a single treble staff with corresponding chord symbols above it. An indication of tempo and style may be included.

licks — short, distinctive musical phrases used in improvisation.

modes — eight note scales with whole and half steps in varying order. Modal jazz pioneered by Miles Davis and John Coltrane became popular in the 1960s and offered an alternative to the intensity of bebop.

rehearsal letters — when writing for large ensembles, composers/arrangers usually place letters over specific measures in the piece, marking significant points in the form. This is helpful when rehearsing, “OK everybody, let’s take it from letter E.”

rhythm section — bass, drums, piano and/or guitar. They provide the background for the soloists and set up the groove. The rhythm section instruments can also solo, and a rhythm section can be a band in itself.

riffs — short but memorable phrases that can be played behind soloists or function as a melody.

scat singing — when vocalists improvise with made up syllables and sounds, using their voice like a wind instrument. The practice is one characteristic that can place a singer in the jazz category.

sequences — a composed or improvised phrase that is repeated verbatim, except moved higher or lower in pitch. 

sidemen — any musician who is not the leader could be considered a sideman, it usually referred to the players who filled the chairs in a big band. The politically correct versions, “sidewomen” or “sidepersons” has never caught on.

sitting in — being invited to play a tune with a band as a guest.

scat singing — when vocalists improvise with made up syllables and sounds, using their voice like a wind instrument. The practice is one characteristic that can place a singer in the jazz category.

solo/soloist — while the word solo literally translates to “one,” in instrumental jazz it designates which player is improvising and being backed up by the rhythm section.

standards — songs that jazz musicians are expected to have memorized. These tunes are typically from the 30s and 40s and were written by songwriters that included George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, etc. Memorizing standards allows musicians who have never previously met to play a whole night together without written music. Standards were compiled (illegally at first) in a song collection called The Real Book.

tag — adding a phrase at the end of the song. The tag is usually cued by the group leader when it’s time to go “home” (to end the piece). The tag is usually the last four measures played extra times or can be two bars with a particular chord sequence inserted near the end.

tension and release — the skilled use of color tones and dissonance to create moments in a solo that clash then resolve.

time — as a musical term, “time” encompasses tempo, feel and groove, and has nothing to do with clock time. An exasperated band leader might say to a overambitious drummer, “just play the time man!”

top — after all band members get their improvising turns, the leader may subtly point to his head, meaning take it to the top, play the melody once more and end the performance.

tremolo — on the piano, playing two or more notes up and down rapidly creating a sustained and shimmering effect

trading fours — drum solos are often in the format of four measure breaks. A soloist plays four measures with the rhythm section, the drummer solos alone for four, back and forth. The form of the song is supposed to remain intact during these exchanges. Trading fours is usually cued with eye contact or subtle pointing by the leader.

vamp — jazz tunes in the modern era frequently employ longer sections for improvisers that stay on one chord. Often open ended, they allow for extended explorations by the soloist. A vamp also means repeating an introductory phrase until the melody starts.

vibrato — a controlled wavering added to a tone that adds an expressive quality. Opera singers and violinists consistently employ vibrato.

vocalese — setting words to a previously improvised solo. The solo provides the melody and the lyrics create a story typically connected to the song title.

voicings — placing the notes of a chord in a specific order from bottom to top, either at the keyboard or in arrangement for individual instruments.

volume/intensity — the minimal information offered on jazz lead sheets rarely includes suggestions about volume or intensity. An individual player can employ varying levels of both these elements and shape the course of a song. It requires sympathetic bandmates who are paying attention and responding to the soloists intent. These cues are totally in the aural realm.

walking bass — the bass player plays one note for every beat of the music. Essential in swing music. Also referred to as playing “in four,” as opposed to “in two” (two bass notes per measure).

 

Jazz Chat from the Past

Like any work/art related vocabulary, jazz terms appear and disappear as the years pass and styles change. The writers observing the swing era in the 1930s contributed some of the most outlandish slang. Here are few that are now rarely heard.

businessman’s bounce — a swing tune played at a medium tempo with a “two beat” feel. Supposedly, even the most rhythmically challenged man could dance with his wife to this groove without tripping.

canaries — female singers with a big band, also called “band chirps”. The male vocalist was typically referred to as the “boy singer.”

fingers down — years ago bands created extended dance medleys on the spot. The leader would announce the song then point down with the appropriate number of fingers to indicate the key, i.e. three fingers means three flats/key of Eb. Swing bands rarely played in sharps so pointing up was not an issue.

footballs — whole notes played softly behind a soloist, chosen from the chords and conceived on the spot by the wind instruments.

George Washington and Channel — as in the George Washington Bridge and the English Channel. A now defunct term that meant the bridge of a song.

hide beater — a drummer

jazz chair — in most large swing bands the bulk of improvised solos were given to the “hottest” players, usually a tenor saxophonist and trumpeter. These musicians held down the jazz chair(s) and often were paid extra.

off the cuff — playing spontaneously. Jazz lore suggests that the term came from pianists who wrote chord changes to difficult songs on their shirt cuffs.

ork — swing orchestra or band.

sweet bands — a swing era band that relied on popular/corny tunes and occasional gimmicks for success rather than intense swing and distinctive soloists.

taste — liquid refreshment in between sets; also another slang term for money.

tubs — drums.

wax — vinyl records, “put to wax” meant recording.

wire pounder — a guitarist.