HARMONIC RHYTHM in JAZZ PERFORMANCE

Harmonic rhythm is the rhythm of the harmonic changes. If chords change every two
beats, the harmonic
rhythm is half-notes. If chords change every four beats, the harmonic rhythm is
whole notes.
There is a variety of harmonic rhythm in jazz performances and not all of it
corresponds to the meter
or to where it is written on the page.
If there is one chord per measure in 4
4, we expect the bass to play the root of the chord on beat one,
corresponding to where the chord symbol is notated on the page. The pianist or
guitarist may anticipate
each chord symbol playing the changes on the upbeat of four. This is part of the
polyrhythmic energy
of a jazz rhythm section. The melody or improvised solo may play with the bass,
with the accompaniment
instruments, anticipate the changes even more, or delay the resolution into the
next measure. It is
important to remember this when analyzing written solos. We confine the written
notes of a line to measures
for reading ease, but the harmonic implications are not always confined to those
measures. The
vertical alignment of notes may often seem senseless, but when viewed in the larger
harmonic scheme
the soloists may have anticipated or suspended the melodic material of one chord
over another chord.
This is not unique to jazz; church hymnals and music from all style periods are
full of suspensions and
anticipations. Jazz suspensions may involve several notes. Do not fall into the
trap of labeling everything
by its vertical arrangement. Music is heard and conceived in a linear manner and
should be studied in
the same way.
Below is an example of how different harmonic rhythms may be suggested in a jazz
performance. The
discrepancy created by the different players making the chord changes occur at
different times is a large
part of what makes the jazz performance interesting. The rhythmic and melodic
pieces sometimes agree
and sometimes clash, creating waves of consonance and dissonance.
A chord chart may show the harmonic rhythm as whole notes: Dm7 for four beats, G7
for four beats and
C major 7 for eight beats. The bass player may directly follow the chord chart
playing the roots of the
chords on the downbeats as shown. The pianist or guitarist may anticipate or delay
the changes. In the
example below, the pianist anticipates the Dm7, delays the G7, and anticipates the
C major 7. A soloist
has more freedom and may anticipate or delay a great deal when creating his lines.
The trumpet line
begins the Dm7 on the upbeat, and the 3-5-7-9 arpeggio of the Dm7 begins on the
fourth beat and spills
over into the G7 measure. G7 is clearly heard on the third beat with a 3-5-7-b9
arpeggio and again the line spills into the next measure before coming to rest on
the C major, a half note later than the chord
chart suggests. Being aware that all music is experienced in linear time will help
in understanding the
necessity of linear and not strictly vertical analysis of music.
THE LARGER VIEW: FORM as RHYTHMIC STRUCTURE
Many music theory books include a rhythmic subdivision chart showing the whole note
subdivided into
two halves, the halves into quarters, and so on down to sixteenths or maybe thirty-
second notes. It is better
to begin with something larger than the whole note for an overview of rhythmic
subdivision. A whole
note is a small unit of time in relationship to the entire piece, so a better place
to begin may be with the
entire piece.
The first line (1.) of the graph below, represents entire piece from beginning to
end, Imagine that the
entire piece represents one unit of time, which will be five minutes for the sake
of this discussion. The
second linBy zooming in on one chorus (3.), a subdivision of the original unit, its
own subdivision is revealed.
Each chorus is further subdivided into four eight measure phrases labeled AABA.
Zooming in another
power at (4.) reveals the A section further subdivided into eight different
measures. This eight measure
phrase can be heard as four two measure phrases or two four measure phrases. It is
important to be able
to hear and respond musically within these larger units of time, not just the
smaller units of note values
within a measure.e (2.) shows the piece divided into five choruses or repetitions
of an AABA form. Each chorus
represents a subdivision of the original time unit. Most of the jazz standard tunes
used as vehicles for
improvisation fall into one of the following forms:
BLUES: usually 12 measures, sometimes 16 or 24 measures.
AABA: all usually 8 measures in length. The second and last A section may be
slightly different Seasoned improvisers and composers sense and feel larger units
of time. An improviser learns to feel
an entire thirty two measure form. Sometimes a musician will improvise several
times through the form,
sensing one hundred and twenty eight measures, building his ideas to a logical
conclusion. A improviser
may learn to feel a thirty-two measure form as one unit of a four-chorus
improvisation. Within each
form, the eight measure phrase is shaped by all members of the band. In fact, just
as a beginning musician
can tell the difference between beats one and four, an experienced jazz musician
senses the difference
between the first A and the last A of an AABA form. With this perspective knowing
where beat
three is in a measure is analogous to knowing where the B section is in an AABA
form. The B is the
third beat of the form, the form being an augmentation of the measure. This takes
some time to master,
as any beginning improviser who has lost the form will attest.
To continue this example, say the jazz performance of this piece lasts for five
minutes (the Entire Piece).
The band plays the melody of the song for the first minute (Chorus I: AABA). The
alto sax improvises
over the form for a minute (Chorus II), followed by the trumpet (Chorus III), and
the piano (Chorus IV).
The band plays the melody again at the end (Chorus V). The entire piece being
subdivided into five
parts makes the jazz performance very much like the five paragraph paper form as
shown below:
PLACEMENT of the NOTES
One deficiency of the standard notation system is its inability to show minute
variances in placement of
individual notes. A simple line composed of eighth notes can be played in different
ways depending on
the placement of those notes in relationship to the pulse. Different players will,
in varied musical settings,
play slightly ahead of, right on top of, or slightly behind the actual pulse. These
variances in the
hands of mature players give life to the performance. In younger players it may be
an underdeveloped
sense of time, and they actually may be rushing or dragging the pulse.
There are some players who consistently play slightly ahead of the beat which can
give the music a forward
drive. They are not necessarily rushing the beat, but just pushing it ahead by
playing �on top� of
the beat. There are other players who, no matter how the rhythm section is playing
around them seem
to play their notes squarely in the middle of the pulse. Others can artfully play
just behind the band,
creating at once a laid-back feeling and a tension from the pull created by the
rhythmic discrepancy between
the soloist and the rest of the band. Anyone who has heard music created on
computers and
quantized to �perfect� rhythmic units knows how inhuman perfection sounds. The
push-pull inaccuracies
are part of the life-blood of the music. But do not throw your metronomes away
quite yet. Mature players
gain a great sense of where the pulse is and adapt to musical situations. They can
shift from playing
ahead to playing behind, always knowing where the actual pulse is. To be able to
play around the pulse
effectively and convincingly, one has to know where that pulse is. A beginning
improviser should practice
playing with a metronome and develop a strong sense of pulse before attempting to
play around
that pulse than the first. The second A may lead to the B, and the last A provides
some closing material.
(Example AABA tune: I Got Rhythm)
ABAB1 : all usually 8 measures in length. The second B may be slightly different
than the first.
The first B leads back down to the second A, where the second B provides some
closing material.
(Example ABAB tune: Just Friends)

SYNCOPATION STUDIES
The eighth note is the basic unit of currency for jazz, but it is the groupings of
the eighth notes that create
the rhythmic business. Syncopation is created by a shift of the accent in a musical
passage, where
beats that were normally weak may now be accented. Typically in the European model,
within a quarter
note pulse, every other eighth note is on an accented down beat. By accenting every
third eighth note, a
shift will occur contradicting the basic pulse. This is the most fundamental type
of syncopation used in
jazz: the dotted quarter pulse (grouping of three eighth notes) against the quarter
note pulse (grouping
of two eighth notes). This is one of the many rhythmic characteristics borrowed
from African culture. In
jazz performances, the polyrhythms usually fit into the eight bar phrases defined
by the forms of many
show and pop tunes which are the basis for so much of the jazz literature. Much of
the syncopated dissonance
with the primary pulse is resolved after four or eight measures. There are thirty-
two eighth notes
in a four measure phrase which divides into sixteen even quarter note beats.
Thirty-two is not divisible
by three (the dotted quarter pulse) without a remainder of two. The jazz
improviser/composer uses mixtures
of threes (dotted quarter pulse) and twos (quarter pulse) to create the cross-
rhythms associated
with jazz.
The dotted quarter note imposition can occur anywhere in the measure and can be
articulated in many
ways. In the following example, the dotted quarter rhythm occurs on beat one. It is
shown with four different
articulations: long-long, long-short, short-long, and short-short. This rhythm is
typically called the
�Charleston Rhythm.�

Visual artists depend on the recognition of negative space. The concept of negative
space is also important
in music. Any pitches that are played (positive space) may imply other pitches that
are not played.
A certain pitch may be stressed by playing a number of pitches around that pitch
that point to that
pitch, while never actually playing the pitch. This type of manipulation is one
thing that creates dramatic
interest in the music. As with pitches, any rhythm that is played (positive space)
may imply a
rhythm not played (negative space).
The dotted quarter �Charleston Rhythm� is shown on the top line repeated over a
four measure phrase,
creating a constant dotted quarter pulse against the quarter note pulse. The bottom
line in the following
examples shows the rhythm of the notes that are not being played by the top line.
The bottom line is
then the negative space of the top line.
Try dividing the class into two sections. Have one section tap the top lines and
the other tap the bottom
lines on this and following examples. Switch every four measures.