Music Analysis Proposal: Jazz Classical And Country Music

Genre Analysis Proposal

My proposition is for an essay based around the hypothesis that it is getting increasing difficult to categorise music due to its evolution over time. My essay is going to be split in to six main parts; the introduction/proposal, separate analyses of each genre, and a final conclusion. As this assignment is purely an aural assessment of each genre, each analysis section will remain separate, I will not be comparing genres or critically commenting on them. Three out of the four given genres are very broad categories by which to label music. Jazz, Classical and Country music all have a long history, in which the characteristics of their music have changed over the years. I plan on identifying these characteristics,
If I had to list some of the characteristics of a ‘stereotypical jazz song’ they would be; the use of 7th chords, a II-V-I chord progression, a syncopated/swing feel rhythm and, possibly most importantly, improvised solos. Many jazz standards, such as Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight’ and Johnny Green’s ‘Body and Soul’, abide by these rules. Having this predetermined structure provides soloists with a great deal of freedom but could be considered restrictive for other the musicians, but this is not the case. The use of 7th and 9th help give the chord progression a fresh feel, chord substitutions are often used, commonly tri-tone substitutions, and changes in key and/or tempo are also highly attractive and provide a large degree of improvisational freedom. (Wilson,
Google defines classical music as “Serious or conventional music that follows long-established principles rather than a folk, jazz, or popular tradition”, by this definition classical music spans from way back to medieval times right up to modern day. Whereas technically, classical music is music that was composed in the classical era (1730-1820). The music composed in this relatively short period of time abided by a set list of characteristics. Classical music had a lighter, clearer texture than its predeceasing era, it utilised a slightly larger orchestra, replaced the formerly popular harpsichord with the recently developed piano and was mainly homophonic. Comparing early and later classical music by this definition would make for short reading as, by the nature of having musical periods, no drastic changes occurred until the next musical age (the romantic period