MUS 230 - History of Jazz
Spring 2006 assignments

Assign. 1
Assign. 2
Assign. 3

Assignment No. 1

LISTENING:
Listen to as much of the CD anthology as you can, just to get an initial sense of how the music changed from its early days up through the end of the twentieth century.  Don’t worry too much at this point about trying to memorize all the selections or remember who the performers are; I simply want you to start getting the music in your ears. 

Once you’ve finished dipping your toes into the jazz waters, I want you to plunge deeply into tracks 1-8 from the first CD.  Listen to them in a variety of ways so you can get to know them really well.  Here are suggestions on how to listen (which may be quite different from the way you usually listen to music): 

1.     Look at the liner notes in the booklet while you’re listening.  Take note of who the performers are and when it was recorded.  There will be a list of who plays solos, and the order in which they’re played.  Look at pictures of the performers and visualize them playing or singing.  Can you imagine what they’re thinking about as they play, especially as they improvise material right on the spot or take a solo?

2.     For some of your hearings, try to write down a description of what happens during the course of the song.  Listen several times in order to pick out a variety of details.  For “Singin’ the Blues” for example, you could write “begins with everybody going ba-ba-baa…ba-ba-baa – then there’s a kind of duet for sax and guitar – I like the stuff the guitarist is doing – it’s more than just an accompaniment – then Bix comes in on cornet – there’s a nice laid-back feel, not too loud…” and so on.  It doesn’t really matter what you write; it’s a way to help yourself get to know the music better.

3.     Have the music on in the background while you’re doing other things.  Sing along with it using scat syllables or making up words to fit the tunes.  Snap your fingers or tap your feet along with the beat.  If you like, dance—a lot this stuff is dance music, after all!

READING ASSIGNMENT:
Your first assignment in A New History of Jazz is to read the Introduction and Chapter 1 (pp. 1-71).  This is the material that you will be using for your first jazz journal entry, due Thursday, January 26. 

Assignment No. 2

READING ASSIGNMENT:
The following selections from A New History of Jazz will be used for your second journal entry, due Tuesday, February 7.  Don't forget the test on that same day.

  • New Orleans (pp. 72-82)
  • Chicago and King Oliver (pp. 114-22)
  • Chicago and Jelly Roll Morton (pp. 122-32).  It would be a good idea to refer back to the section on Morton earlier in the chapter (pp. 92-96).
  • Chicago and Louis Armstrong (pp. 132-43)
  • Bix Beiderbecke and the Austin High gang (pp. 149-55)
  • Piano jazz: Eubie Blake, Atlantic City, rent parties (pp.169-79)
  • Waller, Hines, Tatum, Wilson (pp. 179-88)
  • Boogie woogie, Great Migration (pp. 190-96)

 

Assignment No. 3

READING AND LISTENING ASSIGNMENT:
For the third jazz journal, due on Thursday, February 16, read the following selections:

  • Duke Ellington (pp. 259-82)
  • Cab Calloway (pp. 284-89)
  • Count Basie (pp. 305-16)
  • The Swing Era and Benny Goodman (pp. 316-36)

From the first CD in the Sony collection, listen to tracks 4 (The Stampede), 9 (God bless the child), 10 (Lester leaps in), 11 (Flying home), 13 (It don't mean a thing), 14 (9:20 Special), 15 (Let me off uptown), 16 (Tain't what'cha do), and 17 (Four Brothers).