Music Technology, History, and Education
In this post, Brian Jump explores the history of rhythm & blues and rock ‘n’ roll. He covers exciting musicians like Ike Turner, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley, and explains their crucial contributions to the evolution of both styles. Also included are listening suggestions, video links, and study questions.
This post offers a broad view of humanity’s musical customs. It explores the evidence for prehistoric music making, and it explains how music got passed down through the ages. The world’s musical traditions are also explored, as are the earliest efforts to notate music.
This post covers jazz timbre, jazz ensembles, and the theory of jazz sound. Common instruments are described, like trumpet, piano, and saxophone, and common techniques are defined like syncopation, swing, and call-and-response. Also covered is jazz’s peculiar take on melody and its proclivity to use blue notes and blues scales.
In this post, Brian Jump discusses seven common mistakes made by music students. He examines problems like music illiteracy, playing too fast, and memorizing too soon.
This blog post explores three swing-era musicians who were known for their brilliant soloing styles: Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, and Ella Fitzgerald.
This post explores the swing style of jazz. It summarizes swing’s defining characteristics, and it covers two influential swing musicians: Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington.
