more on this temperament thing

[David J. Severance]

David

Bill Evan's 12 tone tune is the only atonal jazz composition I can think
of if there are more please let me know.  Again I think you are confusing
modulation with tonality which has a very specific meaning.  Atonality is
a compositional technique that was developed by Arnold Schoenberg and is
the systematic avoidance of permitting any single pitch to sound as a
tonal center.  There were a variety of ways that these composers
accomplished this that I won't go into here.  But the point I'm trying to
make is that tonality is achieved at the compositional level not the
performance level.  The  altered extensions a jazz pianist uses has
nothing
at all to do with whether or not the piece is tonal or atonal.  If instead
what you are saying is that jazz musicians prefer to achieve color with
their choice of chord extentions rather than unequal temperaments I agree
with you and ,in fact, have stated that in this forum. I have to take
issue with your first sentence, however. Jazzers improvise the melody,
the
rhythm the chord voicings but the one thing they don't improvise are the
changes! You can certainly do that up front, have it on the lead sheet but
that falls under the heading of composition or arranging not
improvisation.  

David Severance

 On Fri, 19 Oct 2001, David Love wrote:

> While many jazz compositions do have a tonal center, improvisational
> traditions take the pieces to a number of different keys and the return to
> the tonic is not always emphasized.  If a jazz musician is playing in F and
> uses C7 chord with a flat 5th and flat 9th and then modulates to Db, that
> Ab7 chord with a flat 5th and flat 9th will have a dramatically different
> character.  My experience is that most jazz musicians don't want that.
> 
> David Love
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "david severance" <severanc@mail.wsu.edu>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: October 19, 2001 9:31 AM
> Subject: Re: more on this temperament thing
> 
> 
> >   Once you get into music without a tonal center,
> > >i.e. some impressionist music, jazz, etc., then ET is better as you don't
> > >want key differences to be enhanced.
> > >
> > >David Love
> >
> > David
> >
> > I think you are confusing your musical terminology.  Most, if not all,
> > Impressionistic and Jazz are tonal in nature.  That is to say they have a
> > key center.  This doesn't mean that there are not transitory modulations
> to
> > other keys within the piece.  If anything Jazz is the form that is all
> about
> > tonality.  A jazzer never meant a ii V7 I progression he didn't like, in
> > fact we add them in where ever we can.  In western music you find the
> atonal
> > music in the works of the serious composer's of the 20th Century such as
> > Scheonberg, Aban Berg, Bartok and later Stravinsky and others.
> Interesting
> > music.
> >
> > David Severance
> >
>