Written Assignment #1 must be at least 300 words and written in essay format to receive full credit. Your goal on these written assignments is to sound knowledgeable and professional. Proofread your work. Take into account that grammar and syntax are factored into the grading of your assignment. Do not use colloquialisms, slang, or unspecific terms. For example, the term hook is not a proper musical term.
To do well on these assignments, you must listen to the entire recording. You must be running the FULL version of Spotify to listen to the entire recording. If you are using a mobile device only for this course, the full version of Spotify will cost you a monthly subscription. However, the full version is FREE on a laptop or desktop computer. When you click on the Spotify play button within the assignment, the button will only activate a randomly-selected thirty second sample of the recording. You will need to click the Play on Spotify link in order to play the entire recording. The “Play on Spotify” link will appear after you click the play button.
Written Assignment #1: Jazz Origins
For this assignment, you are only required to listen to the first 2:37 of Scott Joplin’s Fig Leaf Rag. While Scott Joplins music was an important precursor to jazz, it is not jazz. For music to be jazz, it must have a significant portion of improvisation. Joplins music was entirely notated onto sheet music with no improvisation.
Fig Leaf Rag has several sections. Listen specifically from 00:00 to 02:37, and address the following questions. You are only to answer the following questions as they pertain to 00:00 to 02:37:
1. How many different sections are within the first two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of the piece? Do any sections repeat themselves? Is there an introduction?
2. For the first two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of Fig Leaf Rag, create a letter designation for the form. The terms “verse” and “chorus” do not apply on a piano rag. Starting with a capital A, use capital letters to label the different sections that occur AFTER the introduction (if you determine that there is an introduction). Each section, after the introduction, gets one letter. Include timestamps for each capital letter that mark the start and end times for each section. Include timestamps for the introduction as well (if you determined that there is an introduction). For any sections that repeat, reuse the letter. If a section does not repeat, simply go on to the next letter in the alphabet. Hint: 00:07-00:36 is the first section after the introduction. Therefore, you should label 00:07-00:36 as “A”. If you feel that the subsequent section (00:37-01:06) is the exact same music as the section that occurred at 00:07-00:36, then the section at 00:37-1:06 should also be labelled “A”. Each section gets one letter.
Here’s the link for the video explaining Song Form: https://ra.okstate.edu/STW_ITLE/Captioning/JAZZ_2773(Poole)/Tommy_Poole_explains_Song_Form_in_Pre-Jazz_and_Jazz_music.mp4
3.Most simply put, syncopation is the accenting of “off beats” or “upbeats”. Tap your foot to the beat of the music. When your foot is touching the ground, that is a “downbeat”. When your foot is off the ground, that is an “upbeat” or “off beat”. Syncopation occurs when the music accents or emphasizes off beats, or upbeats. Syncopations do not occur on downbeats.
Is there syncopation in this piece? How prevalent is syncopation in the melody? Use timestamps to cite at least four specific examples of syncopation (for example, “1:00-1:03”).
Click the following link for a clear explanation of syncopation: https://ra.okstate.edu/STW_ITLE/Captioning/JAZZ_2773(Poole)/Tommy_Poole_explains_Syncopation.mp4
4. Characteristically, rags have a steady “um-pah, um-pah” in the left hand, with the low bass notes sounding on the strong beats and chords sounding on the weak beats of each or group of four beats. Does the left hand play this characteristic um-pah figure in Fig Leaf Rag, or is it more elaborate than that? Provide timestamps as you cite your examples (for example, “00:15”).
Click the following link for a clear explanation of what “um-pah” is: https://ra.okstate.edu/STW_ITLE/Captioning/JAZZ_2773(Poole)/Tommy_Poole_explains_um_pah.mp4
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