This mini-lesson covers AQA Area of Study 5 — Jazz: the styles from ragtime to bebop, the blues and swing, improvisation, and the rich harmonic language of jazz.
Set works rotate, so learn the jazz style features and language that let you follow any performance — not one prescribed recording.
Set works rotate: exam boards re-issue prescribed pieces on a rolling cycle, so this lesson teaches the area-of-study style features, musical elements and listening skills you apply to any work — not a single prescribed piece. Always check the current set works in the live specification. Press Start to begin.
Jazz is a family of styles that developed through the 20th century:
Swung rhythm — long-short pairs of quavers — gives jazz its characteristic lilt over a steady pulse.
The blues is jazz's foundation:
Tap a feature, then tap the style era it belongs to.
Most small-group jazz follows the head arrangement:
The rhythm section supports the soloists:
Tap a term on the left, then its meaning on the right.
Jazz harmony is rich and extended:
To appraise jazz, listen for the style era, the structure and the language:
Styles: ragtime, New Orleans, swing, bebop, cool, modal, free
Blues: 12-bar, blues scale, blue notes, call and response
Structure: head–solos–head; improvising on the changes
Rhythm section: walking bass, comping, drums; swung feel
Harmony: 7th/9th/13th chords, ii–V–I, substitutions
Skill: date the style and hear the improvised structure
You can now follow a jazz performance like an insider. Press Finish.
You've worked through Jazz for AQA A-level Music. 🎉
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