LESSON 2 · Genre Deep Cuts
What Makes Jazz Powerful
- Real-time composition — a solo is written in the moment, with no second takes and no editing
- Deep listening — players react to each other live, turning a performance into a conversation
- Harmonic sophistication — jazz stacks chords of five to seven notes, creating colors simpler genres lack
- Rhythmic freedom — musicians play "around" the beat, creating the floating, elastic feel called swing