Features of Bebop

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Features of Bebop

Bebop is one of the advanced and popular jazz styles in the United States that was industrialized in the 1940s. It became well known all over the world due to its unique features which distinguish it from many other music styles. Bebop is a bit complex compared to other big band music. The complexity is regarding harmony, chords, and solos which adopt high and faster tempos. The instrumental role considerably changed where polyrhythms, made of some overlapping rhythms were played (Dal Cerro, et al. page 6). The songs are the primary focus in Bebop making it different from a swing that majorly focused on the music arrangement. It mostly emphasized the content rather than sound making it best for listening and not dancing. Its rhythm sectors, asymmetrical phrasing, and sophisticated melodies expound their parts as tempo-keepers. Bebop is typically played by small groups where the classic one involves consisted of double bass, piano, drums and trumpet.

Comparison between southern “hillbilly” style country and western country styleCountry and western music which can be only termed as country music developed from the Hillbilly music style which commonly refers to the ballads, folk songs, and local dance music. There exist some differences and similarities regarding the melody, instrumentation, harmony, and rhythm among other features.

To start with the differences, instrumentation the western music from the hillbilly music. The country music having developed from the hillbilly style, its instruments are more advanced. Country music is more complex design adopting unique way which is harmonic, vertical and dense in fashion. On the other hand, the hillbilly music was pure and did not have complex configurations. The country music has a universal distinguishing tuning system referred to as equal temperament. The timbre is another characteristic that differentiates both hillbilly and western music styles. It refers to the sound texture, color, and features (Malone, et al. page 11). For instance, it is easy to distinguish between the sounds of guitar and piano among other instruments in western and hillbilly music styles.

Looking at the similarities, mostly both the hillbilly and western music style have the same form and to some extent the melodies. Form refers to the organization of all the distinct divisions of a piece of music and it commonly emphasis on the repetitive and contrasting parts of the music. The melody emerges to be another similar feature in both music styles, and it refers to the tune made by the words one sings. However, the western music is easily identifiable due to its major and minor western scales.

Work Cited

Dal Cerro, Bill, and David Anthony Witter. Bebop, Swing, and Bella Musica: Jazz and the Italian American Experience. Bella Musica Publishing, 2015.

Malone, Bill C., and Tracey Laird. Country music USA. University of Texas Press, 2018.