The worlds of jazz and classical music are often mysterious to both parties, and sometimes jazz musicians can get overwhelmed with understanding the classical tradition. This can become apparent with the centuries old European musical terminology, still employed in today’s jazz notation.
So as a public service, I have undertaken the task of “translating” some of the most useful classical terms into the world of jazz, for the benefit of today’s working jazz musician. So here we go with the Professor’s Jazz Glossary of Practical Musical Terminology.
Let’s start with dynamics. There are scores of European terms to indicate subtle grades of volume to be interpreted by the performer. Things are not so subtle for jazz bands. In jazz, we can boil it down to a few notable dynamic levels:
forte: the band is playing
fortissimo: the band is drunk
mezzo piano: the band has to read music
piano: bass solo
pianissimo: the band is on a break
And now, continuing with our general Glossary of Terms:
a cappella: when the vocalist calls a tune that the band doesn’t know
accelerando: when the drummer is excited
allegro: how moderato ends up when you have a bad drummer
rallentando: when the drummer is tired
accidental: the wrong notes the trumpet player plays because he had a root canal the day before the gig
atonality: the tuning of most pianos in NY bars
basso continuo: when t
