ALLIGATOR: Musician's used to refer to each other as 'Alligators'.
          Today, the word has been shortened to just 'Gator'.
          Louis Armstrong is often referred to as 'Gate Mouth',
          - from the same source.

BACK LINE: Musical slang for 'rhythm section'. Any combo of drums,
       bass piano, banjo, guitar. (Early bands would also use a Jug
       (glass/clay, gallon size) and washboard.) The expression stems
       from the early Jazz bands which often were just 5 - 7 pieces.
       The Melody instruments would stand out in the 'front' line while
       the Rhythm - piano, drums, banjo, and tuba/bass fiddle - would
       be the 'back line'. See also, "Front Line" below.

BEBOP: Another word for 'Bop'. See 'Bop" below.

BLUE NOTES: The lowered 3rd, 5th and 7th tones of a major scale.
	Often referred to as the 'flatted 5th', etc., by jazzmen.

BLUES:
	1) A sad ballad type of song, often sung by a female moaning
	   about a lost/uncaring/mean/etc lover.
	2) A sad song sung mainly by black singers, - male and female.
	   The traditional structure is 12 bars divided into 3 four
	   bar measures. The "song form" (see below) is almost always AAB.
	   (See "Jazz Overview" Link on the Main Page for more information.)

BARRELHOUSE: (Also called "Fast Western".) A style of piano playing
	popular west of the Mississippi before the 1900's and into the
	'teens. So named because the piano players were usually working
	in the crude cabarets that served whiskey directly out of the
	barrel.

BOOGIE WOOGIE: An "Eight beats to the Bar" Ostinato.  The left hand
	plays a repetitive riff throughout the song.

BONES: Two small (35mm x 160mm x 6mm thick, or 1.25"w x6"l x .25"
	thick) pieces of wood. One piece is held (near the top) between the
	index and 3rd finger of the right hand, while the remaining piece is
	held between the 3rd and 4th fingers. Then by moving (or jerking) the
	hand, a syncopated rhythm is produced by the far ends of the wood
	beating against each other. (So called because originally, two large
	Beef Bones were used to make the clacking sound.) Also, Soup Spoons are
	very useful.

BOP: Originally, a style of music that used the changes (chords) of
	a well known song, but with a wild (sometimes recognizable and
	sometimes not) improvisation on the original melody. The
	expression has racial overtones. Dizzy Gilespie said that blacks
	developed Bop to "exclude "lesser" (meaning - white) musicians".

BOTTLENECK GUITAR: An ordinary acoustic guitar. But, the strings are
	tuned to E-G-C-G-C-E.  Then one can strum with ALL the strings
	stopped at some fret position, using just a finger, a pocket
	knife, or, in the olden days, the neck of a soda pop bottle
	placed over the middle finger. (Hence the expression "bottleneck
	guitar".)  (The correct open string tuning for a guitar is
	E-A-D-G-B-E.)

BREAK: Instrumental bridge within a vocal.

CAKEWALK: A very popular dance at the turn of the century (1900). It
	was a precursor to the Rags. The dance was a mainstay of the
	many Minstrel Shows that toured the country.

CHORUS: The Refrain of a song (it's melodic theme). The three parts
	of a popular song are the l) Verse (intro), 2) Chorus (melody)
	and 3) the Bridge. (See also "Song Form" entry below.)

CLASSIC RAGS: The Rags performed in the 1890's - 1917, from
	composers such as Turpin, Lamb and Joplin.

CODA: The closing portion of a song.

COMP: Musician's slang for "accompaniment". "You sing, I'll comp."

CONCERT PITCH: The pitch to which concert instruments are tuned,
	with the A above middle C tuned to 440 Cycles per second.

COOL JAZZ: A style of playing that evolved in the late 50's out of
	the earlier rebop style. Small groups with single instrument
	sections, - that is:  one sax, not 2 or 3, 1 cornet, not 2 or 3,
	etc. It was the timbral quality that set it apart from the usual
	sounds; little vibrato, just a clean line, etc.  AKA "West Coast
	Jazz".

COON SONG: Syncopated, Ragtime songs played from ca. 1880 - 1910,
	mostly on the vaudeville circuits. The songs reflected white
	stereotypes of black Americans. (Racist 'en extremis',)

DIXIELAND: AKA Jazz; Dixieland Jazz, Jass.  The type of ensemble
	playing that was popular from about 1880 to 1925.

DRUM SET: The 'full' set of drums that became 'standard' about
	1937, - Bass drum, snare, tom-tom, floor tom, blocks, cowbells,
	high-hat, ride cymbals,...the full paraphenalia.  (See the
	Gene Krupa entry in the main database.)  AKA Trap Drums.
	See Trap Drums, below.

ENSEMBLE OUT: A musician's slang expression denoting a last 'full
	band' chorus as the song ends.

FREE JAZZ: A philosophy that attempts to deny the rules of music,
	and of musical style, by abandoning the rules of Rhythm, Melody
	and Harmony. Often, non standard instruments are employed. (I
	call it "The Music of Musician Failures!" If one is a bad
	musician, tell everyone you are playing 'free jazz'.)

FRONT LINE: The 'melody' instruments of a jazz band. Cornet;
	Trombone; Sax; Clarinet, etc.  (See: Back Line, above)

FUNKY: The term came into use during the 1990's. It denotes a
	certain type of humorous music that has a "sing-song-y" melody
	coupled with a very strong accented beat.

HEAD ARRANGEMENTS: An "unwritten score".  The arrangement is
	worked out "verbially" during a rehearsal. In subsequent
	performances, the band will try to adhere as closely as
	possible to the original conception.

HIGH HAT (SOCK CYMBAL): A pedal operated pair of cymbals. The bottom
	cymbal is fixed, while the top cymbal is moved up and down via a
	pedal action.

JAZZ:  AKA Jaz; Jas; Jass; Jasz, and Jascz. The syncopated music
	that arose simultaneously in many part of America at the turn of
	the century (1900).  Aka Dixieland or Dixieland Jazz.

JIG: 1.) A Dance
	 2.) Expression used at the turn of the century
		 (1900) by some mid-westerners.  Examples are: Jig Song; Jig
		 Band; (Possibly denoting racial prejudice or possible denoting
		 "Ragtime" music, or both.)

KANSAS CITY WALKING BASS: Music defined by a slow (walking), 8 beats
	to the bar, bass.

LICK: Another name for a 'riff' or 'break'.  The usual example is
	"he has a hot lick in the middle (of the song)."

MICKEY ENDING: Some sort of melodic or rhythmic cliche often used by
	dance bands to signal the end of the song/dance.

MINSTREL SHOW: Musical show popular during the 19th cent. in
	America. At first, it was only white men, in black-face,
	affecting a negro persona. A long single line of men (with
	cork-black on their faces, and lips painted pure white)
	stretched across the stage. The Center man was called "Mr.
	Interlocutor" and acted as the EmCee. The men at the ends were
	called "Tambo" (he held the tambourine) and the other end was
	called "Mr Bones".  See Bones, above,  One by one, each man in
	the long line would be called up by the Mr Interlocutor to sing
	or dance or tell a humorous story, etc.

NEW ORLEANS STYLE JAZZ: Small group (3 - 7) ensemble playing,
	usually playing in an improvisational or head arrangement
	manner.

PATTING JUBA: The slapping of one's thighs with one's hands to form
	a syncopated rhythm accompaniment. (Also the clapping of hands
	or the stomping of feet to do the same thing, or sometimes a
	combination of the above. A similar rhythm is the use of
	"bones". See 'bones' entry above.)

PROGRESSIVE JAZZ: The term originated by Stan Kenton and his Orch.
	It was calculated to be a form of popular music that was in
	advance of the "swing" style then prevalent. A sort of concert
	performance of a dance band song.

RAGTIME: A term that has been defined with many different meanings.
	Today it is mostly taken to mean that music that was popular
	during the "Roaring Twenties". (Chicago's Dixieland style of
	Jazz.)

REBOP: Yet another name for Bop. (It's the 'original' name, by the
	way.)

RIDE: Musician's slang.  Denotes a musician's improvisation at a
	moment in which he has his heart and soul into the music.  You
	will often hear some other band member exhorting him to "Ride,
	Harry, Ride."

RIDE CYMBAL: A single cymbal mounted on the edge of the Bass Drum.
	There is no pedal action as in the "High Hat" (see above) rather
	the cymbal is struck with a drumstick.

RIFF: A short musical phrase that is repeated over and over. As an
	example, the reeds could play a riff while the brass carries the
	melodic line.

RIP: A Glissando (played upwards).

SCAT: A "Vocal Solo" using nonsense syllables only, no words at all.

SIDEMAN: The musicians in a jazz orchestra.

SKIFFLE BAND: A novelty orchestra.

SOCK CYMBAL: See High Hat. (see also 'ride cymbal'.)

SONG FORM: The total of the sections in the construction of a
	popular song. Each section is 8 bars long (usually) and there
	are 4 sections total. They can be put together in different
	ways, such as AABA; ABAB, etc. The "B" section is usually called
	the "bridge".

STOMP: A dance involving a rhythmical heavy step.  The Jazz music
	for this dance.

STOPTIME: Usually a chord played on the first beat of every measure
	(with no other beats). Used as a 'frame' for some soloist, such
	as an acapella singer or perhaps a tap dancer, etc.

STRIDE: A Piano playing style in which the left hand accentuates the
	1st and 3rd beats in an oom-pah like rhythm, with the 'oom'
	separated by about a half octave from the 'pah'.

SWING:  A term used to denote a certain style of Popular Song
	playing in which the reeds (usually) play a certain 'riff' over
	and over, while the brass carry the melody.  Ex: Count Basie's
	One O'Clock Jump. (And, other musical factors.)

TAILGATE TROMBONE:  A slang expression denoting that the 'original'
	position of the trombone player was sitting on the 'tailgate' of
	a horse drawn wagon.

THIRD-STREAM MUSIC: A merging of Jazz and Classical music styles.
	The term was coined by Gunther Schuller.

TRAP DRUMS: A full set of drums & percussion instruments, including
	Temple Blocks; cowbells, etc. See Drum Set, above.

UP-TEMPO: Fast.

VAMP: As in the expression "Vamp 'til ready."   A 4 or 8 bar phrase
	that can be played over and over, until the singer or soloist is
	ready to begin.  Also, a 4 or 8 bar 'filler' section between two
	different chordal harmonies in the song.

WEST COAST JAZZ: Same as "Cool Jazz". See above.

WOODSHED: As in "Playing in a woodshed", meaning practicing in
		  private, before going in front of the public.

That's all for the moment folks. If I think of anything else, I
edit this file.  Hope it helps.
						 signed: "Mainframe Murray"