the evolution of tonality in American music

The following ideas briefly trace the historical evolution of American tonality from its diatonic origins to the outer realms of atonality. I include these ideas to simply prompt your own awareness of the spectrum of tonality found within the history of American music and to combine this awareness with your music theory studies to try and kindle your own curiosity and investigation regarding the legends of American music. We focus here on the jazz styles, as none of the other American styles have never really evolved from their diatonic origins.

Although historically praised as one of our worlds brightest democracies, the story of true American music is created from a very sorrowful record of anything but democratic equality for all Americans. The cool thing today is that the evolution of the tonality of American music is a living, modern day record of the players who created the music and the world in which they existed. This continues on with today's music. Thus, perhaps hearing the sounds from certain historical era's can become a reminder for each of us to spiritually rededicate our lives each day to preserving and promoting equality, freedom and justice for all. Each selection of American music can potentially capture a historical glimpse of the society in which it was created, and as the sense of tonality and a tonal center evolve, the music created reflects the evolving philosophy, artistic statement and creative environment of it's composers. 

One aspect of the history of American tonality started about 250 years ago with voices combined together during the heat of the day as they bent to their task in labor. The five pitches from the dawn of time were oftentimes used to create the melodies of these songs. The players of these songs were the speakers of an impoverished and restricted people, their music historically coming to be known today as the blues. The creators of all this impoverishment had within their music created one interval that was thought by their religious leaders to signify a fall from grace. This interval became a pitch that was embraced by the blues players, and it became part of their cry for justice and freedom. As the light of their freedom began to dawn 200 years ago, the blues music began to move into the houses of the holy, where it organically integrated through singing with the history of the established church and its European musical glories. This new combination of stories, their tellers and the blues colors completed the initial merging of two musical cultures within a protective environment and gives birth to my perspective of the "evolution of American tonality."

Historically, the most musically complex of the truly American styles of music is today commonly referred to as jazz. Jazz is one of America's truly indigenous art forms. And although initially well steeped in the spiritual blues, the library of jazz music has come to encompass all of the elements of the ancient major and minor pentatonic colors of the early players, plus the melodic and harmonic possibilities of the equal temperament system, historically a relative new approach which stands alone in music history in its power of chords and modulation of key center. Combining these two philosophies creates the musical language we call jazz, at the heart of American music over the last 100 years.

America has always been about freedom, yet the early American musicians were anything but free in the world in which they lived. Although there was always encouragement to be free in the music through improvisation of the music. The various styles within the jazz genre reflect the moods of the times. Ragtime players show a glimpse of the late 1800's, a time of great energy and expansion of society on the American continent. Their instrumental music is for the most part diatonically based in the major tonality and motored by a rather infectious dance groove. The Dixieland players, basically creating instrumental versions of the ragtime sound, eventually marched their polyphony from New Orleans to Chicago, where a cooler, blues climate prevailed and the jazz music continues its increasingly urban sophistication during the 20's and 30's. Dixieland music is still for the most part diatonically based, but we begin to hear in this music the first hinting of chromaticism, which begins to blur the sense of tonal center in the simultaneous articulation of the melody by many instruments.

The emergence of the style of jazz called Swing in the mid 30's from the society bands of the roaring 20's is now able to be broadcast nationwide with the advent of radio. A dancers delight, swing music is pretty upbeat, for the most part diatonically based and took the country by storm. The use of modulation to the more remote key centers of equal temper becomes common place, creating a greater challenge for emerging artists. The mostly major key, diatonic melodies of swing are a joyous reflection of the American potential of that era, a time of great energy and commotion in the world. Swing style music today enjoys great popularity, for dancers and listeners alike, and for the players the ever elusive challenge of getting one's lines to swing.

Players from what was then earlier known as the Kansas Territories, began to head east and by the late 30's found a new home of greater tolerance in the city of New York, perhaps at the time the greatest collection of urban intellectual energy the world has ever known, the city to where countless global peoples migrated to taste the freedom then known as America. Many advanced jazz musicians begin to create a community for themselves in Harlem, on the north end of Manhattan island. Here, the music continues to evolve in theoretical complexity and is characterized by a strong rooting in the blues and it's forms, coupled with harmonic schemes that explore further upward in the diatonic arpeggios, exploration of the color tones and the symmetrical colors emerge in earnest. We begin to see the a re-emergence of chromaticism in the melodies and improvised solos of the players, the blue notes becoming the steadfast anchors for the more risk taking, adventurous players. Tempos begin to accelerate and modulation is oftentimes abbreviated into a cycle of three chords, encouraging the artist to visit many different colors of key center. Combining these elements together gives rise to a new music known as Bebop.

The emergence of Bebop during the 40's really shook up the American jazz scene. A first of its kind, Bebop exhausted the resources of equal temperament while maintaining a strong base of blues roots. Although this music is still for the most part centered in one key, modulation of keys is common, as is the chromaticization of the improvised lines, blurring or obscuring tonal direction and intent. Players routinely select pitches from the upper structure areas of the arpeggios as part of their improvisations and tempos are as brisk as can be. The sense of a tonal center in the music is still apparent, but with the faster tempos and extensive modulations, it's a mere shadow of what was present in the blues / ragtime / Dixie / swing music which preceded it. Bebop ravages the resources of equal temper, while the world at large is battling for it's life. Towards the end of this decade we begin to see a merging of American jazz with the flavors of Cuban / Latin music, a merging that has enthralled dancers and listeners alike and is still so ever popular in the American music we love to create and listen to today.

By the mid 1950's, the popular jazz scene shifts to the west coast, where the days are warm and sunny, and the east coast stress is all but non existent or simply a plane ride away for those in need. Jazz players on the west coast have developed their own style simply known as "cool." As the name implies, cool jazz is more laid back and lyrical, looses the frantic tempos of Bebop and instead is based on a smoother, quarter note swing groove. The melodies are bop like with perhaps a greater emphasis on getting the lines to swing. The harmony begins to reach the outer limits of what is diatonically provided by equal temper within one key center. Chords are well extended into the upper structure, continuing the dissolving of tonality towards the more subtle, gentler world of polytonality. The east coast scene cools from the heavier Bebop into hard bop, a more blues based version of bop. Post bop also emerges in the late 50's, characterized by an increasing complexity of the harmonic progressions, further obscuring the sense of tonal center all in rapid tempos. America rapidly begins to redefine its definition of freedom, society mixes and rock and roll emerges replacing jazz as the new, popular American style of music.

The 1960's emerge with American society finally coming to terms with its own hypocrisy in regards to freedom. Jazz music now includes artists who fully characterize this struggle in their art, which is characterized by an almost complete disregard for any of the established order which preceded it. As anarchy takes hold of segments of society, atonality takes hold of their music. The chaos of society turns many players towards their God, as they search in the music for spiritual guidance, becoming channels of light and love, which they share with their listeners. There is no definite sense of tonality in this music, just a rhythmic groove which supports a melody and harmony from which the improvisations go where they need to go, without having to necessarily adhere to any musical form, harmonic progression or predetermined artistic or musical direction. This improvised music has evolved to completely encompass the full range of the 12 tone equal tempered system and all of the blue notes in between, creating a quality of beauty and drive towards spirituality and equality never before experienced within the musical history of this planet.

After reaching this atonality in the mid 60's with artists' John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra, the jazz music of the last 30 years or so has been characterized by a series of "revivals" of the various styles within its history. One cool thing for the emerging artist of today is that the whole spectrum of tonality is presently available for the creation of their art. Any stylistic limitations are based on our own lack of imagination. New artistic directions today include the continual merging of established styles and the addition of various new technologies into traditional performance formats. With the advent of getting on the information superhighway, music from anywhere on the globe becomes available to influence anyone whose curious, providing new ideas and avenues of exploration. With all of this resource available, there is much to choose from to create our work. And even with all of these fantastic tonal possibilities, the creation of new diatonic works from the blues or equal temper, or folk stories telling of our day to day adventures, or the 3 chord garage band anthem, will always have a home within the library of American music. So what will be the next evolution in the tonality of American music? Techno / synth / loops of pitches? Perhaps tonality without a tritone? New age serialism? Comments / questions?

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